88 pages • 2 hours read
Jeanne DuPrauThe People of Sparks
Jeanne DuPrauFiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2004A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Themes
Arbitrary Divisions to Create “Us” and “Them”
The idea of “us” versus “them” and the strife that can arise from these arbitrary distinctions is one of the central themes of the novel. It is primarily explored through the relationship between the people of Sparks and the people of Ember, but it is mirrored in several other places. The division begins with Sparks’ inherent distrust of outsiders, and the tangible and intangible differences between the two groups are then used as justification for mistrust and maltreatment. The fact that neither of the groups attempts to reconcile their differences leads to strife, and their responses to strife entrench the arbitrary borders between “us” and “them” even further.
The initial mistrust of the Emberites by the people of Sparks is perhaps justified; the post-Disaster world is a dangerous one. The people of Ember genuinely don’t understand the lack of food and resources that the people of Sparks have had to contend with over the years. The people of Sparks have a genuine need to protect their own from outsiders and from the natural world itself. However, this initial reservation is deepened and justified by the differences between the two towns, eventually leading to violence.
The most obvious differences between the people of Ember and the people of Sparks are physical. The Emberites are smaller and paler, “like the sprouts you see when you lift up a board that’s been lying on the ground, feeble things that have tried to grow in the dark” (10). They are unused to the work and conditions in Sparks; “the people of Sparks were used to the heat; beside them, the people of Ember seemed like weaklings” (105).
The people of Sparks and the Emberites also lack shared knowledge. The Emberites sometimes “seemed stupid. People from Ember were frightened by chickens, had never seen a cloud, and didn’t know the meaning of ordinary words […] They didn’t even know that the earth was round like a ball” (126-27). This difference leads to avoidable conflict and misunderstandings.
These surface-level differences are finally eradicated after the two groups join together to fight the fire. After the flames were extinguished, “people just stood and stared at each other. All of them had smoke-darkened faces and ash-dusted hair and damp, grimy clothes. The people of Ember were just as grubby as the people of Sparks; everyone looked more or less the same” (307). The fact that the differences between these two populations are so easily obscured speaks to the illogicality of the categories that they are placed into, but it is also important to acknowledge that the differences are obscured only after the two groups make their first concerted effort to work together.
The way the leaders of Sparks respond to the growing conflict only creates more separation. After the incident with the tomatoes, the town leaders meet and decide that “it’s too hard on [families from Sparks] to have strangers eating with them every day” (207). This move is akin to Jim Crowe laws of 1870s America, where Black people were not allowed to use the same public spaces as white people. It illustrates that the leaders see the Emberites as “less than” and results in more and more distance between the people of Sparks and the people of Ember. This physical distance in turn creates personal and ideological distance, and it allows mistrust and bitterness to grow even larger. As Mary says in the last town meeting, they “tried to get rid of the problem instead of solving it” (319). In this same town meeting, the leaders of Sparks finally close the distance between the people of Ember and the people of Sparks, deciding that “[they] will no longer speak of ‘the people of Sparks’ and ‘the people of Ember.’ From now on, we are all the people of Sparks” (324). In the end, the two groups are finally able to attempt to understand each other instead of pushing each other into opposing groups of “us” and “them.”
Throughout the novel, DuPrau draws on this idea of “us” versus “them” to explore the concept of shared humanity. In The People of Sparks, DuPrau argues that in order to move forward, communities must draw on their shared humanity instead of creating in- and out-groups based purely on fear and misunderstanding.
Cyclical Nature of Violence and Revenge
The idea that violence and revenge are cyclical and self-replicating pervades The People of Sparks. The pre-Disaster world is the most extreme example of this cycle, and the relationship between warring populations is mirrored in the present day by Lina and Torren’s relationship as well as the relationship between Ember and Sparks as a whole.
Torren explains to Lina that wars can happen because of land disputes or revenge: “Say one group of people does something bad to another group, like steal their chickens. Then the first group does something bad back in revenge. That could start a war. The two groups would try to kill each other, and the ones who killed the most would win” (75-76). This is Lina’s first introduction to the idea of revenge, and she is baffled by the senseless nature of the violence that Torren describes. As the novel continues, she begins to understand the animosity that can arise between two groups of people. Later, Maddy gives Lina an example: “They say, ‘You hurt us, so we’re going to hurt you.’ It keeps on like that. One bad thing leads to a worse bad thing, on and on” (227). Maddy goes on to say that people can only stop this cycle of revenge by not responding to violence with violence. However, in the pre-Disaster world, the cycle of violence and revenge was allowed to continue until nearly everyone and everything was destroyed.
We see the cycle of revenge in the relationship between Lina and Torren. Torren sees Lina as competition for territory (his bedroom) and resources (food and the limited attention that Dr. Hester has to spare). As a result of this perceived intrusion, Torren takes an immediate dislike to Lina. She is confused by his antagonism and responds in kind. This cycle of antagonism eventually ends when Doon saves Torren’s life during the climax of the story, and Torren realizes he was wrong. Lina, in turn, realizes that Torren is a lonely child and takes extra care to try and be kind to him. In this situation, the cycle of violence and retribution is ended by efforts on behalf of both parties.
Finally, the cyclical nature of violence and revenge appears in the relationship between Sparks and Ember. The people of Sparks resent the Emberites for making life harder for them, and, sensing this animosity, the Emberites grow to dislike the people of Sparks. Much of the violence here is enacted by members of the in-group and then blamed on the out-group. The fact that the violence in this situation is often perpetrated by a member of the out-group draws attention to the senselessness and illogicality of the cycle. In the end, this cycle ends, and the relationship between the two communities is healed when Lina does the “good thing” and joins the fire line (302).
DuPrau focuses on this theme throughout the novel to argue that violence begets violence in an increasingly destructive cycle of revenge. She illustrates that this cycle will continue until both sides are destroyed unless someone makes the hard decision to respond with kindness rather than more violence.
The Importance of Identity and Purpose
The search for identity and purpose, especially as they relate to belonging, is another major theme of The People of Sparks. Lina is initially dissatisfied with her place in the new world, Doon feels a sense of purpose from the beginning but struggles with the application of that purpose, and the Emberites as a society struggle with their lack of identity and belonging for most of the novel.
Lina feels unfulfilled by her work in Dr. Hester’s home, and she longs for the agency and sense of importance that her work as a messenger in Ember brought her. This is a large part of why she stows away with Caspar and Maddy; she is tired of being stuck in one place and wants to explore the new world, as she feels the other Emberites are doing. She is also seeking a place and purpose for herself and the other Emberites. Once she exercises her agency and leaves Sparks, she begins to realize how fond she is of her life there. When she sees the ruined city and realizes that the people of Ember are the treasure talked about in ancient songs, she is able to return to Sparks with a very real message of belonging and purpose for herself and her people.
From the moment that they arrive on the surface, Doon is excited about all there is to learn and do. He enjoys his work, “[h]e liked feeling the muscles in his arms getting harder, and he liked being taller” (106). Initially, he begins to socialize with Tick because “it was natural for a young boy to admire an older one” (85) a reflection of how Kenny feels about Doon. Doon follows Tick because although he is excited about the knowledge available to him in the new world, he wants belonging: “he wanted to be part of this; he didn’t want to be left out” (134). As Doon realizes that his values do not align with Tick’s, Doon begins to feel unsure of himself. Eventually, Doon realizes that following someone else for a sense of belonging will not give him the room to find his purpose in the new world in the way that he wants to.
The Emberites as a whole lack a sense of identity and purpose throughout most of The People of Sparks. Edward Pocket, the former librarian for Ember, is representative of the plight of the population. He is too old to do the same manual labor as the rest of the Emberites, so he feels especially out of place, lamenting that “[t]hey say I’m too old to work, but I’m not ready to freeze up and die. I don’t want to spend my days chatting. Or sleeping […] What am I supposed to do with myself?” (136). When Doon shows him the stash of books in the Ark, Edward is revitalized and “often came home in the evening later than the workers who went into the village” (199). When the Emberites are being threatened with eviction, Edward even says that he plans to stay no matter what the people of Sparks say because “I have work to do here. They need me. They need all of us!” (259). Through this character, DuPrau illustrates the importance of having a purpose and how this can lead to a feeling of belonging.
Tick is able to incite violence in a large part because the people of Ember feel discontent; he is showing them a path toward a place to call their own. Lina’s announcement that the people of Ember are the treasure in the ancient songs gives the people of Ember a purpose, a place, and a sense of identity that expands far beyond Tick’s violence or the adoption of Sparks as their new hometown. In The People of Sparks, DuPrau argues that people need to be afforded the agency to find their purpose and place in life, and that without this, unrest has fertile ground in which to take root.
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