Literature Analysis #1

1. I chose the book The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey for my first literature analysis. The story starts off in the main character, Cassie, point of view. She is alone trying to survive an alien invasion in the forest, it stays that way for a while until she is forced to kill a soldier. Cassie then decides to try and rescue her brother Sammy who is in a military base, however, she runs into a "silencer" and gets shot in the knee. Death hangs over Cassie but she is saved by a fellow lone survivor Evan Walker. He doesn't make sense though, the puzzle pieces don't fit right, and we later discover he is one of them, he is "other", he is an alien. Though Evan is "other", he manages to gain Cassie's trust and they leave to go save Sammy. Meanwhile, the point of view also switches to Cassie's old crush Ben Parish or "Zombie". He was also brought back from the brink of death and was whipped back into shape for one cause, to destroy the "others". When he becomes the leader of his own squad Sammy ends up with him but he is now called "Nugget". Since Sammy is the youngest though he can not join the squad when they go on a dangerous mission. On this mission, though they discover they were just trained to kill other survivors, not the "others". This shakes Zombie deeply and he wants to run away but he must return for one reason, to save Nugget. This causes both Cassie and Zombie to crash together and the story continues from there but I will not spoil the ending.

2. The main theme of The Fifth Wave is survival, often not for yourself but for others.

3. Huh, how does Rick Yancey spend his morning? Well, I imagine he must sleep in, if he knows the silence of the night he must have been up late, at least 1 am. He writes from Cassie's point of view, "Sometimes in my tent, late at night, I think I can hear the stars scraping against the sky". Then he probably makes a coffee with caffeine to get him awake, very loudly. I guess he must enjoy the quiet sound of the world, "The electronic symphony. The Hum of all our things and all of us." and when the noise is gone, "I want to scream at the top of lungs. I want to sing, shout, stamp my feet, clap my hands, anything to declare my presence." His head pounding, wishing he had fallen asleep earlier, thinking that making noise is equal to expressing our existence. Likely he will not exercise in the morning and only have one big stretch. He will then make breakfast. His breakfast will include meat, any type. From slim jims to sardines to a breakfast burger, he will have meat, "One of these days, I've decided, I'm going to work up the nerve to catch a chicken and wring its delicious neck. I would kill for a cheeseburger." or "He tells me he has plenty of dry goods and his mom was a devoted preserver and canner, but he likes fresh meat." I believe all of these things because often writers put some of themselves in a character, it can be a simple quirk or a whole way of thinking.

4. The five literary techniques I observed that strengthened my understanding of the theme and tone are point of view, characterization, metaphors, imagery, and a motif. Point of view is used often, we see Cassie's point of view the most because she is the main character, "Sammy is the reason I didn't give up. Why I didn't stay beneath that car and wait for the end." Cassie is surviving for Sammy, not for herself, just for one other person. We see Ben's point of view, "Take care of your baby sister... Eye, coldly staring down at me, the one with the silver locket clutched in his bleeding hand, the one who lived, the one who did not go back, the one who ran." Ben was supposed to take care of his baby sister but he didn't and now he's holding on to her silver locket as his lifeline. Again from Ben's point of view, we get a sliver into what Sammy is thinking, "But I hold it in, Cassie is Nugget's silver locker." This lets us the audience know that Sammy is surviving for his sister. We also view a characterization quite a bit, "My voice cracked. Couldn't help it." and "Fear didn't paralyze Cassie Sullivan, like it did some humans. Fear crystallized her reason, hardened her will, clarified her options." These two excerpts are about Cassie and show her as scared, yes, but also show her fear as a reason she is not weak. Next, we have a characterization of Evan Walker, "He stays in the chair with his elbows resting on his knees and his head lowered, which strikes me more as shy than menacing." This paints Evan as a shy person who may just be surviving for himself. There are many metaphors in The Fifth Wave but the most important ones are "It's like a cockroach working up a plan to defeat the shoe on its way down to crush it" it is brought back up towards the end as well, "The boot hasn't crushed the roach. Not yet." Another metaphor is used often to show how are shaped, made for survival, "We are the clay, and you are Michelangelo. And we will be your masterpiece." Lastly, the metaphor of a mayfly is often used to show how quickly humans can cease to exist, "If you're an insect, then you're a mayfly. Here for a day and then gone." Imagery is used to portray the dark tone and often describes uncomfortable scenes, "His hand was caked in half-dried blood. It looked like he was wearing a crimson glove." or "The virus took total control. Some people went into a frenzy as it boiled their brains. They punched, clawed, kicked, bit." and "There was this, like, permanent, creepy smile, cracked lips pulled back from bleeding gums, her teeth stained with blood. Sounds came out of her mouth, but they weren't words." The last literary technique used is a motif there is the teddy bear, it begins as a comfort object given away "That was all he needed to hear. He pushed the teddy bear into my chest," then on Cassie's way to return to Sammy it is an important object to her, "'It's okay. I won't forget you," I whispered to Sammy's bear." Near the end of the book, it exaggerated the changes Cassie and Sammy have gone through, Sammy is now a soldier, "I pull out the tattered old teddy bear and hold it toward him. He frowns and shakes his head and doesn't reach for it."