Jeffrey Greggson Character Analysis

Jeffrey is the son of George and Jean and the first human to start showing signs of Total Breakthrough, wherein he begins developing psychic abilities brought on by the approach of the Overmind. Knowing this, the Overlords have been observing Jeffrey for his entire life, and miraculously protect him from a tsunami—speaking as a voice in his head and burning away a boulder that would have trapped him—giving George and Jean their first indication that there is something unique about their son. Before he begins to show symptoms of the Overmind’s coming, Jeffrey is a simple boy—he enjoys swimming on the coast of New Athens, playing with the family dog, and begins to share his father’s love of the theater. However, after the tsunami, he begins to have strange dreams of distant planets, which Karellen and Rashaverak understand are not actually dreams but Jeffrey’s mind developing its ability to leave his body and roam the universe while he sleeps. As time passes, Jeffrey begins having these “dreams” during the day as well, for hours at a time, greatly disturbing his parents. By the time the symptoms of Total Breakthrough start appearing in other children, Jeffrey is no longer himself, and no longer the son of George and Jean—he has turned into something else entirely. When the Overmind arrives, Jeffrey sheds his bodily form and joins it with the other children. Rashaverak implies that, due to his transformation, he is not technically human.