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The Gathering

323 statements
63 feature instances
6 referencing feature instances

The Gathering	type	TVTItem
The Gathering	label	The Gathering
The Gathering	page	TheGathering
The Gathering	comment	Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_content_3'); })The Gathering is a young adult horror/fantasy novel by Isobelle Carmody. Unlike many of her more famous works, The Gathering is set in the real world, specifically 1990s Australia. It follows teenage protagonist Nathaniel Delaney, who has recently moved with his mother to the seaside town of Cheshunt. This is only the latest of many moves they've made throughout Nathaniel's life, and he's not too happy about it.Nathaniel develops an instant dislike for their new home, and it doesn't help that his new school, Three North, stinks due to its proximity to an abbattoir. He may have a point, however, for things are far from right in Cheshunt. It may seem pleasant and peaceful, but it's a growing but indefinable threat: Its citizens are cowed into obedience, its students discouraged from expressing any acts of individualism, the police and governing bodies are all under the control of the school's rather creepy headmaster, Mister Karle, and the teachers have some frankly disturbing ideas about ants being a higher lifeform than humans. A long time ago, the town was the site of an act so terrible that its aftereffects have permanently "bruised" the earth, and the shadows of malevolence still echo into the present day. Several decades earlier an attempt was made to quench the evil once and for all. It didn't turn out well, and now the cycle of evil is reaching its peak once again.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_content_2'); })Three North's students are "encouraged" to join a local youth club named The Gathering which of course, is also not what it seems, and refusals are not taken well. Within weeks of arriving, Nathaniel stumbles on a meeting of three students from Three North: Danny Odin, Indian Mahoney and Nissa Jerome. A fourth member, Seth Paul, a school prefect, is not present. The group is known as The Chain, and they tell Nathaniel they have been brought together by the "forces of light" to fight against the deep evil in Cheshunt heralded by Mr. Karle (whom they refer to as "The Kraken"). When Nathanial is caught and questioned by The Chain, they are all informed by the group's prophetic guide, Lallie, that Nathaniel has chosen to answer "The Call". He is the final of the chosen members of their group, and his arrival heralds the beginning of their battle. They must find and obtain several symbols which will be essential in their task to "Heal the sorrowing earth" and restore balance to Cheshunt. But before they're able to do that they need to face up to the darkness inside each of them, and The Kraken, not to mention most of the town, are all rising up in force against them.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_content_1'); })Many themes are portrayed in this novel including: good vs evil, inner struggle, human nature, conformity vs individuality, friendship and cooperation. A TV series has apparently been in Development Hell since 1997.Not related to the Highlander franchise's concept of the same name or the Magic: The Gathering card game and related media.
The Gathering	fetched	2019-09-15T20:34:02Z
The Gathering	parsed	2020-06-24T08:08:02Z
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The Gathering / int_1484dba1	type	Foreshadowing
The Gathering / int_1484dba1	comment	Foreshadowing: All over the goddamn place. In particular the science teacher's use of ants as a metaphor for the behavior the Kraken wishes to see in humanity.
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The Gathering / int_15adb9a8	type	Never Split the Party
The Gathering / int_15adb9a8	comment	Never Split The Party: If the Chain breaks (i.e. if any of it's members fails to uphold their duty or is cast out by any of the others) then the town is pretty much doomed. Actually just speaking the words "You are no longer of the chain" to someone is enough to break it.
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The Gathering / int_19da8a03	type	Incurable Cough of Death
The Gathering / int_19da8a03	comment	Incurable Cough of Death: Lallie.
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The Gathering / int_1b68ff00	type	The Chick
The Gathering / int_1b68ff00	comment	The Chick - Nissa, who's really more of an Action Girl and Broken Bird and seems to do the lion's share of the leading. Nathaniel fits better considering his traditional role in the group.
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The Gathering / int_1badfb3a	type	The Heart
The Gathering / int_1badfb3a	comment	The Heart: Turns out to be Nathaniel's role in the chain.
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The Gathering / int_21f3aa44	type	Good Is Not Nice
The Gathering / int_21f3aa44	comment	Good Is Not Nice: Danny's motivation for punching a younger member of The Gathering when he and Nathaniel are confronted. Nathaniel is shocked because the youngest child had seemed the most afraid and quiet of the group that attacked them, and was only "going along with them" out of fear. Danny points out that the youngest boy is a new recruit to the Gathering and is probably there because he's afraid and thinks he'll be protected by conforming. By attacking him Danny showed him that he would gain no protection from surrendering his morality.
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The Gathering / int_237404cc	type	Ironic Echo
The Gathering / int_237404cc	comment	Ironic Echo: Early after meeting him in person in the attic, Nathaniel describes Seth Paul as looking like one of those "perfect people you see on coke ads". Later on, during the scene at the beach, he's seen with a coke bottle that appears to confirm Nathaniel's mental image... until you realise that the bottle is filled with whisky, revealing his problems for the first time and Seth's about half a chapter away from trying to kill himself. Danny is described as the school's resident mad dog, someone who seemed to have been "raised by dogs, who doesn't quite know how to act around people". Later on when we find out about Danny's Dark and Troubled Past, Danny reveals hismelf to be a bit more philosophical than that, comparing human behaviour to violent animals. He became an animal himself so he could cope. Nathaniel doesn't entirely agree with Danny's assessment of humans behaving like animals, because humans are the only animals that attack, hurt, or kill each other for fun. In a way, they both have a point.
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The Gathering / int_2493b31d	type	Fire-Forged Friends
The Gathering / int_2493b31d	comment	Fire-Forged Friends: Or rather, Chain Forged (Lallie describes the symbols as literally forging the group together). This is further cemented later in the book while rescuing Seth from his attempted suicide at the beach. Nathaniel and Danny also become somewhat fireforged after Nathaniel comes to Danny's defence when he's cornered by members of the Gathering.
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The Gathering / int_28c1d543	type	Defrosting Ice Queen
The Gathering / int_28c1d543	comment	Defrosting Ice Queen: Nissa
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The Gathering / int_2dc0d2bf	type	Hidden Depths
The Gathering / int_2dc0d2bf	comment	Hidden Depths: Just about everyone. One of the points of the book is that most people are more than they seem and you have to try and understand things from other perspectives.
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The Gathering / int_2fb3170e	type	Enemy Within
The Gathering / int_2fb3170e	comment	Enemy Within: Each member of the chain has their own personal demons to deal with before they can successfully complete their mission. These manifest as their strengths and weaknesses. Nissa, for example, is strong willed and courageous, but runs the risk of stubbornness becoming cruelty. Danny became a "wild boy" to survive in a harsh, uncaring world, but needs to learn forgiveness, Indian is an extreme pacifist, but needs to learn when to fight, and Nathaniel has to understand the importance of companionship and accepting other people.
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The Gathering / int_34a9299c	type	It Was with You All Along
The Gathering / int_34a9299c	comment	It Was with You All Along: Nathaniel's realization that the items they've collected are merely symbols of the healing. The real power of The Chain lies in the members themselves.
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The Gathering / int_34dcfc96	type	KickTheDog
The Gathering / int_34dcfc96	comment	Kick the Dog: Done in the most dramatic way possible.
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The Gathering / int_36c64123	type	Gentle Giant
The Gathering / int_36c64123	comment	Gentle Giant: Indian, to a degree.
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The Gathering / int_372bc105	type	Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism
The Gathering / int_372bc105	comment	Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism: Towards the idealist end of the scale but not without considering other viewpoints.
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The Gathering / int_3946634e	type	The Smart Guy
The Gathering / int_3946634e	comment	The Smart Guy - Danny; fits the least out of all the characters but is nonetheless clearly someone who has thought a great deal about their "enemy" and asides from Nathaniel is the most obviously philosophical about the ideas of Good and Evil and what it means to be part of the chain. Even if his ideas are in part ruled by his temper and the psychological damage caused by the policemen who abused him and got him sent to a sanatarium, and he's really a bit of a Wild Card.
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The Gathering / int_3d4d3dc9	type	Humans Are Bastards
The Gathering / int_3d4d3dc9	comment	Humans Are Bastards: Played with but interestingly not subverted. The evil in Cheshunt is real and highly manipulative, literally "calling" people there, but it's feeding on the darkness and cruelty that already exists in the human psyche. Several people, such as the Chain, are drawn to Cheshunt by the good in them rather than the bad.
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The Gathering / int_41a3e267	type	Hidden in Plain Sight
The Gathering / int_41a3e267	comment	Hidden in Plain Sight: All of The Chain's symbols turn out to be obvious items (it's believed their very nature hides them from the Kraken). Indian's bowl is on display in a maritime museum, Nathaniel finds his circle sitting on a desk in the Kraken's office, Nissa's sword falls out of her bag in the middle of the schoolyard and nobody pays it any notice and so on. Also, the location of the Healing which they spend most of the book trying to figure out. it turns out to be the abattoir: the source of the pervading smell of death that covers all of Cheshunt.
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The Gathering / int_41dee1c9	type	ChildrenAreSpecial
The Gathering / int_41dee1c9	comment	Children Are Special: Nathaniel theorizes that the reason teenagers, rather than adults, were chosen to become The Chain was that children are more able to accept the idea of actual bonafide evil existing, as well as actions being the product of human nature and choice.
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The Gathering / int_421e0f6a	type	Mysterious Waif
The Gathering / int_421e0f6a	comment	Mysterious Waif: Lallie.
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The Gathering / int_4484e50a	type	I Will Punish Your Friend for Your Failure
The Gathering / int_4484e50a	comment	I Will Punish Your Friend for Your Failure: The reason the school patrol kids from the Gathering murder the Tod. Mr Karle warns Nathaniel of this practically word for word later in the book. This is what happens if the vessel of Light (Lallie), and presumably Darkness (Mr Karle) act in any way to seriously affect the outcome of anything in "the battle". This is possibly an explanation for why the Chain are never seriously beaten up by the Gathering, even though Mr Karle is heavily suspicious of who some of them might be: the one time Nathaniel is actually hurt by the Gathering, it was due to his refusal to follow their rules, rather than that he had been identified. Once Lallie has played her role she is not permitted to give specific information or assistance. When she breaks that rule by using the Tod to save Nathaniel, she and the Tod are the ones punished.
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The Gathering / int_4a7c2c63	type	FeralChild
The Gathering / int_4a7c2c63	comment	Danny is described as the school's resident mad dog, someone who seemed to have been "raised by dogs, who doesn't quite know how to act around people". Later on when we find out about Danny's Dark and Troubled Past, Danny reveals hismelf to be a bit more philosophical than that, comparing human behaviour to violent animals. He became an animal himself so he could cope. Nathaniel doesn't entirely agree with Danny's assessment of humans behaving like animals, because humans are the only animals that attack, hurt, or kill each other for fun. In a way, they both have a point.
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The Gathering / int_4ef92d0b	type	The Atoner
The Gathering / int_4ef92d0b	comment	The Atoner: Indian, who blames himself for the brain damage his younger sister suffered after an accident while under his care.
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The Gathering / int_500ecfb7	type	The Big Guy
The Gathering / int_500ecfb7	comment	The Big Guy - Indian who doesn't raise a fist to anyone because he has decided that any harm against himself is his punishment for allowing his younger sister's accident, which caused her permanent brain damage (she fell off a slide when he was fighting with other kids).
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The Gathering / int_590eb583	type	Domestic Abuse
The Gathering / int_590eb583	comment	Domestic Abuse: Nathaniel's father is eventually revealed to have been this, and the reason behind why Nathaniel's mother moved him so frequently after their divorce. Nathaniel has mentally blacked out his memories of the abuse, which culminated in his father's failed attempt to kill him. It's implied that Seth's father is the same.
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The Gathering / int_59e5940e	type	AnimalMotif
The Gathering / int_59e5940e	comment	Animal Motif: Almost all of the main characters are associated with animals, presumably in symbolism related to their characters, but also to demonstrate their willingness to go against the wishes of the corrupt Cheshunt leaders. Nathaniel's is a salmon (to represent his willingness to 'swim upstream' against peer pressure), Nessa's is a wild cat (representing her need to balance strength with kindness), Indian's is the bear (strong, but unwilling to act unless threatened), and Danny's is the wild dog (the animal he became in order to survive in a world filled with far worse animals). Only Seth lacks an obvious motif though it's arguable that he's meant to represent humans.
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The Gathering / int_5be7bd04	type	Raised by Wolves
The Gathering / int_5be7bd04	comment	Raised by Wolves: Nathaniel describes Danny as seeming to be this in their first meeting though they eventually warm up to each other.
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The Gathering / int_5c5ac0e2	type	Really 700 Years Old
The Gathering / int_5c5ac0e2	comment	Really 700 Years Old: Lallie, who seems to be some kind of spirit being who was around the last time they tried to forge The Chain and cleanse Cheshunt.
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The Gathering / int_5cd6010b	type	Turn Out Like His Father
The Gathering / int_5cd6010b	comment	Turn Out Like His Father: Turns out to be the main fear of Nathaniel's mother, who's husband was abusive, and is possibly the lure which dragged her to Cheshunt. After the reader discovers this, her reactions to Nathaniel and her behavior in the story start to make a disturbing kind of sense.
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The Gathering / int_5dff009d	type	As Long as There Is Evil
The Gathering / int_5dff009d	comment	As Long as There is Evil: The Chain may have healed Cheshunt but the protection only lasts as long as they and their actions are recalled, leading to Nathaniel writing the story down. Evil in general will always exist in the world. Our duty is not to give in to it.
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The Gathering / int_60b21fa3	type	The Lancer
The Gathering / int_60b21fa3	comment	The Lancer - Seth, who turns out to be an alcoholic with serious and understandable issues who tries to commit suicide and then pulls a Face–Heel Turn.
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The Gathering / int_68cf9795	type	Ironic Nickname
The Gathering / int_68cf9795	comment	Ironic Nickname: A boy nicknamed Buddah is actually the violent and cruel school bully.
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The Gathering / int_6991bb9	type	Oracular Urchin
The Gathering / int_6991bb9	comment	Oracular Urchin: Lallie
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The Gathering / int_6bd689ca	type	Meaningful Echo
The Gathering / int_6bd689ca	comment	Meaningful Echo: When Lallie tells the group to join hands at the first forging of their symbols, Danny jokingly asks "Does this mean we're engaged?" Echoed in the final chapter.
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The Gathering / int_6bda9a30	type	Meaningful Name
The Gathering / int_6bda9a30	comment	Meaningful Name: These are all over the place. Mr Karle is called The Kraken by the protagonists. A Kraken is a mythical beast known for pretending to be an island, something completely harmless and even beneficial for years on end, before rising up to devour all those who settle on it. The name 'Karle' ironically, means "Free Man". Nissa's name means "to test" in Hebrew. The surname Delaney can in some contexts mean "defiance" Danny's surname, Odin, is also the name of the leader of the Norse gods. Indian's real name is Frank, which is obviously another word for sincerity or honesty, and can also mean "free". Seth is the name of the Egyptian god who murdered Osiris. The name Lallie Means "To chatter, or babble".
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The Gathering / int_7969f21e	type	No One Gets Left Behind
The Gathering / int_7969f21e	comment	No One Gets Left Behind: Subverted with the original chain, who allowed Zeb to go down for a crime he didn't commit. Fortunately, fifty years later, Nathaniel and the Chain do not make the same mistake.
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The Gathering / int_7ef728b1	type	Tsundere
The Gathering / int_7ef728b1	comment	Tsundere: Nissa has a side of this, but she's mostly just angry.
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The Gathering / int_8658cd14	type	Agent Scully
The Gathering / int_8658cd14	comment	Agent Scully: Nathaniel is this somewhat. He is described as "a thinker", and thinkers apparantly aren't very good at just accepting things they can't explain, like prophet children and evil bruising the earth. While Nissa started out as sceptical too she's changed her mind completely by the time Nathaniel arrives in Cheshunt. Thus they have a good understanding of one another as "thinkers" and generally end up playing the thinking roles.
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The Gathering / int_868409c	type	Broken Pedestal
The Gathering / int_868409c	comment	Broken Pedestal: The seemingly "perfect" Seth Paul seems able to do no wrong but in reality he's being pressured so much by his policeman father to join The Gathering and conform, not to mention the implied abuse, that he snaps under the pressure and attempts to commit suicide halfway through the book. Does a Face–Heel Turn which doesn't last long on the Chain.
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The Gathering / int_88574a	type	Narrator All Along
The Gathering / int_88574a	comment	Narrator All Along: The end of the book reveals that the story was written by Nathaniel in order to make sure that what happened with the chain was never forgotten, because the healing only works for as long as it's remembered, as long as it's remembered Cheshunt will be protected.
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The Gathering / int_8c678d33	type	Death by Newbery Medal
The Gathering / int_8c678d33	comment	Death by Newbery Medal
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The Gathering / int_8e5c862	type	Ancient Conspiracy
The Gathering / int_8e5c862	comment	Ancient Conspiracy: Cheshunt has been subject to several of these throughout the years. The current storyline is only the latest.
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The Gathering / int_8f764e60	type	Magnetic Plot Device
The Gathering / int_8f764e60	comment	Magnetic Plot Device: All of Cheshunt. The darkness in the town draws people to it. They are drawn either by their worst qualities or their best qualities. Lallie reveals that animals are called too, though they rarely answer it.
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The Gathering / int_92587498	type	Five-Man Band
The Gathering / int_92587498	comment	Five-Man Band: The group basically fits but the roles are all to an extent subverted with each of them. Sometimes to heartbreaking effect. This is one messed up Five-Man Band. The Hero - Nathaniel , mostly by virtue of being the audience surrogate. While he fulfills the role to an extent he also plays The Chick's more traditional role; also kind of the Sixth Ranger. The Lancer - Seth, who turns out to be an alcoholic with serious and understandable issues who tries to commit suicide and then pulls a Face–Heel Turn. The Big Guy - Indian who doesn't raise a fist to anyone because he has decided that any harm against himself is his punishment for allowing his younger sister's accident, which caused her permanent brain damage (she fell off a slide when he was fighting with other kids). The Chick - Nissa, who's really more of an Action Girl and Broken Bird and seems to do the lion's share of the leading. Nathaniel fits better considering his traditional role in the group. The Smart Guy - Danny; fits the least out of all the characters but is nonetheless clearly someone who has thought a great deal about their "enemy" and asides from Nathaniel is the most obviously philosophical about the ideas of Good and Evil and what it means to be part of the chain. Even if his ideas are in part ruled by his temper and the psychological damage caused by the policemen who abused him and got him sent to a sanatarium, and he's really a bit of a Wild Card. The Team Pet - The Tod who is brutally killed by the Gathering.
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The Gathering / int_a284511d	type	Balance Between Good and Evil
The Gathering / int_a284511d	comment	This is what happens if the vessel of Light (Lallie), and presumably Darkness (Mr Karle) act in any way to seriously affect the outcome of anything in "the battle". This is possibly an explanation for why the Chain are never seriously beaten up by the Gathering, even though Mr Karle is heavily suspicious of who some of them might be: the one time Nathaniel is actually hurt by the Gathering, it was due to his refusal to follow their rules, rather than that he had been identified. Once Lallie has played her role she is not permitted to give specific information or assistance. When she breaks that rule by using the Tod to save Nathaniel, she and the Tod are the ones punished.
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The Gathering / int_a621882	type	The Bad Guys Are Cops
The Gathering / int_a621882	comment	The Bad Guys Are Cops: Most of the town of Cheshunt is a member of the Community Committee, a group ostensibly designed to improve the lives of those in the formerly violent town. However because Cheshunt draws people to it 'via the best or the worst in them', most of the policemen have been overcome by their own power, and pretty much everyone is under the Kraken's thumb without even realising it.
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The Gathering / int_af3ea0e3	type	Faceâ€“Heel Turn
The Gathering / int_af3ea0e3	comment	Face–Heel Turn: Seth.
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The Gathering / int_b0bce7aa	type	Selective Obliviousness
The Gathering / int_b0bce7aa	comment	Selective Obliviousness: People in Cheshunt and the surrounding areas, if they're not already under the thrall of the dark, seem to cope with how eerie things are via outright denial.
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The Gathering / int_bd4264a3	type	Slasher Smile
The Gathering / int_bd4264a3	comment	Slasher Smile: Mister Karle. Nathaniel calls it his "happy murderer smile".
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The Gathering / int_c313d43a	type	True Companions
The Gathering / int_c313d43a	comment	True Companions: The Chain become this at the end. It can be argued that their becoming this was the whole point, as their functioning as a Nakama was the solution they had been looking for the whole time.
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The Gathering / int_c75df49a	type	Shout-Out
The Gathering / int_c75df49a	comment	Shout-Out: An In Universe version: Nathaniel and his grandfather were both named after the writer Nathaniel Hawthorn.
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The Gathering / int_cdfe12c3	type	Nothing Is Scarier
The Gathering / int_cdfe12c3	comment	Nothing Is Scarier: Half of the tension and fear in the book comes from the fact that the characters (and therefore the reader) are never quite sure the extent of how far someone can be trusted.
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The Gathering / int_d08595d3	type	Broken Bird
The Gathering / int_d08595d3	comment	Broken Bird: Nissa
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The Gathering / int_d5b84171	type	PowerOfFriendship
The Gathering / int_d5b84171	comment	Power of Friendship: The real power behind the Chain. Lallie describes laughter as a weapon against the dark.
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The Gathering / int_d64827f6	type	Good Hurts Evil
The Gathering / int_d64827f6	comment	Good Hurts Evil
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The Gathering / int_e003c829	type	History Repeats
The Gathering / int_e003c829	comment	History Repeats: The cycle of darkness in Cheshunt will begin all over again after the last attempt to heal the bruised earth several decades ago failed because the original Chain couldn't reconcile after one of them agreed to go down for a murder he did not commit.
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The Gathering / int_e21faf11	type	Friend to All Living Things
The Gathering / int_e21faf11	comment	Friend to All Living Things: Lallie.
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The Gathering / int_e49686	type	The Hero
The Gathering / int_e49686	comment	The Hero - Nathaniel , mostly by virtue of being the audience surrogate. While he fulfills the role to an extent he also plays The Chick's more traditional role; also kind of the Sixth Ranger.
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The Gathering / int_e5cffa61	type	Dreaming of Times Gone By
The Gathering / int_e5cffa61	comment	Dreaming of Times Gone By: Nathaniel dreams about Ana Galway, and Zebediah who later turn out to have been members of the original chain, as well as Lallie as a young woman rather than the small child they know her as, thus proving she's Really 700 Years Old.
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The Gathering / int_f25493f4	type	Nothing Exciting Ever Happens Here
The Gathering / int_f25493f4	comment	Nothing Exciting Ever Happens Here: Unless of course you know how dark and terrible Cheshunt really is.
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The Gathering / int_f36c4f98	type	Easily Forgiven
The Gathering / int_f36c4f98	comment	Easily Forgiven: Seth when Nathaniel realizes exactly what it was that broke The Chain the last time someone tried to cleanse Cheshunt of evil. The power of The Chain is only as strong as it's weakest member; by forgiving Seth and welcoming his back they complete the Chain anew and finally banish the evil from Cheshunt.
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The Gathering / int_fb9e2ffd	type	Team Pet
The Gathering / int_fb9e2ffd	comment	The Team Pet - The Tod who is brutally killed by the Gathering.
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The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

The Gathering	hasFeature	Broken Ace / int_f127ad23
The Gathering	hasFeature	Death by Newbery Medal / int_f127ad23
The Gathering	hasFeature	Fan-Disliked Explanation / int_f127ad23
TheGathering	seeAlso	The Gathering
The Gathering	hasFeature	The Titling / int_f127ad23
The Gathering	hasFeature	Young Adult Literature / int_f127ad23

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