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Wait a second. Did you say the school systems, the budget, the pollution, the crime, and the weather? Because we think we read all of those stories in our news feed this morning. And yet this book was published back in 2007. What do you make of the fact that all of these topics are still making daily headlines? Is Trent Lee Stewart psychic?
Did you get that? The whole "change NOW" business is a very old slogan, which means people have been demanding change for a long time. So does that mean that the change people have wanted to see has never come, or does it mean that no matter what happens, people want something different? Either way, it's key that the demand for change has been present for a long time. Why? Because eventually we learn that this unrest is all part of Mr. Curtain's plan. He's created this Emergency, this state of dissatisfaction and fear, so that he can come along and soothe everyone with his messages of contentment and make them all revere him. Talk about sinister.
It sounds all creepy and sci-fi and like something that couldn't happen here, but this is actually happening all the time. Our brains are capable of taking in tons of information, and plenty of people have learned how to use basic psychology to influence how the things we see and hear (and smell and feel and taste) affect our decision making. A simple example? The way products are displayed in the grocery store. And a few more complex examples? Sure, we've got those, too.
The students at the Institute, once they've been fully indoctrinated, have no problem whatsoever with these kinds of statements. It's a kind of doublespeak that defies logic (something can't be both always open and sometimes closed), but none of the students—not even Martina Crowe, who seems pretty intelligent—have a problem with it. They just accept both parts of the statement without question, much like the sheep in Animal Farm.
The rules of the Institute give the students a lot of false freedoms. They can wear what they want, stay up as late as they want, and go wherever they want… except that they can't. Each of these statements is immediately followed by specific instructions that actually limit freedom. It's like asking your dad if you can have chocolate cake for dinner and having him answer, "You can have whatever you want for dinner… as long as you choose from the food I've put on the table." And you know as well as we do: there's not gonna be any chocolate cake.
Whoa—did someone say 1984? Yep—we did, back in the summary of Chapter 15. And we're saying it again because these slogans remind us so much of the slogans in Orwell's famous novel. But they also remind us of something else. Do they sound familiar to you at all? Have you ever been told that you need to study hard now so that you can get into a good college so that you can get a good job so that you can be successful and have the money you need to do the things you want to do? It kind of goes along with the first logical conclusion Kate mentions in the quote above: you have to work more to have more free time. Don't get us wrong: we're not saying you shouldn't study hard now. You should always work hard and do your best. That's a given. What we <em>are</em> saying is that sometimes—both as kids and as adults—we find ourselves on this weird sort of treadmill that has us running non-stop in order to rest, and it really doesn't make sense. Does it?
Okay, that's just creepy. We've kind of come to terms with the fact that yeah, advertisers and politicians and lobbyists and corporations are sending us messages all the time. But we can tune them out, right? We can turn off our TVs, unplug from our screens, and go outside and listen to the birds, who (as far as we know) aren't trying to sell us anything. But this idea, that hidden messages could be transmitted through the air, like radio waves aimed at our minds… yikes.
What Mr. C calls The Improvement, we call The End of the World As We Know It (and we don't feel particularly fine about it). But regardless of how we feel, we have to give him props for his naming skills. Like so many things in this book, his titles (The Emergency, The Improvement, The Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened) remind of us stuff in our real, non-fictionalized world. Like what? Well, take a look at this list of bills that have been considered in the U.S. Senate, and then check out some of the bills introduced in the House. Hmm… what do you think? Has Mr. Curtain been helping the U.S. Congress with its naming strategies? What purpose do these names serve? Think about it, then go ahead: talk amongst yourselves.
This particular instance of manipulation is a bit more overt than Mr. Curtain's campaign of messages, because in this case he's actually erased people's memories and more or less reprogrammed them. And he did it by physically restraining them and sticking them in the Whisperer against their will, so it wasn't exactly subtle. Or subliminal. But the end result is the same, right? He's got a bunch of people doing his bidding without question, which is the aim of the hidden messages, too. So our question to you is: Does the method matter? Are both of these forms of manipulation equally bad, or is one way worse than the other?
Ever seen or heard of the film Bowling for Columbine? In it, filmmaker Michael Moore suggests that the media in the U.S. is doing pretty much the same thing that Mr. Curtain's doing with his messages about the Emergency. Moore argues that the stories and images in our news and entertainment programs encourage us to live with a sense of fear that makes us easier to manipulate. Whether you've seen the film or not—and regardless of how you feel about Michael Moore—what do you think about this idea? Is it happening? Could it happen? Explain. Previous Next More on The Mysterious Benedict Society Navigation Tired of ads?Join today and never see them again. Why is there Morse code on the back of The Mysterious Benedict Society?To communicate with their mentor, the kids in The Mysterious Benedict Society have to learn Morse code. In Morse code, words are written through dashes and dots. Stewart says some young readers send him letters written in this code. "I didn't know it when I started out to write the book," Stewart admits.
What was the emergency in The Mysterious Benedict Society?The Emergency took place before and during The Mysterious Benedict Society. The Emergency was an idea manufactured by Mr. Curtain, sent by the whisperer meant to cause the public to panic about unreal issues, and ignore real true problems.
How does Mr. Curtain use subliminal messages?Mr. Curtain transmits subliminal messages into the minds of kids that he wants to control and manipulate. With a partner, have students research subliminal messages, specifically locating information pertaining to when they were first used and how they have been used in recent years.
Why is number 2 called Number 2 in The Mysterious Benedict Society?In The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey, she has been known to make uncomfortable clothes for the Society out of unconventional materials like canvas. She is self-conscious of her name, Pencilla, which is why she goes by Number Two instead.
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What is the secret message in The Mysterious Benedict Society?
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