Scythe: Part One

by Neal Shusterman
Citra and Rowan live in a society in which all natural causes of death have been eliminated. The two teenagers are recruited to be "scythes," people who administer death in order to cull the population.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five

Here are links to our lists for other works by Neal Shusterman: Challenger Deep, Dry
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. glean
    gather, as of natural products
    It is, and has always been, “gleaning,” named for the way the poor would trail behind farmers in ancient times, taking the stray stalks of grain left behind.
  2. pernicious
    exceedingly harmful
    Citra was at the dining room table, slaving over a particularly difficult algebra problem, shuffling variables, unable to solve for X or Y, when this new and far more pernicious variable entered her life’s equation.
  3. foreboding
    a feeling of evil to come
    Guests were frequent at the Terranovas’ apartment, so when the doorbell rang, there was no sense of foreboding—no dimming of the sun, no foreshadowing of the arrival of death at their door.
  4. deign
    do something that one considers to be below one's dignity
    Perhaps the universe should have deigned to provide such warnings, but scythes were no more supernatural than tax collectors in the grand scheme of things.
  5. resonant
    characterized by a loud deep sound
    The visitor’s tone of voice gave him away. Resonant and inevitable, like the dull toll of an iron bell, confident in the ability of its peal to reach all those who needed reaching.
  6. fortitude
    strength of mind that enables one to endure adversity
    They were betraying her by wobbling, so she forced fortitude to her legs, tightening her muscles. Whatever the scythe’s purpose here, he would not see her crumble.
  7. venerable
    impressive by reason of age
    My natural age is somewhere near one hundred eighty, although I forget the exact number. Of late, I’ve chosen this venerable appearance because I find that those I glean take more comfort from it.
  8. synthesis
    the process of producing a chemical compound
    “I’m a food synthesis engineer,” said her mother.
    The scythe raised his eyebrows. “And yet you cooked this from scratch.”
    She put down her fork. “All from synthesized ingredients.”
    “Yes, but if we can synthesize anything,” he offered, “why do we still need food synthesis engineers?”
  9. unperturbed
    free from emotional agitation or nervous tension
    The scythe was unperturbed by her outburst.
  10. pander
    yield to; give satisfaction to
    It’s refreshing to be challenged. You have no idea how tedious it gets—the pandering, the obsequious flattery, the endless parade of sycophants.
  11. bracing
    refreshing or invigorating
    A slap in the face is bracing. It reminds me that I’m human.
  12. facade
    a showy misrepresentation to conceal something unpleasant
    “You see through the facades of the world, Citra Terranova. You’d make a good scythe.”
  13. scythe
    an edge tool for cutting grass
    “That a scythe is merely the instrument of death, but it is your hand that swings me. You and your parents, and everyone else in this world are the wielders of scythes.”
  14. compulsory
    required by rule
    “Revival is compulsory,” Tyger said. “A car is optional. If they’re not forced to spend it, they won’t.”
  15. demeanor
    the way a person behaves toward other people
    The scythe’s demeanor, so cordial a moment before, took a turn toward tombstone.
  16. opiate
    a narcotic drug
    It hurt more than anything—more pain than a person is supposed to feel—but then the microscopic painkilling nanites in his blood released their numbing opiates.
  17. rabble
    the common people or lower classes
    Like Kohl, she was a highly popular junior, and as such would actively avoid any interaction with sophomore rabble such as Rowan.
  18. disdain
    lack of respect accompanied by a feeling of intense dislike
    He looked to the crowd for a sympathetic face—someone who might take his side—but all he saw in the faces of his classmates was communal disdain.
  19. repository
    a facility where things can be deposited for safekeeping
    It was one thing not to be noticed. It was something else entirely to be the repository of an entire school’s enmity.
  20. subterfuge
    something intended to misrepresent the nature of an activity
    She didn’t have a mysterious admirer; it appeared they both had a mysterious matchmaker, which set Citra working on another mental list—at the top of which were her own parents. Perhaps this was the son of one of their friends—but this kind of subterfuge was pretty obtuse, even for them.
  21. catharsis
    purging of emotional tensions
    War, vengeance, murder—all the themes on which the tale was strung—were so removed from modern reality, few could relate. Catharsis could only gather around the theme of love, which, considering that they were strangers trapped in an opera box, was far more uncomfortable than cathartic.
  22. pariah
    a person who is rejected from society or home
    For two months, Rowan had been the school pariah—an outcast of the highest order.
  23. derision
    the act of treating with contempt
    Rowan was never particularly popular, nor was he ever the target of derision before, but now he was cornered and beaten on a regular basis.
  24. conclave
    a confidential or secret meeting
    “Three times a year, scythes meet at a great assembly called a conclave. We discuss the business of gleaning, and whether or not more scythes are needed in our region.”
  25. paradox
    a statement that contradicts itself
    “Therein lies the paradox of the profession,” Faraday said. “Those who wish to have the job should not have it...and those who would most refuse to kill are the only ones who should.”
  26. parameter
    a quantity that characterizes a statistical population
    This year, when they crunched each cultural index from those I gleaned over the past twelve months, I, thankfully, came up well within accepted parameters:
    20 percent Caucasoid
    18 percent Afric
    20 percent PanAsian
    19 percent Mesolatino
    23 percent Other
  27. blase
    nonchalantly unconcerned
    And in spite of the blasé attitude he showed her, he was, in fact, attracted to her.
  28. subsist
    support oneself
    You shall live as I do. Modestly, and subsisting on the goodwill of others. You will take no more than you need, and waste nothing.
  29. austerity
    excessive sternness
    Austerity was a choice, for there were always those who shunned the plenty of the post-mortal world.
  30. vapid
    lacking significance or liveliness or spirit or zest
    I will not tolerate childish pastimes or vapid communications with friends.
  31. facsimile
    an exact copy or reproduction
    But then the cloud evolved into the Thunderhead, sparking with consciousness, or at least a remarkable facsimile.
  32. algorithm
    a precise rule specifying how to solve some problem
    But the Thunderhead was incorruptible. Not only that, but its algorithms were built on the full sum of human knowledge.
  33. despot
    a cruel and oppressive dictator
    All the time and money wasted on political posturing, the lives lost in wars, the populations abused by despots—all gone the moment the Thunderhead was handed power.
  34. blatant
    without any attempt at concealment; completely obvious
    The moment the market doors parted for them and the three of them stepped in, the dread around them was enough to raise gooseflesh on Citra’s arms. Nothing so blatant as gasps or screams—people were used to scythes passing through their daily lives.
  35. pervasive
    spreading or spread throughout
    It was silent, but pervasive, as if they had just accidentally strolled onto some theatrical stage and fouled the performance.
  36. sycophantic
    attempting to win favor by flattery
    “Here, Your Honor, take my melon, it’s bigger. I insist.” Did these people know that such sycophantic behavior would make a scythe want to glean them even more?
  37. obsequious
    attempting to win favor from influential people by flattery
    Not that Citra would want to level a death penalty for such a thing, but if she were given a choice between some innocent bystander and someone who was being nauseatingly obsequious about their produce, she’d choose the melon-giver.
  38. penchant
    a strong liking or preference
    “Do they have a penchant for the work?”
  39. reprimand
    rebuke formally
    Sometimes unsavories actually broke the law in minor ways, although most lost interest eventually, because they were always caught by the Thunderhead and reprimanded by peace officers.
  40. debilitating
    impairing strength and vitality
    Rowan knew he wasn’t officially performing the gleaning, but to be an intermediary...the thought was debilitating.
Created on Mon Jun 11 15:49:06 EDT 2018 (updated Fri Jan 04 10:15:30 EST 2019)

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