Saturday, February 23, 2013

The Host: Days 6 and 7--Chapters 13-16

Chapter 13:
"I forced her to see it from my perspective: to see the threatening shapes inside the dirty jeans and light cotton shirts, brown with dust. They might have been human--as she thought of the word--once, but at this moment they were something else. They were barbarians, monsters. They hung over us, shivering for blood. There was a death sentence in every pair of eyes." You've heard the stories of people getting made fun/beat up for who they are. For some reason, a lot of people fear those that are different. Blacks, gays, Muslims. How many times has a gay student committed suicide because they were mocked so badly. I watched a movie where a kid was beaten to death because he was Muslim, and it was right after 9/11. How many times did Malfoy call Hermione a Mudblood. At this point in the story, Wanderer/Melanie has been found by Jeb and some others hiding with him. Only Jeb is kind to her. The others want nothing more than to kill her, because she is no longer human. Different.

"Last night Melanie and I had wished for death, but death had been only inches away at the time. It was different now that I was on my feet again." Christians look forward to the day when they die, because that means they are going to heaven. A place with no suffering or tears, where they can meet Jesus. It is easy to think about death from far away, but I imagine it is a different feeling when the day actually comes. You think you are ready, but when it comes to it, you are scared. A little different in Melanie's case, but same concept. She was on the verge of death, so she wanted an end to the suffering. But now that she has had some water, and is being led to the hideout, she doesn't want to die. She is scared. Can you blame her?

Chapter 15:
"You're in love with him, too, separately from me. It feels different from the way I feel. Other. I didn't see that until he was there with us, until you saw him for the first time. How did that happend? How does a three-inch-long worm fall in love with a human being?" Melanie realizes that Wanderer is in love with Jared. I can see how that would happen. Melanie was still very much present when Wanderer was inserted in her body. Wanderer saw Melanie's memories of Jared, felt how much Melanie loved him. This went on long enough for Wanderer to have those same feelings herself. Like Melanie said, the feelings that Wanderer has are a little different than Melanie's feelings. Because Wanderer was only going off memories, the emotions are probably not going to be exactly the same as Melanie. She has her own feelings for him. No two people loves the same person in exactly the same way. I can see this causing problems between Melanie and Wanderer.

Chapter 16:
"If, unlikely as it may be, somehow this ever happens again, whoever the body belongs to makes the call." Jeb has now put the Wanderer/Melanie's fate in Jared's hand. Just imagine what all is going through Jared's head:  the body of the girl he loves, with the eyes of the Souls. He waited and waited for Melanie to come back. Now she has, but not his Melanie. She is tainted. How would you handle the situation?

---Amelia

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