The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey, Sam Robinson

Blog #3

Summary: I had just gotten done reading the 2nd part of the book. This part of the book is about a boy named Benjamin Thomas Parish (but known as just Ben Parish in the story). The part starts out with Ben laying down on a cot, in a tent, slowly dying from the "Red Death". While laying on the cot he starts to hear odd gunfire and giant explosions, he does not know whats going on and starts to fill up with fear. A man dressed in a uniform runs into the tent and yells "there inside us". This man was taken away by another man who had come into the tent right after him. Another man picked up Ben and carried him to the basement of the big building right in Write-Patterson (the "safe camp" that I mentioned in my second blog). A nurse comes in a examines him and states that he is "clean" but very sick. He is taken to the "zombie ward" where all the people who have the "Read Death" go to be treated. Ben is put on morphine and many other drugs to try and get rid of the virus. It works and the virus is no longer detected inside of him. He is then taken to another examiner to get a tracking device placed inside the back of his neck. He then goes with the doctor (Dr. Pam) to an underground level and is brought to a room to be shown what "an Other" looks like. When he see's who it is he is shocked. The man (or whatever he is) was named Chris, he was Ben's "tent-mate". Dr. Pam orders Ben to execute Chris because its the only way to get rid of them. Ben hesitates then firmly pushes the button...

Question #5: Is the ending satisfying?
Yes, the end was satisfying because it ended with Cassie, Ben and her little brother Sammy all together sitting watching the sun rise over the horizon. This is satisfying to me because they are all together and there is no worry about being killed at any moment, they are just enjoying each others comfort and the sun rise.

Question #3: What is the structure of the story?
The author wrote this story in interlocking short stories. Each part of the book is a different characters view point of the story. This makes the story more interesting because you can see how each character feels and what each of them go through to try and survive the invasion. I think the author picked this form of writing because he knew that it would make his "audience" enjoy the book much better. Like in the first 23 or 24 chapters its all about Cassie and she mentions her little brother Sammy and a guy she liked named Ben Parish, and the reader sits there wondering what happened to Ben Parish? Did he die? Is he alive? Then in the 2nd part of the book you find out that he's alive and well. Then with Sammy when he gets taken away on the bus, the reader wonders if Sammy is actually being taken to a "safe place" or if he's just going to be killed like all the people in the refugee camp were. The book in reality is a question and answer. You question whether that character is dead or not and then later in the book it answers your question.