In the book Gathering Blue, the message that freedom and choice are key factors in life is conveyed. Lois Lowry proves this through particular events in the story.

One event that delivers the theme is located in chapter 23. During this time, Kira and her friends go to the large ceremony called, The Gathering. When the Singer comes out on to the stage, Kira sees the Singer's legs chained and bloody. Lowry (2000 pg.211) writes:

"His ankles were thickly scarred, more damaged than her father's face. They were caked with dried blood. Fresh, bright blood trickled in narrow rivulets across his feet. It all came from the raw, festering skin-infected and dripping-around the metal cuffs with which he was bound. Between the thick ankle cuffs, dragging heavily as he made his way slowly from the stage, was a chain."

When Kira sees this, she knows she must stay even and bring freedom to the village even if it means turning down the offer to live with her father. In the essay titled "Gathering Blue"(n.d.) it states, "Lois Lowry shows us in her books The Giver and Gathering Blue what it would be like not to have freedom and how important it is that we have it." A related scenario to the actions of Kira is happened when slavery was in effect. To give freedom to a community, Martin Luther King Jr. risked his lives along with many other people. His actions show how much people need freedom in the world. There is one more event that shows freedom is important in Gathering Blue.