Matched

“We have not held hands like this since we were children. In doing that tonight, we move across the invisible divide that separates friendship from something more.”

When Xander takes Cassia’s hand to lead her onto the air train, he communicates that their relationship has evolved beyond friendship. Now that they are Matched, holding hands is allowed and forges an intimacy that did not previously exist. They are also liberated from the constraints that had been placed on their friendship. Now that the Society has forced their Match, they are free to become romantically involved—something they both seem to desire.

“I keep my fingers locked in his as we walk toward the game center. Maybe, if I don’t let go, it will prove that we are meant to be Matched. That the other face on the screen means nothing; that it was simply a momentary malfunction of the microcard.”

Cassia has put all her faith in the Society’s system of coupling romantic partners. When she Matched with Xander at her Banquet, she never questioned that it might be wrong. However, the second face that briefly appeared on Xander’s microcard has sown a seed of doubt. Cassia holds Xander’s hand to convince herself that the Match is real and infallible.

“I feel that same feeling of relief and release as I see a familiar face, someone who, until now, I had been desperately worried about. Someone I must have thought had drowned or slipped or been pulled under and might never be seen again.”

This quote demonstrates that Cassia clearly has feelings for Ky Markham—the other boy with whom she matched on her microcard. She reveals that he is someone who has been in her thoughts since they first met. Although an Official tells Cassia to forget about her Match with Ky, she is unable to do so.

“For a moment, I did. When I saw Ky’s face flash in front of me so quick I couldn’t even see the color of his eyes, only the dark of them as they looked back at me, I wondered, Is it you?”

When conversing with Grandfather, Cassia realizes that she had briefly wondered if Ky was her true Match. Grandfather tells Cassia that her grandmother would have wondered the same thing. While Cassia loves Xander, the image of Ky on her microcard has challenged her acceptance of the Society’s rule that everyone only has one Match.

“‘Cassia,’ he whispers. ‘I am giving you something you won’t understand, yet. But I think you will someday. You, more than the rest. And remember. It’s all right to wonder.”

By giving Cassia the secret piece of paper from her grandmother’s compact, Grandfather demonstrates his faith in her. He’s breaking the rules by giving Cassia contraband literature but clearly believes she will eventually see the poems’ importance and understand their meaning.

“I read the whole poem and eat it up, drink it up. I read about meteors and a green bay and fierce tears and even though I don’t understand all of it—the language is too old—I understand enough. I understand why my grandfather loved this poem because I love it too. All of it. The rage and the light.”

Cassia sneaks away to read Grandfather’s paper. She falls in love with the two poems printed, relating to words and ideas that have been kept hidden from her—and everyone else—by the Society’s censorship. Cassia demonstrates that she is capable of thinking outside of the parameters set for her—and is beginning to question these very parameters and desire more for herself. She is willing to break the rules to gain access to prohibited material.

“I tell myself to stay calm, stay clear. For some reason I picture the blue of Ky’s eyes and I can think better, realizing that reading the situation correctly is part of getting through it safely”

The image of Ky’s eyes helps Cassia think more calmly and rationally. Ky is adept at reading situations and seamlessly adapting to them. Cassia continually learns through his example, and this keeps her from panicking when she sees an Official air car outside of her house.

“If I had kept the poems from Grandfather, I’d be riding on a flood that I couldn’t stop. I did what I had to do; I did the right thing. But it is as though the rain outside pouring on me, too, eroding my relief and leaving only regret. The poems are gone, and I can never get them back.”

Cassia recognizes the heavy cost of her decision to destroy Grandfather’s two poems. Since she believes it was necessary for her survival, she should feel relief. Instead, she is wracked with regret. Cassia’s perceived lack of choice in the matter is slowly giving way to recognition of her and others’ oppression.

“Following the rules, staying safe. Those are the things that matter. Those are the ways I have to be strong.”

Cassia wonders if her strong feelings for the destroyed poems and Ky make her weak. She is deviating from the path that the Society chose for her, and she worries about its negative effect on her character. She still believes that strength lies in conforming to the rules, rather than breaking them—even if it means suppressing her desires.

“Standing there looking at my work, however, I realize that all my family has ever done is sort. Never create.”

The Society dictates every action of its citizens, and Cassia is beginning to understand the negative repercussions of such control. She realizes that personal creativity has been destroyed in the process. By following the rules, she and her family have never been able to create anything new. They are essentially robots, carrying out sorting tasks without question.

“Why did Grandfather give me those poems? Did he want me to find some

meaning in them? Does he not want me to go gentle? What does that even mean? Am I supposed to fight against authority? I might as well ask if he wants me to commit suicide. Because that’s what it would be. I wouldn’t actually die, but if I tried to break the rules they’d take away everything I value.”

Cassia struggles to understand Grandfather’s purpose in passing down contraband poetry to her. Her interpretation of the Dylan Thomas poem as a potential call to rebellion seems incorrect. She can’t imagine Grandfather would want to encourage her to do something so risky. Yet, Cassia’s constant analyzing of the poem is, in itself, a form of rebellion. She’s thinking on her own, veering away from the Society’s expectations.

“Ever since the day of the mistake with my Match, I’ve never known which life

is my true one. Even with the reassurances of the Official that day in the greenspace, I think a part of me hasn’t felt at peace. It was as though I saw for the first time that life could branch into different paths, take different directions.”

Ky’s “Two Lives” drawing resonates with Cassia. She relates to its message, as she, too, feels conflicted about her path. Her mistaken Match with Ky has forced her to question the infallibility of the Society’s Matching System. It has opened the door to the possibility that another path could exist for her—one that hasn’t been predetermined.

“You think there’s nothing here because we’re not putting up a fight. But there are words in our heads that no one else knows. And my grandfather died on his terms, not yours. We have things of value but you can never find them because you don’t even know how to look.”

When Officials search Cassia’s house for artifacts and determine it contains nothing of value, Cassia mentally responds that it does—just not in a way that they would understand. Her hostility towards the Officials shows that she is becoming far less accepting of the Society’s views. Her defiance has primarily been expressed through actions, but in this quote, it’s clear that her own views are also parting ways with those espoused by the Society.

“I put the napkin in my pocket and I think of Ky writing out his story with his red hands, seared from the heat of the job he does. I think of him risking everything each time he slips one napkin into his pocket. All these years he’s been so careful, but now he’s willing to take a chance. Because he’s found someone who wants to know. Someone he wants to tell.”

Cassia’s feelings for Ky grow stronger when she realizes the inherent risk of him giving her napkin drawings. Ky wants her to know who he is behind his calm façade. He’s worked hard to blend in, but in the process, he’s had to deny his true self (including his painful past). He’s chosen to reveal aspects of his life to Cassia—and she finds herself desperately wanting to know more.

“There’s no point in telling her that I’m thinking about the wrong boy. No, not the wrong boy. Ky may be an Aberration but there’s nothing about him that is defective. It’s our Government and their classification system and all their systems that are wrong. Including the Matching System.”

Cassia has reached the point where she is willing to blatantly condemn the Society. Although her hostility is still confined to her mind, it demonstrates that she fundamentally disagrees with the various systems in place—especially the Matching System. She no longer accepts the Society’s decisions as sacred.

“We do not kiss. We do nothing but hold on and breathe, but still I know. I cannot go gently now.”

Cassia finally understands the Dylan Thomas poem, her feelings for Ky revealing the many injustices of the Society’s classification system. She wishes to fight for Ky because he deserves happiness too—and will never again settle for complacency.

“They have perfected the art of giving us just enough freedom; just enough that when we are ready to snap, a little bone is offered and we roll over, belly up, comfortable and placated like a dog I saw once when we visited my grandparents in the Farmlands. They’ve had decades to perfect this; why am I surprised when it works on me again and again and again?”

Cassia is starting to recognize how the Society maintains control over everyone—that their freedom has been carefully crafted so as to deter rebellion. This is an important step in Cassia’s personal awakening, as she has moved past simply disagreeing with the Society’s policies. She is now at the point where she clearly sees their tactics at work—and herself as their victim. This revelation will protect her from being a pawn.

“For some reason I can’t tell him. I can’t tell him that it was his face on the screen the morning after my Match Banquet—the mistake—that made me first begin to think of him this way. I can’t tell him that I didn’t see him until they told me to look.”

When Ky asks Cassia when she first saw his true self, she lies and says it was during their hike on the small hill. She doesn’t want him to know that he was likely planted in her mind as a potential Match. This hesitation suggests that the Society may have played more of a role in their relationship than Cassia realizes—or is willing to admit.

“Still, I feel undeniably brave and vulnerable as I stand there in the forest with words that I cannot take back. My first written words, other than our names. It’s not much of a poem, but I think Grandfather would understand.”

Cassia chooses to confess her love to Ky by writing it on the ground. She recognizes her courage in writing words other than their names and revealing intimate feelings. In this moment, she feels that the many risks she’s taking are worth it. Cassia knows Grandfather would be proud, the potential that he saw in her having been realized.

“If I get to play God, or angel, then I have to do the best I can for Ky. I can’t let him die early and I can’t let him spend his life in this room. There has to be something better out there for him. I have enough faith left in my Society to think that; I have seen many people living good lives, and I want one of those lives to be Ky’s. Whether or not I can be a part of it.

This quote demonstrates that Cassia holds out hope that the Society—which she refers to as hers for the first time—can deliver a good life to someone like Ky. Although she has come to understand that the world around her is deeply flawed, she still believes it can offer something better. She is willing to use whatever power she has in her job as sorter to help Ky—even if it means sacrificing their relationship.

“My face fits perfectly into the spot against his shoulder, near his neck, where I can both hear his heart and smell his skin. I’m safe here, too. Some essential part of me is safer with Ky than anywhere else.”

When Cassia and Ky embrace before they finally kiss, the former notes the resulting feeling of security. Ky makes her feel safe in a way that no one else can—not even her family. As Cassia has started to question everything about her life and the Society, she needs this feeling of security more so than ever.

“I wish my mother could take me back inside the house, tuck me back in bed like she did when I was a child. When I watched night fall outside my window without a worry, when I did not know what it was like to want to break free.”

After Ky and his family are taken away by Officials, Cassia briefly longs for the blissful ignorance that she once felt. She remembers a time before she craved freedom, when she could pretend everything in the world was well. However, she now knows that there’s no going back and has to prepare herself for the challenges that lie ahead.

“I don’t press him further. I haven’t told him everything—about the kiss on the Hill, the poem—and I cannot ask him to do what I have not. This is a difficult balance, telling the truth: how much to share, how much to keep, which truths will wound but not ruin, which will cut too deep to heal.”

The world that Cassia grew up in is falling apart—a world where personal choice was kept to a minimum. She is figuring out how to navigate the unknown that now requires her to make difficult decisions—particularly about what information she should reveal, and what she should keep hidden. She sees the challenges ahead, as she wants to help bring about change while protecting the people she cares about.