Son

“The girl and her companion obediently fell silent then, realizing they had been heard through the microphones embedded in the walls of the dining room. Some of the other girls giggled. They were probably also guilty. There was so little else to talk about. The process—their jobs, their mission—was the thing they had in common. But the conversations shifted after the stern warning.”

In Claire’s original community, there is a complete lack of both individuality and privacy. In the first chapter of the book, the audience does not know Claire’s name until the very end of the chapter; previously, she is referred to exclusively as “the girl,” as though she is interchangeable with any of the other girls in the community. These girls are constantly monitored in a fashion that resembles many dystopian novels: all talk in the community is listened to, presumably by similarly nameless individuals, so that people feel as though their actions and speech are under constant surveillance. Of course, the community believes that this will ensure peace among community members and prevent unrest from growing in the populace, allowing leaders to control the people. However, the reality of the situation is apparent here: even though these girls are under constant surveillance, their conversations still veer towards things that they are not supposed to talk about. In essence, the leaders are unable to completely control their populace, primarily because this level of individual control is impossible.