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Analysis Of The Dead By Charlie Higson

Decent Essays

This summer, I read the book The Dead by Charlie Higson is a novel about a large group of kids, left to live by themselves without guidance from their parents. In this run-down setting of London, England, people who are over the age of 16 turn into kid hunting, flesh-eating zombies. The younger kids are forced to live on their own, fighting for life against the wrath of the Adults. The message Higson showed in his book is: after people are forced to rely on themselves without experience, their lack of experience and knowledge will lead them to failure.
In the novel, the kids face constant fear and by telling the story from a 3rd person omniscient point of view, Higson can really show how they are forced to only appeal their need for survival. The adults are a mysterious entity to the kids. Since they are doing things only to live, their actions are limited. “We think there’s something in us that adults need to eat in order to stay alive,” (375). They move in groups to keep support between the kids, and by doing this, their fear of adults is slightly eased.
Connecting the fact that the kids are living in fear to that London is big, the kids are constantly moving. The possibilities of adults attacking the kids at any point are endless. “And when it had gotten really bad, when those adults who’d gotten sick but hadn’t died had started to turn on the kids, attacking them like wild animals,” (8). These kids start to constantly move because of their fear. This causes

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