Lots and Lots of Water
Water is everywhere and everything. It makes up the majority of our planet's surface and also the majority of the human body. Water is one of the main reasons that we can survive and it can be seen everywhere throughout history. From religious purposes to simply just being there because of how important it is. No matter what the story is, water can usually be found in it to symbolize some aspect of the story. It is used as both negative and positive symbols and can usually be a representation of anything. In the third novel of the series, Storm, author Evan Angler uses it as the main symbol of his book. Over the duration of the novel, Evan Angler uses water transitioning as a symbol of cleansing and rebirth, to death and suffering, to compare the need for both in his war torn society. For the majority of the novel, water can be seen as a necessity. Even since the Total War, their society has had to use an artificial weather machine in order to keep producing rain essential for growing their crops. However this machine breaks which causes a drought for several months that takes a toll on all the citizens of the American Union. Through several struggles, the machine is finally restored and the people responsible for sabotaging the machine are caught. The machine causes weeks of pouring water and this brings the hope to every citizen, that everything is going to be okay. A protagonist of the novel, Erin, had been sick and after a dream she had where “the rain cleansed her”(226), she began to feel more hopeful for the world she is living in. However as time passes, they realize the negative effects of the water. A side plot to the novel has been a plague called, Trumpet, that will affect most of the citizens of the American Union. The only reason why it had not up till this point is because it needed a way to spread to a large group of people in a fast way. Eventually it is found out that they weather machines water, it is the main transportation and activation device for this disease and soon after the machine is restored, many people begin to get sick and die. The onslaught of water had become the downfall to several people. “And outside, the storm crescendoed. Walls of water falling straight from the sky. A heavy rain. So much water”(279). Water had quickly gone from a sign of hope, to the most dangerous thing they had to deal with in their lives. While water was the cause of the sickness spreading, there was still a need for it. Without it, their food would not have grown and there would still have been a disastrous amount of deaths over a period of time. “To stop the rain was nearly as deadly as to allow the virus to spread”(297). Because of this fact, water had become both a symbol of life and death. While it was the cause for the suffering, it was still essential for the survival of every citizen. This is used to represent the idea that in almost every situation, where there is life, there is also death. It is a sad reality, but Evan Angler is able to describe it perfectly with the plot and conflicts that occur in his novel. Water can be used to represent everything and that is what makes it such a powerful symbol. Throughout the novel, Evan Angler is able to show that a symbol can be used to compare and contrast opposites, but is also used to show how even if something is lethal, there is still a need for it. While this idea can be heavily argued and personally I do not agree with it, there are many examples in history where it has been seen as effective. Water is used as a symbol of hope, and then immediately is shown as a symbol of suffering to show the disastrous effects that war and torment has on a society. If pain and agony can be seen as necessities in society and used for personal gain, then the world will always have the possibility of being thrown into a war torn state.
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