48 pages • 1 hour read
Matthew CodyPowerless
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2011A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Meaning of Heroism
Whether superpowered or not, the characters of Powerless grapple with the true meaning of being a hero. Along the way, they find that heroism isn’t as simple as doing good or following the rules, forcing them to reevaluate how they view themselves and others. Through Daniel’s character arc, Eric’s desire to do good, and the Shroud’s twisted view of his actions, the novel explores how and why someone is heroic.
Daniel’s character arc reveals that heroes don’t need to be special to do heroic things. All his life, Daniel has been an average kid, something he never questioned until he met the supers of Noble’s Green. After witnessing the kids’ powers, Daniel starts to wonder how these kids got their abilities, which in turn leads to questions about why certain people are special when others are not. After getting caught up in the world of the supers, Daniel struggles to deal with being “normal.” Watching the kids use their powers and being left behind while they help people keeps Daniel from feeling like he’s truly part of the group, which makes him vulnerable to Plunkett’s deception. Daniel falls for Plunkett’s lies because he wants to believe his lack of superpowers doesn’t matter and that superpowers don’t make the others better than him. However, Daniel’s insecurity only damages him—keeping him from thinking clearly or making the best choices. In the final battle against the Shroud, Daniel realizes he’s the only one who can stop Plunkett because he’s the only one who can touch the meteor stone without negative consequences. The very normalcy Daniel dislikes becomes his greatest asset and allows him to save his superpowered friends when they need it most. Though he has no powers of his own, Daniel’s actions and desire to help make him a hero, showing how anyone can save the day.
Daniel’s conversation with Eric in Chapter 15 highlights how imperfection and heroism can coexist. Daniel questions how Eric can remain so steadfast even when faced with such adversity. He doesn’t understand how Eric can always be so calm or do the right thing, and Daniel’s inability to do so makes him feel inadequate. In response, Eric assures Daniel he isn’t perfect, saying, “I can only do my best and believe that one day I’ll be able to do more” (173). Unlike Daniel, Eric understands that being a hero, or just a person, isn’t about always being good or doing the right thing. Rather, Eric understands that he makes mistakes despite his powers and that he will make many more, whether he loses his powers on his 13th birthday or not. Eric’s words speak to how all people, superpowered or otherwise, are a work in progress. His powers make him incredibly strong physically, but they don’t change who he is on the inside: a 12-year-old kid who’s trying to figure out life. Eric just also happens to have abilities that let him help others in extraordinary ways, but this doesn’t mean he is perfect. Daniel’s discovery of Eric’s approach to imperfection marks a key point in his understanding of what it means to be a hero.
Powerless depicts heroism as subjective, varying depending on individual perspectives and motivations. For Daniel and the supers, being a hero has a clear definition—using one’s abilities for good and helping people who need it. By doing so, they believe they are heroes, and this allows them to feel like their actions have meaning. By contrast, Plunkett as the Shroud has a darker idea of what it means to be heroic. Since the original meteor strike that gifted its survivors with powers, Plunkett has viewed these powers as a liability, at least in the hands of others. When he discovered he could use the meteor to steal powers, Plunkett’s outlook changed. Having superpowers of his own made him realize how destructive such powers could be, and he internalized this as a fear of others using their powers to terrorize and destroy. His solution was to remove the powers from children before they could grow into dangerous forces, never realizing the danger he himself had become. To Plunkett, his actions as the Shroud are heroic because he is saving the world from potential threats. It doesn’t matter that these threats may never materialize or that he is the very threat he claims to be fighting. His perspective on the powers allows him to convince himself he’s doing the right thing, which shows how individuals’ beliefs in their own versions of “good” or “right” can make them heroes in their own minds.
The classic definition of a hero is someone who helps others and does good deeds, but Powerless suggests that this isn’t the only definition. Heroes aren’t always in the right, and individuals’ own thoughts can twist what they see as heroic until they’re convinced harm is good. As the characters of Daniel, Eric, and the Shroud demonstrate, everyone has the potential to be a hero, but without thoughtfulness and care, the line between hero and villain can easily blur.
The Consequences of Power
In Powerless, power offers many benefits, but it is not a guarantee of success. Power is only useful in situations where it can provide results, and relying on it exclusively can do more harm than good. Through Plunkett’s descent into the Shroud, the role the supers play in the town, and Daniel’s life away from the supers, the situations of the novel show the consequences of unchecked power.
Plunkett’s backstory reveals how power can change characters in dark ways. Seventy years before the events of the story, Plunkett missed receiving superpowers from the meteor strike that set fire to his orphanage. As an orphan, Plunkett already had a difficult life. Once he realized how profoundly he’d been left behind, anger and bitterness took root and began to change him. At first, Plunkett tried to accept how the other children had changed, but his only true acceptance came when he realized he could steal powers for himself. As a result, Plunkett took the powers from the other children under the justification he was doing the world a service. However, he was only catering to his insecurity, jealousy, and desire to be more than he was. Plunkett transformed into a villain motivated by the need to feel special, and he began stealing the powers and memories of children for generations. Over time, Plunkett’s sense of right and wrong eroded until he no longer recognized his actions as a violation. Plunkett’s arc shows power’s ability to warp individuals’ perspectives and moral codes.
In contrast with Plunkett’s misuse of power, the supers seek to use their power for good, demonstrating that power comes with responsibility. For generations, the supers of Noble’s Green have protected the town and its people from accidents and dangerous situations. Eric’s group is no different from those who’ve come before, and except for Clay and Bud, the kids follow the rules that have been laid out for them—doing good and never taking credit for their actions. Even without the rules, though, there is a sense of responsibility built into having the powers in the first place. Powers like Eric’s super-strength, Rohan’s heightened senses, and Mollie’s flight can do good but also cause harm. The only people who can keep those powers from harming others are the kids themselves. As Eric’s group knows, their powers are a gift, even if they don’t always feel like one. Regardless, the kids use their abilities well, showing how power and responsibility can work in tandem when done right. However, the supers’ sense of responsibility doesn’t mean that they only use their powers to help others. The kids also spend time together flying or otherwise having fun. These actions are harmless and even enhance the relationship between hero and power, showing the complex nature of responsibility and the many forms it can take.
While the supers try their best to use their power responsibly, Daniel learns that power can’t fix everything. Though the supers of Noble’s Green help many people out of a variety of troubling or dangerous situations, there are just as many issues that their powers cannot help with. In Chapter 7 after Daniel’s grandmother takes a turn for the worse, Daniel realizes that “no matter how powerful Eric was, he couldn’t help where it really mattered—he couldn’t help Daniel’s gram” (70). As powerful as the kids are, there is nothing they can do about the disease Daniel’s grandmother is battling. In this way, the supers are rendered as ordinary as Daniel: Their powers are no match for sickness and grief. The similarities that are revealed between Daniel and the supers after his grandmother dies are what truly bring the group together. Daniel feels inadequate and out of place among the supers because he doesn’t have power of his own. When all of them are reduced to helplessness in the face of a sickness, though, Daniel sees how alike they all are, which helps him get past his jealousy.
Through the narratives of the Shroud, Daniel, and the supers, Powerless explores both power and its limitations. A given type of power may be extremely useful in a certain place, but away from that situation, the power becomes ineffective. This can lead to feelings of inadequacy and frustration. If left unchecked, these emotions can turn into an abuse of power, which brings about its consequences.
Acceptance Versus Resistance
Acceptance plays an important role in the character arcs of Powerless, but equally important is knowing when acceptance isn’t the right path. Sometimes, fate brings about events the characters can’t change, and other times, questioning what seems like fate saves the characters from negative outcomes. Through Daniel’s grandmother, the supers’ rules, and the resolution of Daniel’s character arc, the novel explores the relationship between acceptance and resistance.
Daniel’s relationship with his grandmother and his grief upon her death exemplifies the novel’s exploration of the importance of acceptance. At the outset of the book, Daniel’s family moves to Noble’s Green to care for Daniel’s grandmother, who is battling cancer. Given how quickly her health has deteriorated in recent months, it isn’t surprising when her death comes in Chapter 14. Even so, Daniel struggles to accept his grandmother is gone. Up until the end, part of her still seemed like the woman he’d always known, and he gripped tightly to that knowledge in hopes it could keep her with him. Unfortunately for Daniel, life intervened when he wasn’t ready for it to do so, and his struggle to accept his grandmother’s death contributes to his troubled relationship with his friends and plays into Plunkett’s plans. Following his grandmother’s death, Daniel’s desire to help his friends is motivated by the knowledge that he couldn’t help his grandmother. He wants to believe that finding answers for the supers will make up for his grandmother’s death. However, his inability to accept that there was nothing he could do to save his grandmother makes him open to Plunkett’s lies, which eventually lead to Eric’s capture. The indirect relationship between Daniel’s difficulty accepting his grandmother’s death and Eric’s capture by the Shroud underscores the role of acceptance in fostering resilience in the face of adversity.
Daniel’s complicated feelings about his lack of superpowers and his desire to protect his friends reveal that acceptance doesn’t mean giving up. Throughout the novel, Daniel grapples with his feelings about the supers, particularly his own frustration about being normal among kids with extraordinary abilities. In the second half of the book, Daniel falls for Plunkett’s lies because he doesn’t want to accept that he is different from his friends. It’s not until Eric is captured that Daniel sees how his lack of acceptance has done harm. By looking for answers to justify his feelings, Daniel bought into Plunkett’s deception. Daniel makes up for his mistake by accepting his own limitations and skills. Though Daniel doesn’t have superpowers, he has an analytical mind and the strength to put his plans into action under seemingly hopeless circumstances. Accepting his normalcy doesn’t mean Daniel gives up on superpowers or the abilities of his friends. It simply means that he understands where his own strengths lie and that he doesn’t need to feel jealous or wish for things he doesn’t have. He is useful as he is, and his acceptance reveals that he’s willing to fight.
While Daniel’s arc underscores the importance of acceptance, the narrative also highlights situations in which uncritical acceptance can be harmful. The supers don’t know where the rules they follow come from. They only know they need to follow them, and within the group, they are at odds about whether they should trust the rules or not. Mollie wants to resist the rules, particularly the rule about losing their powers at 13. By contrast, Rohan accepts the rules as a way of life, telling Daniel, “You can’t fight fate, Daniel. And you won’t be happy as long as you keep trying” (82). While Rohan’s words are true in some cases, they only apply to inevitable situations, such as the death of Daniel’s grandmother. In the case of the rules, however, Rohan has confused fate with his desire to do what is right within the imposed restrictions. He refuses to believe the rules can be changed until he is presented with compelling enough evidence to suggest the rules are not dictated by fate or destiny. Once Rohan realizes that the rules aren’t inevitable, he sees that the supers have been tricked, and he comes to understand the power of questioning and resistance rather than uncritical acceptance. If Rohan had questioned the rules sooner, the group may not have lost Michael or Simon, showing how acceptance can cause harm under the right circumstances.
In Powerless, the theme of acceptance is portrayed as both empowering and limiting. Characters experience growth and empowerment when they accept aspects of themselves and their circumstances, enabling them to navigate challenges more effectively. However, uncritical acceptance of external forces and norms can lead to unnecessary losses and missed opportunities.
