Secrets

In the book The Dream Thieves, by Maggie Stiefvater, secrets seem to be a consistent part of the main characters lives. Though, unlike the secrets in the Akata Witch, the secrets in The Dream Thieves come with extremely negative consequences. The first character’s secrets we are introduced to are Ronan’s. He admits to having three main secrets: his father got his money through his dreams, his mother was a product from his father’s dreams, and Ronan—like his father—can also take objects from his dreams. These family secrets are passed down from his father who also kept them hidden (and now they are coming back to bite everyone). Moreover, Declan, Ronan’s oldest brother, keeps the fact that he knows these secrets hidden. All of the secrets in this family are driving them apart! Ronan feels isolated by the weight of his secrets. More than once, Ronan questions what he is and if he should hate himself (91). Declan separates himself by keeping secrets. By trying to control his brothers while also maintaining the family secrets, he allows Ronan to see him as the enemy.

Secrets are not only causing family drama, but they are also endangering their lives. The Gray Man beats Declan to a pulp looking for the graywaren (aka Ronan), and Kavinsky kidnaps Matthew and attempts to kill both him and Ronan. Stiefvater is clearly trying to pass the message that secrets carry grave consequences because Ronan realizes this in chapter sixty two and says that he will tell Matthew all of their father’s secrets (426).

13 responses to “Secrets”

  1. annabilly Avatar
    annabilly

    I agree! Keeping secrets is a major theme of the novel but it does not only pertain to the boys in the novel; Blue keeps a secret herself. Her curse of not being able to kiss her true love because he will otherwise die inhibits her relationships with other characters in the book. Secrets become a source of fear for her because she is ashamed and feels guilty for something she is not responsible for. What are we as readers supposed to make of this? Is there larger commentary on secret keeping and its role in helping/hurting relationships between people?

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    1. mahinasmith Avatar
      mahinasmith

      I think that there is a commentary that secrets hurt relationships. For example, the secret Blue is keeping about kissing is driving Adam and Blue apart. Or, the unspoken hurt between Gansy and Adam. I think the author might be trying to say that secrets and communication need to be better in order for a friendship to thrive.

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  2. hkg Avatar
    hkg

    I agree as well; a reoccurring theme in this novel does seem to be that keeping secrets can result in dire consequences. However, I don’t think that this theme necessarily fits the rest of the novel. I say that because the rest of the novel – the discussion of college, use of language, sexual tension etc. – seems to be geared toward older teenagers. Does anyone else have any thoughts on why this book, which seems to be geared toward older readers, carries a moral about the danger of secrets? To me, it feels like the author is attempting to persuade older teens to think twice about keeping secrets from their parents (which feels like a very strange message).

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    1. mahinasmith Avatar
      mahinasmith

      I didn’t think it was directly telling older teens not to keep secrets from your parents, but maybe secrets are not healthy in any relationship. At least, that is my take.

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  3. akaron Avatar
    akaron

    I think this in an interesting conversation because there is definitely something to the idea that secrets and secret keeping is a major part of this book and i suppose the series overall, but I don’t necessarily think the author was trying to make it a moral for her audience. I think because these characters are grasping with such weird supernatural things its understandable to want to keep things a secret, and maybe all these secrets unwinding not only help us as the readers understand what is going on, but helps the characters connect and come together into the main plot of the book/series which is finding Glendower. By the end of the book Ronan is ready to let go of his secrets, already making that progress by telling his friends about his dreams, but now he will tell his younger brother as well. This indicates character development for Ronan (one of the main things to come out of this book) but also tells us that truth and trust connect people while secrets and isolation (looking at Adam here as well) divides them.

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    1. mahinasmith Avatar
      mahinasmith

      I think the author is in favor of shared secrets between friends (like between the raven boys and blue) because it binds them together. But, overall she might be trying to say that keeping secrets to yourself can isolate you and ruin relationships. I agree that Ronan telling his younger brother his secret is part of his character development of the novel, but it could play into a bigger message. Then again I haven’t read the series so I can’t talk about with the perspective of the bigger picture.

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  4. foulonni Avatar
    foulonni

    I agree with OP that secrets play a fundamental role in moving the story forward in The Dream Thieves, but I also feel like each character has reason to keep their secrets from each other. As the person above me mentioned, whatever supernatural events occurred in the first book with the cabeswater has rightfully made the kids more wary of the world around them. I mean, Noah died, Adam got like semi-possessed (still don’t know about this), Ronan and Declan are on the run from some deadly forces, and everyone just seems hyperaware (side note: Stiefvater really likes this word) about their surroundings. They’re really messing with forces that are incredible out of their control, and, as the opening situation proved with Declan and the Grey Man proved, those forces are actively coming for them. I would be kinda secretive too. I did find it interesting that the characters were still very reliant on one another despite keeping things from each other. Even Ronan, who’s the edgy lone wolf of the bunch (This man is just teeming with teenage angst), is reliant on Gansey’s knowledge to help him understand the manifestations of his dreams. I did like that the characters do realize that their secrecy may be more of a burden on the group than helpful in protecting their friends, but in the end I am still somewhat left wondering why so much of the secrecy was necessary in the first place.

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    1. mahinasmith Avatar
      mahinasmith

      I think part of the author’s message might be to trust your friends implicitly, meaning that they shouldn’t keep secrets from the people closest to them because it can cause damage to your relationships. I think that the secret-keeping might be necessary on a larger scale, like from the larger world, but not essential in their band of friends.

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  5. elgriott Avatar
    elgriott

    Interesting read. I guess part of what I disliked about the theme of secrets in the novel is that it seemed, to me, that not all of them NEEDED to be secret — as in, most of the secrets felt like they were secrets because the author wanted to add suspense, not because they needed to be secrets. For example, Blue keeping her tarot reading from Adam but telling Gansey.

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    1. mahinasmith Avatar
      mahinasmith

      Agreed! If people would have just had standard communication skills most of their problems would have been solved. I found that aspect of the book really frustrating.

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  6. emilycollins7 Avatar
    emilycollins7

    I agree with elgriott. I was really frustrated by the characters keeping secrets that I felt didn’t need to be secret within the friend group. It resulted in some of the moments of suspense in the book feeling artificial, which was one of the reasons I had trouble getting into and enjoying the novel.

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  7. poamek Avatar
    poamek

    It could also be interesting to analyze the idea of secrets in The Dream Thieves through the idea of Catholic guilt. Often, secrets are most interesting when we are learning about why they are kept and the shame associated with keeping them. That shame, how they keep a secret, or Catholic guilt(?) can reveal a lot about a character. Secrets and shame are very integral in the Catholic faith– it also makes me think of why need confession in the church, the divulging of secrets.
    How do we see this guilt or the idea of Confession function in this story?

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  8. ethanmakulec Avatar
    ethanmakulec

    Secrets seem most relevant to me in regard to what they represent broadly for all the conflict in the book. This is primarily in the sense of how they by definition deprive someone of knowledge. Not knowing what you want to or need to for a situation can be one of the most fundamentally frustrating sensations in the world, and the act of withholding knowledge from those you are close with can also be difficult. These fairly basic human frustrations are the primary driving force in this novel, and secrets are one example of them. Ronan does not know how to feel or entirely how to understand his abilities or himself, and the secrets he keeps and that have been kept from him in regard to this are the primary source of his strife. Thus, yes, secrets are shown to have dire consequences in this book, but this is primarily because of how much they tap into a depper human frustration regarding not knowing IMO.

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