Son: Book 1, Chapter 2  Summary & Analysis

Now, when Claire can focus through the pains, she hears people busy around her, prodding her belly and checking her blood pressure. She’s blindfolded and tied down, and nobody will tell her if this is normal—though she’s pretty sure something is wrong. She can also tell that they really only care about the Product. Someone says they need to “put [Claire] out” so they can “go in for it,” and as Claire drifts off thanks to sweet-smelling gas, she can feel someone “carving” into her belly. She wakes up some time later in an empty room. Her aching belly is flat and empty. The Product is gone, and Claire misses it.

Over the next three weeks, Claire recovers in the Birthing Unit and then another holding place. It’s awkward, though, because Claire recovers more slowly than the others—she has a “wound,” while none of the others do. Then they all return to the dormitory and speak little of the “Task.” Nothing really has changed; two new Vessels have arrived, and a girl named Nancy, having recently delivered her third and final Product, was assigned to Farm for the rest of her working days. Claire is happy for Nancy, but she’s anxious about her own future. She knows something went wrong, but everyone seems confused when she asks them if their scars hurt. Nobody else has scars.

  Now, the loudspeaker calls for Claire to come to the office. Wondering with a friend what she’s done, Claire heads to the office, where the committee tells her she’s been “decertified” and will be moved this afternoon. Claire begs for more of an explanation. They tell her she had a physical problem and shouldn’t have been inseminated. When Claire asks about her Product, they tell her that “he”—number Thirty-six—is fine. A man glares at the woman who called the product “he.” Claire is being reassigned to Fish Hatchery. As she gathers her things, she reflects that she has a son, and she again feels immense grief.