Gemma Lucas

Character Analysis

A Whole New Girl

Like so many teens, Gemma is trying to figure out who she is now that she's gone through some serious changes. Unlike other teenagers, though, Gemma isn't going through a change in her physical appearance or in her likes or dislikes—nope, she is suddenly experiencing emotions after years of not being able to feel anything. And this is all a bit alarming to her:

I could still walk, talk, breathe, and function; I just couldn't feel any emotions. Ever. Crazy, I know. But at the time, I could have cared less. 

Then about a month ago, something inside me changed. (2.7-8)

As anyone who's ever woken up with a massive zit that wasn't there the night before knows, the teen years can come with some pretty rude awakenings. But can you even imagine going from a lifetime of no feelings to suddenly have emotions up the wazoo? Now that Gemma feels emotions, she has to figure out who the heck she is. While she was once perfectly content to just exist, now that she has feelings—and opinions that come from them—she has to go about discovering her whole personality. Adolescence just got turned up to eleven.

Skeptical and Cynical

The personality that Gemma settles on is a bit cynical and suspicious. This makes sense given the fact that the world of feelings is so new to her—being wary seems like a pretty appropriate response to such powerful new turf—but also because her grandparents, Marco and Sophia, have never treated her with any affection or love:

Since then, our already strained relationship has worsened. We barely talk to each other, which I guess isn't that big of a change since we barely talked before. 

Over the last few weeks, I had been trying to make some sense of why they refused to speak about my parents. All I could come up with was that maybe talking about my parents was too painful for them. Either that, or they didn't like me. (2.22-23)

Marco and Sophia have never modeled how to have feelings for Gemma, plus they've kept her in the dark about her past and her parents' identities. So Gemma's she's never actually been close to any human beings—not her supposed guardians, and not even to the idea of her parents. And because of this, Gemma doesn't trust others. It's especially hard for her to trust someone like Alex who initially acts like a jerk toward her. Standoffish behavior is all the discouragement Gemma needs from trying to truly connect with someone.

When Alex reveals that he's a Keeper who has actually been sent to protect her, Gemma is totally skeptical. She grows to believe him, and even to trust him over time, especially after they fight off plenty of Death Walkers together and he saves her life a couple times. But in the end when he lets Stephan capture her, Gemma feels like her worst fears about people have been confirmed—they're not to be trusted at all:

My heart broke. How could I have kissed him? As beautiful as he was, and as wonderful as his kisses felt, a part of me had always wondered if everything he did was a rouse.

And now I knew. That part of me had been right. (36.54-55)

Betrayal is always a major emotional owie, but it's all the more so for Gemma since caring enough to even feel betrayed is still so new to her. That said, she should have known better than to trust a cute boy; they're always trouble. (Just kidding, cute boys of the world—we're sure you're all wonderful.)

A Special Gem

Gemma always feels like she's different from other people, especially her peers. Yes, this has to do with the fact that she's never been able to feel emotions until now, but there's more to it than that, too: Gemma feels like she doesn't exactly belong in this world. That's why the stars feel so comforting to her:

Whereas now, I gaze up at them with a desire to… belong… or be a part of them. The first time I ever felt happy—and I mean ever—was when I had been lying in my bed, staring out my window, watching the stars shine harmoniously with one another. (3.5)

When Alex tells Gemma that she's special because she has a fallen star inside of her and is destined to save the world, Gemma is overwhelmed but not totally surprised. This actually makes more sense to her than her "normal" everyday life. And even though Gemma is scared and confused, she knows immediately that he's not pulling her leg—Alex is telling the complete truth. She's special, and whether she likes it or not, Gemma has to work with the Keepers to try to stop the Death Walkers from destroying the world.

Good luck, Gemma.