Laws and order (not to be confused with Law & Order) play a huge role in Gemma's world in Stolen. Whether it's her parents' subtle pressures for her to participate in their upper class lifestyle or Gemma's sense of relief at knowing Ty brought her to a country where law enforcement has the potential to rescue her, Gemma relies on the conventions of the society she's been raised in as a way of interpreting what's happening to her.
By contrast, Ty has a reckless disregard for the law and authority figures, seeing them as people who disrupted the order of his own unconventional life. Stolen definitely blurs the line between "civilized" and "uncivilized," causing us by the end of the book to reevaluate the way we see Ty's approach to life.
Questions About Rules and Order
- How does Gemma learn to adapt to the order of Ty's environment? Be specific, please.
- What is Gemma's world back home like? What rules does she operate under that being in Australia forces her to question?
- What is Ty's motivation in kidnapping Gemma? Do you think he understands that what he's done is wrong? Why or why not?
- Do your impressions of Ty's actions change by the end of the book? How so? What influences this change in your perspective?
Chew on This
While Ty's kidnapping plot may be wrong, some good still comes from it in terms of how Gemma sees the rules and order of her life.
While Ty and Gemma grew up in completely opposite environments, neither of them ever thinks to question the order of their lives until they are stolen.