New life in the midst of devastation

Children bringing hope into a dying world is a recurring theme throughout the novels we have studied. In the latest book, Zone One, the world is recovering from a devastating pandemic and children are rarely seen. So, when the Tromanhauser Triplets were released from the ICU, a sense of promise and hope swept through the camp. Mark Spitz and other people in the compound have been working towards rehabilitating the world and the birth of the triplets reassured that Earth had a future. They could find a vaccine for the plague or a treatment to reverse the effects of it, but without new life being brought into the world, it would inevitably die.

While the class was discussing Zulu’s, I asked a question regarding the importance of Alice’s pregnancy. I inquired about the enthusiasm of many people regarding her pregnancy, as her child would have been born into a world facing inevitable destruction. In light of reading Zone One, I realized that hope is enough for a species to survive on. Hope for life when people thought it was impossible can give others motivation to strive towards something greater. Similar to Alice, Eli from Clay’s Ark, attempted to make a safer place for Jacob and the other children to live in. Once they realized the disease was going to spread around the world, Eli reminded the enclave to “Remember the kids… They’ll need us more than ever now” (Butler 623). Children from all of these books gave other characters motivation to continue to try and make a better world for them to live in.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.