Gregor the Overlander

“His Mom said Boots never knew a stranger, which meant she thought everybody in the world was her friend.”

This is a moment where the reader gets a sense of how Boots operates: she doesn't fight with other people; she just sees and treats everyone in the world as her friend. This is in stark contrast to many of the other characters in the book, who create divides between people or divides between species. 

“‘The crawlers are not known for their fighting ability’ said Vikus, by way of explanation to Gregor. Neither her nor Solovet were laughing now. He turned to Luxa and Henry. ‘Yet they live on. Perhaps when you can comprehend the reason for their longevity you will have more respect for them… foolish jokes at the Crawlers expense may make the difference between our existence and our annihilation. They do not need to be warriors to shift the balance of power in the Underland.”

Vikus explains that cockroaches traditionally flee rather than fight, and even though it may seem cowardly to an outsider, it is the reason they have survived for so long. Vikus implies here that every living creature deserves respect, and they shouldn’t take the Crawlers’ power and presence for granted because such hubris could eventually lead to Regalia’s destruction. 

“He had to hold the rats off. It would give him time. The expression startled him. Vikus said killing him would give the roaches no time. By ‘time’ did the Underlanders simply mean more life?”

This moment on the beach is significant because Gregor begins to experience life as an Underlander would: he thinks in terms of time and survival. This is also the first moment Gregor really embodies his role as the Warrior—the rats are awed that Gregor even has the courage to speak to them.

“Courage without caution makes for an early death.”

This warning speaks to the importance of courage, but also of wisdom and proceeding with care. Vikus repeats these words to Luxa daily; they are a reminder not to be reckless or impetuous. 

“‘It’s hard to imagine what any of us would do in the caves of the rats,’ said Vikus gently. ‘To keep sanity must be a struggle, to keep honor a Herculean feat. I am not judging your father, only seeking to explain why he survives so long.”“‘It’s hard to imagine what any of us would do in the caves of the rats,’ said Vikus gently. ‘To keep sanity must be a struggle, to keep honor a Herculean feat. I am not judging your father, only seeking to explain why he survives so long.”

Here, Suzanne Collins is making a greater reference to all prisoners of war, in that the person someone is before they are captured may be altogether different than who they become when faced with the prospect of death. Sometimes, to survive, a prisoner may have to do things they would never do in peacetime. Sometimes, it is impossible to keep honor or sanity, and it is not something a person should be judged for because there are limits to what a human being can bear. 

“They are masters of destruction, but creation evades them.”

The rats are victims, in many ways, to their biology. They have no thumbs, so they don’t have the ability to write, engineer great buildings or create art. Instead, they rely on their size and brute strength for power and, in turn, manifest destruction. 

“The Prophecy of Gray:

BEWARE, UNDERLANDERS, Time Hangs By a Thread

The Hunters are Hunted, White Water Runs Red.

The Gnawers will Strike to Extinguish the Rest,

The Hope of the Hopeless resides in a Quest

An Overland Warrior, A Son of the Sun,

May Bring us back Light, He May bring us back None,

But Gather Your Neighbors and Follow his call,

Or Rats will most surely devour us all.

Two over, Two under, of Royal Descent

Two Flyers, Two Crawlers, Two Spinners Assent.

One Gnawer beside and one Lost up Ahead.

And Eight will be left when we count up the Dead.

The Last who will die must decide where he stands,

The Fate of the Eight is contained in His Hands,

So Bid him take Care, Bid him look where he leaps,

As Life May be Death and Death Life Again Reaps.”

When broken down, Gregor is the Overland Warrior—he is from the Overland, and he is the son who is missing a father. This prophecy speaks of an important quest and the people who will participate, emphasizing the importance of different species and their different strengths. Gregor and Henry each make important decisions at the end of the story, so the last stanza of the prophecy in fact relates to both of them. 

“‘You’ve got the wrong guy,’ Gregor had said. ‘Really, I promise I’m not a warrior.”

The writer Joseph Campbell looked into the nature of stories and discovered what he called “The Hero’s Journey”: in every story, there are certain key moments that happen regardless of how the story ends or what genre it is. One of the most important steps for a protagonist is known as “The Refusal of the Call,” when the Hero denies the significance of his or her quest or his or her role in a given journey. In this case, Gregor denies his identity as the Warrior and his role in the Prophecy of Gray. 

“Each person carries their own destiny. These walls tell of our destiny. And your destiny, Gregor, requires you to play a role in it.”

While there is such a thing as fate, we also have free will. Though fate may provide a certain situation, our destiny is ultimately in our hands, as we shape our destiny through our intentions, actions and choices. 

“Where there’s life, there’s hope.”

Vikus believes that the ability of life to thrive and continue rests in positive emotion and positive belief. Gregor later proves he agrees with this philosophy when he decides not to accept the sword from the council in favor of diplomacy.

“Gregor nodded. He could never hate people very long because he always ended up finding something sad about them that he had to factor in. Like this kid at school everybody hated because he was always pushing little kids around and then one day they found out his dad had hit so much, he was in the hospital. With stuff like that, all Gregor could feel was bad.”

One of Gregor’s defining features is his empathy. This is ultimately how he survives in the Underland and is able to make such a meaningful impact. He empathizes with everyone he encounters, so no one is an enemy. He recognizes that even the “bad guy” at school, has a reason he’s so hurt. Gregor sees past appearances and has a more complex understanding of why people do what they do. 

“‘Is that what you think Luxa?’ said Gregor. ‘That something deserves to die if it’s not strong’”

This is a question pondered throughout the entire story—does a creature who is weak still deserve the chance to live? Do they still have something of value to offer the world? This is also an important moment of Gregor challenging Luxa and asking her to examine her beliefs. 

“The humans and bats had small, densely populated lands that could be protected easily. The roaches lived across miles and miles of the Underland. How did they keep themselves safe from attack with all this space to defend? The answer came to him as they flew over a valley that held thousands of roaches. The crawlers had numbers, huge numbers, compared with the humans. If they were attacked, they could afford to lose more fighters. And with so much space they could retreat endlessly and make the rats follow them. Gregor thought about the roaches in their kitchen at home. They didn’t fight. They ran for it.”

This passage shows the Crawlers’ philosophy of fleeing for safety versus fighting. This mentality is very different from the rats who are outwardly aggressive, or the spinners who try to trap their prey. The quote harkens to what Gregor said about cockroaches being around for three hundred and fifty million years, while humans haven’t been around for six. They believe in survival at all costs.

“‘It is time,’ he said in response to Henry’s frown. ‘It is time those of the prophecy became of one journey, of one purpose, of one mind, all equal here.’”

In this moment, all the creatures of the quest become equal. They all eat together, no one better than or less than someone else. 

“‘I am sorry Gregor,’ said Vikus. ‘I have worked long to build bridges between ourselves and the spinners. I thought perhaps they would be more agreeable, but I overestimated my influence with them.’ He looked weary and old. Gregor hadn’t meant to make him feel worse than he already did. ‘No they really respect you. I mean, I think they were going to eat me until I mentioned your name. Vikus brightened a little. ‘Truly? Well that is something. Where there is life there is Hope.’”

Here, Gregor attempts to reassure Vikus that his efforts to attain peace have not gone in vain. Even though things may look bad, Vikus’s efforts have made a lasting impact on the Spinners and the overall success of their quest. 

“The hardest lesson for a solider to learn is to obey orders he believes are wrong.”

Ripred says the above quote to Henry. Sometimes in war, a commander requires you to do something in your heart you believe to be wrong. A person sometimes must decide in the moment what they believe and act in accordance with that belief. Or trust that their commander has a greater interest in mind. As humans, there is no easy answer to a moment like this. 

“Gregor it is not pleasant, it is not easy, but it is essential, what I ask you to do. Essential to you if you wish to find your father. Essential to my people if they are to survive.”

Here, Vikus says sometimes you must do things that are emotionally challenging or don’t make sense to you on a moral level, but you trust that you’re doing it for a greater cause. In this case, Vikus asks Gregor to go with Ripred and says it is essential for everyone’s survival. Out of love and respect for Vikus, Gregor consents to go. 

“You see I was tired of constant fear, so I made a decision. Every day when I wake I tell myself that it will be my last. If you are not trying to hold onto time, you are not so afraid of losing it.”

In this moment, the reader gets a hint of the reality that Luxa experiences every day. She has shut herself off from truly living and instead embraces death, so she doesn’t have to know fear in her daily life. This is both tragic and a survival mechanism. Over the course of the novel, Luxa opens back up to some of her emotions and it seems true healing may begin at the very end. 

“‘He is not a person. He is a rat,’ said Henry. ‘If you cannot make the distinction then you should count yourself among the dead.’”

Henry lives with a consciousness of separation, not one of unity. Everyone is always at odds with others, instead of at peace. 

“And then there was Tick. Brave little Tick, who had flown into the face of an army of rats to save his baby sister. Tick—who never spoke much. Tick— who shared her food. Tick—who was after all just a roach. Just a roach who had given all the time she had left so that Boots could have more.”

Here, Gregor marvels at the sacrifice Tick made in her efforts to save Boots. Though she was just a bug, she showed incredible moral fiber and honor that Gregor will never be able to repay or forget. 

“He hadn’t cried, not the whole time he’d been down here, and there had been plenty of bad stuff. But somehow Tick’s sacrifice had crushed whatever thin shell was left between him and his sorrow. From now on he felt an allegiance to the roaches that he knew would never fade. He would never again take a roach’s life. Not here and not—if by some miracle they made it home—in the Overland.”

It is a very a Buddhist idea not to take the life of a living creature, and it is also a way of perceiving all beings as sacred. In this instance, out of reverence for Tick’s sacrifice, Gregor promises to perceive all Crawlers as sacred from this point out and to spare their lives, even in the Overland. 

“‘I’m tired of having cowards and weaklings as allies,’ said Henry. ‘The rats at least are not guilty of that. Together we will protect each other. Together we will rule. Together we will be safe. It has been decided.”

Here, Henry judges the Crawlers and Spinners as weak. Though rats are responsible for his parents’ death, he sees their strength as desirable regardless of their moral outlook. He wants to unite with the rats for the sake of greater power. 

“There are times it will be very hard to find. Times when it will be much easier to choose hate instead. But if you want peace, you must first be able to hope it is possible.”

Here, Vikus says that hope is the seed from which peace is possible. Earlier he says, ‘where there is hope there is life.’ This is a mirror statement and speaks to the fact that when you believe something is possible or that something could be different, you aspire to hope, and hope creates change.