Linked

Dana is the daughter of two paleontologists working on the dinosaur dig in Chokecherry. Before Link’s discovery of his family heritage, Dana was the only Jewish student at Chokecherry Middle School. Initially, Dana does not cite her Jewish identity as a source of her feelings of being an outsider. Rather, it is being a new student at a school where most of the other students have grown up together. At the start of the novel, she has been at Chokecherry for nine months but still feels isolated. When the first swastika appears, it amplifies these feelings because she feels that others view her as the only student who is personally affected. As a result of her discomfort, she doubts the community’s ability to respond meaningfully to the swastikas, to the point where she wants to leave the town.

Dana’s growth in the novel revolves around community. She goes from feeling like she is on the fringes of her local community to believing that she is part of it, and she realizes that working together can create positive change. As with Link, her evolution comes in stages and is prompted by the support of her peers. When Link reaches out to her to connect over their Jewish heritage, it creates Dana’s first opportunity to connect with her community. He prompts her to attend Caroline’s student government meeting, where she witnesses the birth of the paper chain project. As she sees the students’ commitment to the project fuel participation from around the world, Dana begins to understand that her personal history is also world history, for which everyone is responsible. This includes those with sinister elements in their family backgrounds, like Pouncey, and those who have made terrible mistakes, like Link. Remembering the past is what makes it possible to take responsibility and corrective action.

The revelation that Link painted the first swastika sets Dana back somewhat. She feels personally betrayed and assumes that Link lied to her about his background and his desire to have a bar mitzvah. When Link personally seeks her out and apologizes, she sees the truth in his remorse; this prompts her to reach out to him, similar to what he did for her. At the end of the novel, Dana rallies the community to support Link as he goes through with his bar mitzvah, demonstrating her integration into the community.

Though he narrates only five chapters in the novel, Michael provides a pivotal perspective on events. His point of view launches the plot, as he discovers the first swastika and remains a suspect because of this. As Michael points out, however, he is Dominican American, an underrepresented group in Chokecherry. Michael is frustrated about being a suspect, as he feels that he and other students of color are also suffering because of the swastikas, which are a symbol of white supremacy. Michael’s chapters examine The Complexity of Motives as he considers who could be spreading hate in Chokecherry and why.

Michael belongs to the art club, and the principal, Mr. Brademas, asks him to oversee the creation of a wall-sized poster that will preserve the memory of what happened at school. Privately, Michael notes that visual media created to honor sports victories are commissioned by professionals, while the art club is often called upon to provide labor for other projects that are apparently deemed less important. Michael’s commentary does not pass judgment on them but serves as an invitation to reflect on what a community is prioritizing. In this case, sports victories are a positive outcome around which a community can rally, but they are also frivolous in comparison to the swastika problem. The novel implies that it is necessary to remember negative events as well, as they can also become positive rallying points when a community responds appropriately.

Michael is the student responsible for the paper chain project: six million paper links to represent the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust. As the overseer of the project, Michael takes it very much to heart. Throughout the book, Michael channels hope and optimism: He refuses to engage in negativity despite Adam’s prompting, he supports Dana’s effort to bring the community together to celebrate Link’s bar mitzvah, and he consistently points out the good results that have come from bad actions. His perspective is the second-to-last chapter in the novel, and it is through his voice that the novel’s central message is filtered: Community is a noun, but it is also an action that must be continually engaged in and nurtured.

Though she only narrates three chapters in the book, Caroline is a central figure in other students’ narrations due to her role as seventh-grade president. In both her own and others’ chapters, Caroline is portrayed as an enthusiastic believer in The Power of Individual and Community Action. She repeatedly expresses her belief in the power of students coming together to respond to problems and enact positive change.

Caroline’s enthusiasm straddles the border between self-interest and genuine concern, depending on how her actions are interpreted. Early on, she complains that the “popular” kids get all the attention and accolades, which Michael attests to in his chapters. Caroline harnesses this, however, by spreading the news that Link will be attending the student government meeting, knowing that this will prompt others to attend because of his popularity. She also understands that the end of the paper chain could bring about the end of students’ involvement in school government and scrambles to find another way to keep the momentum going. Michael believes that she asks him to be her running mate for eighth-grade president in order to capitalize on his popularity. Caroline represents The Complexity of Motives, as her actions are self-centered but ultimately well intentioned.

Across the novel, Caroline’s self-interest acts as a foil to Adam’s. Whereas Adam is animated by purely selfish goals to achieve popularity and attention for his YouTube channel, Caroline’s self-interest dovetails with genuine concern for her community. Along with Michael, Caroline oversees the paper chain project throughout the novel and transports the paper chain’s six million links to Chokecherry for Link’s bar mitzvah. She is portrayed as someone who enjoys power but also knows how to deploy it for positive ends.

Adam is a video blogger who comes to Chokecherry to report on the swastikas for his YouTube channel. Adam himself does not narrate a point of view, but transcripts from his show, as well as students’ interactions with him, reveal his character and intentions. His presence in Chokecherry was calculated for a negative end. He complains that big cities are portrayed negatively, and his intention was to show that small towns are just as bad if not worse. Adam never intended to learn what the community stood for or to help the community grow. He came with a judgment that he sought to verify, finding all the worst moments and highlighting those, with no faith that people and communities could grow in positive directions. Adam’s motives are purely selfish, and everything he does is designed to garner engagement with his social media followers.

In addition to providing a foil for Caroline, Adam also provides a foil for Dana. She starts out feeling like there is nothing that can be done to counter the swastikas and that they must simply be borne, but she comes to see that when people come together to achieve a positive end, change and growth are possible. Adam, conversely, does not allow himself to be moved or changed by the actions he sees happening around him in Chokecherry and across the world. He remains a static character, trapped in his own negative worldview.

Nonetheless, Adam’s presence is vital to the story. The townspeople, including Caroline, tolerate the negative aspects of his presence because of the good that comes from his coverage: People around the world learn about the paper chain project because of him, and their donations help the students reach their goal. Adam also reveals that Link painted the first swastika, which is the book’s climactic plot twist. Though Adam’s actions are meant to inspire outrage and drama, he enables Link to be honest with his friends and to openly atone for what he did. By the end of the book, the entirety of Chokecherry stands against Adam and his quest for negativity; in the final chapter, Link refuses to let Adam steer the interview, firmly focusing on the good that has come from the swastika incident.