- This novel is set in a futuristic world, where grounded oil tankers are being broken down for parts. This is where we meet the young protagonist named Nailer. Throughout the novel Nailer is faced with an extremely difficult decision: claim a wrecked ship for salvage and live like a King among the poor, or save the rich young survivor named Nita and possibly change his life forever.
*It is really important to note how this young adult novel could be used in the classroom to promote critical thinking skills. For this novel, it would be very helpful to have the students look at these characters in the Feminist Lens, and note what this novel could be saying about culture and gender.
- Nailer: Nailer is the main male character in this novel. However, he possesses some of the most feminine traits seen in this novel. Nailer is very compassionate and tends to day dream a lot about his hopes, dreams, and aspirations. His thoughts are mostly gender neutral, until he meets Nita(the ship wreck survivor). Once Nailer meets her he becomes extremely strong willed and pushes for the changes that are necessary for their survival.
- Nita: Nita is seen as the typical damsel in distress. She is beautiful, feminine, and appears to be extremely delicate. However, once Nita is rescued by Nailer and his crew mate Pima, she is determined to prove herself. Nita becomes very resilient and more of a survivalist. It is interesting to note, however that she begins this switch in her personality due to the fact that she is trying to impress Nailer.
- Pima(Nailer's crew mate): Pima is described as an extremely determined, powerful, and in charge woman. She is strong willed, loyal, and trustworthy. Pima is much less compassionate that Nailer, but she is the one who looks out for him.
- Nailer, although the main male character, has more feminine traits than masculine. That is until he meets Nita. Once Nailer meets this beautiful girl something changes in him. All of the sudden, he is much more determined and strong willed. Nailer is looking to impress Nita, while keeping her safe from those looking to kidnap her. It is very interesting to notice that Nita's character also changes once she meets Nailer. She becomes much more intense and strong willed. Could this be a comment on society and gender? Gender types in this society are not very apparent. It is all about survival. Except in the case of these two characters. Once Nita and Nailer meet, they begin to rebuild the stereotypes of man and woman of our time.
- Pima's character is actually everything that Nailer's character lacks. These two characters are almost FOILS of each other. They are used to show the differences in characteristics between them, while also showing that women in this time period do not have the option to be soft. They must work as hard or harder than the men to survive.
Another strong post. Glad you added a link to a review of the book. You may want to use italics instead of an underline when talking about the book. I, and most readers, would expect any underlined word to be a link and yours aren't.
ReplyDeleteKeep working too on the economizing the writing. Still feels a bit wordy to me. One exercise is to simply force yourself to extract 20 words from each post. It's so easy to do and you won't change the meaning of your words.