The Hobbit

The Beginning of Bilbo's journey begins with a refusal to the call to action. Bilbo wanted nothing more than a peaceful life, and is happy with his current state of living, a life of "innocents." The abruptness of the dwarves smashing into his home and eating all of his food, makes Bilbo upset and angrily refuse. Once some time passes and he learns more about the mission, who the dwarves really are, and what kind of adventure was ahead of him. The next morning Bilbo realizes he's missing an opportunity of a lifetime and makes a brave decision to join the party. This moment of Crossing the First Threshold into the world of adventure happens which is a very common theme in a lot of Hero stories.

Throughout the story we find other elements of the classic hero journey such as the initiation when the trolls capture everyone. The book also has plenty of other tests and trials along the way until the final Nadir when the party leaves Bilbo behind in the caves. He is lost in a cave and has a famous encounter with Smeagol. A moment of fending for himself using his whit to escape the dreary caves. Once he's found his mojo he meets up with the party. Being independent for some time is a key element to his character growth, which leads to his first kill: The spider. Much more happens between now and the final battle but essentially more meat to the adventure Tolken writes.

Finally the book ends with the "Ultimate Boon," the epic battle of goblins, humans, elves, dwarves, and eagles. The cycle ends with the return home for Bilbo. When arriving home his neighbors don't like him much because of how much he's changed. Instead of living a quiet simple life, he has left that behind and lives for the next "Hero's Journey." I believe Tolken was inspired by past epics and Campbells work. Because of his living alongside World War One he incorporated a lot of his experiences into this version of a Hero's journey which leads the book to be a much more lively and real tale.

Annihilation and the New Weird

The weird in Annihilation is what we don't understand. The uncomfortable feeling of not being able to wrap your head around a mystery makes the reader uncomfortable. When people read horror it's full of characters who are tied to something we already know. Horror writers connect the monsters and aliens to human characteristics and give them some relation to what we already know.

In the book itself we stumble upon a new "being" of some sort. It's hard to tell what the "monster" is. Is it a virus? a spiritual being that possess animals and plants? Honestly I still don't know. I enjoyed the endless dive into the unknown world. As the book progresses, the weird becomes more prominent creating more questions than answers. I liked the use of hypnosis as one of those mysteries, it showed us that even though they were in a world of unknowns, there are levels of unknowns still in the real world, like the power to control people's minds. The bio matter letters that the biologist looked at infected her with some sort of spores. These spores then undo the hypnosis mind control which the psychologist was capable of. I believe this to be a moment of showing that the "weird" was almost a good thing. Undoing what mankind has done. After finishing the book and watching the movie, I figure the main goal of the "weird blob" was to cure earth of Mankind.

The book doesn't really have a goal besides a vague "we need to get to that lighthouse" direction. But what do they do when they get there? The new weird makes us feel like we are powerless and almost helpless to what is going to happen. In the book The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy there is a short throw away line meaning to be a joke about an alien species that is just "a shade of blue." This idea of an alien or creature being only a shade of blue boggles my mind. I think Annihilation gives me the same feeling about the new weird. I hope to read more of this series to learn about the mystery even if it remains unsolvable.

Akata Witch

Diving into this book Akata Witch, I certainly picked up tones of an underdog character who possess a lot of power. She is born an albino and doesn't fit in her community in the United states or in Nigeria.  After dealing with bully problems and feeling rejected by society she is brought into a new unknown world which teaches her she is actually very special and learns to possess a very strong power. Her major flaw in society becomes a powerful tool in the realm of Juju.

The book is written from the perspective of Sunny and follows her journey through learning a very powerful magic, very much like the book series Harry Potter. There are a few other archetypes alike stereotypical American's and school bullies but there are more witch related ones as well. Every witch has to have some sort of mentor ad Sunny does, along with a few other younger witches in her Oha coven. 

Her albino skin means more than just appearance. In the book it is said the albino people are halfway in between the real world and the spiritual realm. This is illustrated in the scene of the goat head magic scene. Where she learns her powers are because of her albino genetics. Her identity is very flexible and she learns she has her freedom in this new world of magic. She is called a free agent, meaning she is both free to practice magic and witchery but also doesn't have a place to call home. Her need to fit in becomes a underlying driving motive, and she eventually finds her place in the magic of Juju. She wants to be self sustaining so her magic abilities teach her she would be just fine in the world she does not fit in.

The male figures in this story are viewed as kind of a point of conflict. She wants to leave and play with her friends, but her father keeps enforcing her to do female/girl activities. Once she becomes powerful, her family has to embrace her for what she is. Instead of her leaving her family for another "family" somewhere else, she stays with them and continues her studies under her parent's roof. I hope to read the sequel to this book one day, as I am very much enjoying the characters and writing.

Interview with the Vampire - Character Analysis

Being a vampire changes a lot of things. Once you've been bitten, your whole world changes and there's not much you can do about it. In Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice explains how Vampires are forced to live alone. Looking specifically at Lestat, we can see how such an evil character who practically views himself on the same level of Satan interacts with humans and other vampires. Lestat himself acts broody and malicious as if he is better than everyone else. In reality he is afraid of being alone as a Vampire and desires a companion to spend eternity with. At one point in the book Louis notices this dependency and expressed that Lestat only turned him into a vampire so that he wouldn't be alone. "It's you who need me" He says.

Being a vampire means you live forever, (if you are careful,) and you will eventually outlive any human who you meet. There are many different reasons why a vampire might turn a human. First, for love, to ensure that the two will be together forever. Second, for increasing the vampire population keeping the vampire race alive. Finally in the case of Lestat, to have someone to talk to. Turning a human into a vampire means you have the ability to "show them the ropes" and train them to become a ruthless killing machine, lording over the human race. Lestat attempts to train Louis to be as such, but fails to convince him to follow in his footsteps. I believe that regardless of being a vampire or human the book I read illustrates that your moral code doesn't always change when turned. In the case of Lestat, his father tells of times when Lestat was a nicer person, before he was turned into a Vampire. But ever since his turn he put on a cynical bastard persona. This shows a dramatic change in Lestat's life, although this is not always the case. When Louis was turned he did not become a murderer quite like Lestat. He believed humans to be his equal and did not want to do any harm unless necessary. The difference between the two shows that depending on the case, becoming a vampire could either effect your relationship to humans or not depending on what kind of person you are.