Ms. Mason
Period 3-4
11/4/2015
Book Talk Script
Imagine living in a world where you make all of the decisions: where to eat,
what to eat, when to go to bed, what to wear, and any other decision your parents always
make for you that you maybe don’t always agree with. Sounds pretty great right? (Wait for
agreement) However, the reason that you are able to live this kind of life is because every time
you encounter an adult, they try to eat you. Not so great anymore huh? This is the life that the
main characters of The Enemy live every day. They are able to make all of their own decisions
for the group because if they don’t, they will starve to death or die from adult attacks.
The first time I saw this book (show the book), I was not intrigued. The cover was a bit
bland, and just utilized three dark colors. The shadow on the front was unclear in where it was
heading and why it was running. And, to be honest, the book was just too big. It wasn’t until I
had time over a summer break that I actually picked the book up. I figured I would give it a try
when two different people recommended it to me. Once I began reading, I understood the
cover better. It also helped that the action started immediately!
Now knowing a little more about the story, I also greatly appreciate that the author,
Charlie Higson, wrote this as a series, with multiple parallel stories happening. It felt more
realistic, because if the world did end, it wouldn’t follow just one story or one group because
there would be more than one group alive in a city such as London.
The story also drew me in because I had such a connection to other zombie and end of
the world books at the same time I was reading The Enemy . It reminds me of the book series
Zom-B, where the main character is a consummate survivor like many of the characters in The
Enemy. On that same note, stories like The Hunger Games and Divergent remind me of the
consummate survivor as well. It also reminds me of the series Gone, where one day all the
children and teens wake up and every adult is just gone, vanished. The last series it reminded
me of was Lockdown, since the story started right away with the action.
The reason the read this book over many of those others, or the thousands of books
that are available to choose from, is that while many books are just stand alone books, this is a
part of a series. When you choose a book that is part of a series, many people get excited
because you become so in touch witht th story and characters that you want it to continue,
even though that part of the story is over. Another reason is that the characters are so well
done in The Enemy. Each one is distinctly different, with some being leaders, some being
followers, so who are brave, others who are not, and each having a distintly different
personality. As a reader, you are able to see this because the author frequently changes
perspective, so that even though it is still told in first person, it is first person limited, and we
can see into their thoughts and feelings. This leads to the last reason you oshould choose this
book over others.It has a significant impact on you as a reader. You are able to clearly see the
resiliency of humans when they are put in terrible, awkward, and difficult situations, and how
they struggle to free themselves of the situations they are in. It leads to the reader having hope
that no matter what humans can, and will survive.
Arran, as a character, is particularly like this. He is very relatable to most people,
because he tends to have too much responsibility and too much to do in one day. He is
frequently overwhelmed, but tries not to show it because he is trying to be strong for the other
kids in his group. While he is all of these thijngs, he is also brutal and merciless when it comes
to dealing with the adults and keeping his crew safe. He is not the type of person I would like to
cross. This is showed in the excerpt from pages 28 and 29.
“ Arran was filled with a blind rage. He couldn’t stand it that another kid was wounded.
They didn’t have the drugs to deal with it and the water in the pool must have been swarming
with filth and germs. With a great road he lashed out to right and left, smashing his club into
the grown-ups, shattering bones, breaking noses, loosening teeth, closing eyes. He was hardly
aware of what was going on around him, only the Achilleus was at his back, cold-bloodedly
dealing with th grown-ups in his own way.
When a mother came at Arran, long hair flying, he gripped her by the throat and
squeezed. Her head thrashed from side to side, her scabby hands flapped at him. Her hair
whippd out of her face so that for a moment he saw her clearly.
Her nose was half rotted away by disease. There were boils and sores covering every
inch of her skin. Her lips were pulled back from broken teeth, showing black shrunken gums.
Everything about her was disgusting, inhuman, degraded – apart from her eyes. Her
eyes were beautiful.
Arran looked into them, and for a moment he saw a flash of intelligence.
He froze. Time seemed to stop. He had a sudden vivid notion that this was all a stupid
dream. He had imagined the whole stupid thing: The collapse of society, the fear and
confusion, the months spent hiding out in Waitrose. It wasn’t possible, after all. It wasn’t
possible that the world had changed so much. So quickly. It wasn’t possible that he had
become a savae. A killer.
The mother tried to speak, her lips forming a ghastly pucker, and a single syllable cme
out.
‘Mwuhh…’
Tears came to Arran’s eyes. He couldn’t do it anymore.
He loosened his grip.
The mother wriggled free and sunk her teeth into his neck. Then Achilleus must have
stabbed her, because a bright spray of blood hosed out from a wound in her chest. The next
moment she was gone and Ollie was pulling him toward the turnstiles.”
This text is particularly important in my understanding and connection with Arran. It
helps the reader to understand that while he is all the things I said before, such as merciless,
brave, and strong, he is still just a kid who is struggling to do what the adults are supposed to
do: help kids and keep them safe.
This leads me to the theme of my book. I chose the theme to be “Never give up.” This
is supported throughout the book when the kids are traveling and living in London and they
need to keep going or die. There aren’t many options and some choose that they would rather
die, but the ones that continue show us that the human spirit can prevail against all odds. Even
when kids die, or are sick or scared, they keep pushing on to their end goal because they
believe and hope that things will continue to get better, or that they can get better.
For myself, I feel this is an important life theme to read about and understand because
there are some days that are just terrible, but it doesn’t mean that we should stop moving and
growing. The world will keep moving forward, and we should as well. Its an excellent way to
show people how to keep moving on with their lives when terrible things happen and that
people are resilient and can deal with anything life throws at them.
Overall, The Enemy is a phenomenal book that has the ability to appeal to a large
audience. It has the scary and gory elements, with a small love story, and a large theme about
the human ability to never give up. Once you read this book, you will have no trouble picking
up The Fear, the second book in the series.