Reply To: The Searcher: Who is the Searcher?
I think the whole book in its essence is about searching. Cal is searching for a way to recover his moral center. He is also searching for a missing person. He is searching to restore his relationship with his daughter. Trey is searching for her brother. She is searching for a father figure as well. Brendan and the other young men are searching for ways to not only survive but thrive financially so they can gain freedom. The village is searching for a way to protect its next generation. And I also felt that essentially Trey and Cal were searching for belonging, for a place in the world. Both feel like outsiders, in a sense. Everyone wants to feel a sense of belonging, of purpose and I think the book examines the different ways people search for that and the negative impacts it can have in people’s lives if they are not accepted, shunned, or misunderstood. And the positive impacts when people take a chance and embrace a stranger, or look past their own interests.
