The Importance of Human Connections In Messenger, an award winning novel by Lois Lowry, the author uses Matty trying to keep Kira safe while leading her through Forest, and Matty coming to Leader in fear to save Village to develop a central theme of the importance of human connections. One of the most climactic points in the novel is when Matty is leading Kira through Forest to get her back to her father. Matty responds to this by trying to endure pain of his own while protecting Kira and keeping her safe on their journey. For example, the book states, “It had come for him first, he realized. He did not want to be the first to die, to leave her alone” (Lowry 151). While not only showing that Matty is a compassionate character, this also
