Chapters 5 & 6

I find this part of the book interesting in that it begins with David and Sophie catching some sort of creatures down by a stream and uses this to show that Sophie is very self-conscious about her feet. I think that this is to make the need for her and her family to leave far more hard-hitting to reader, as well as their eventual capture. Something of note that I saw was that for David's father to whip him was not seen as out of the ordinary, which, along with the talk of the steam engine, makes me place the current pace of their technological and social development somewhere along the lines of the nineteenth century.

The rest of chapter six follows a conversation between David and Uncle Axle involving David's plans to run away. The discussion later moves toward what lies South of Labrador and Newf. It is then revealed to the reader the exact extent of the knowledge these people posses on the rest of the world and allows the reader to piece together what is really going on. It is noted that there are large coverages of Badlands with grossly mutated organisms that reside there, such as giant stalks of corn and vines growing into or out of the sea. I then remembered a piece of wisdom that relates to the world of the novel: on an alien planet, never, ever go in the water. I was reminded of this fact when they talked about monsters in the ocean. All the really, really big, really, really messed up and downright scary stuff are ALWAYS in the ocean. ALWAYS.

The conversation then moves to discussing the people that live in these other parts of the world. Up until this point in the novel it is not ever stated that any humans are known to exist outside of Labradorian civilization. They talk about all sorts of savages and tribes sounding very similar to South American type cultures, in my opinion. These parts do not stop deviations from spreading like in Labrador, but they do have rules regarding it, such as limiting child birth to multi-breasted females. Now one thing that caught my attention was the mention of a race of people with white hair and pink eyes, which I read somewhere is caused by condition which name I now forget. Another race of people is mentioned which have no bodily hair, this could point towards them being irradiated, having some sort of radiation sickness passed from generation to generation or simply having had their genes for hair growth altered.

The final realization I had was when they described a group of people nearly perfect true images but for having dark skin, as well as another strange group of humans; the description of whom matches those of apes. This made me realize that the Labradorians have their own definition of what is in the true image and, in being so, is right. But this definition is built around what they know and see as being normal, and they only know animals and flora from the region of Labrador. This would lead anything not native to Labrador being seen as mutational. So if the Labradorians were to spread further, they would destroy everything since they could not possibly know what is a mutant and what is not.

Chapters 3 & 4

The novel has now shown us more about David's relationship with Sophie. It tells us that he has been  relaying to her what he learns in school, as she can't go to school for fear of being found out as a mutant. It particularly details that in Ethics class they are taught that everything different from how the Old people did or had things is sin and that the goal of humanity is to reach where the Old people were in order to create a perfect society. I think that this shows a kind of laziness in the current society. They do not want to make their own way but instead just want to see what the Old people have done and follow it. It could also show a fear of doing something wrong or missing out. They see everything "new", not what the Old people had, as very incorrect, even unholy.

Joseph's, David's father's, outrage at David's mere comment that he would have been able to bandage himself up if he had another arm shows how deeply religious Joseph is. It was immediately apparent to everyone who was present that his father would react this way, showing that he is known for this kind of belief and behaviour. Of particular note is the part of the novel where David discusses the incident between his father and his half-uncle, Angus. This particular incident involved Angus' acquisition of two giant horses. These horses, standing "twenty-six hands at the shoulder", were clear deviations from Joseph's point of view but not by Angus' or the inspector's. After Joseph gets heated up, the inspector brings up an old incident involving the killing of the Daker's cat which was eventually proved not to be a deviation. There are many other examples that prove Joseph to be a zealot, with no respect for any view that deviates from is own.

I positively adore the giant horses. I think that, firstly, the are freaking sick and, secondly, a perfect example of deviation that cannot be seen from the exterior of a creature. I have thought about the fact that they kill any creature that shows signs of deviation, but that they could not know whether something had six pancreases or three hearts. Furthermore, a creature could contain the genes for a mutation without developing the mutation itself, such as a size increase in the case of the giant horses. This would lead to it being declared as a non-deviation when, in fact, it was a mutation caused by radiation or adaptation to the new world environment.

Chapters 1 & 2

So far, I really like the novel. Nuclear holocausts are fun and all, but the aftermath is where the real fun is. One thing that stands out to me is that the picture being painted by the setting is surprisingly un-retro for a novel written in the 50s. The novel begins with a dream of the future but then follows with an archaic society. I can't talk about this without mentioning Fallout. Fallout is a series of RPGs set in a Retro-Futuristic Post-Nuclear Holocaust world. [It's amazing. You should play it.] I absolutely adore degenerative societies. It's a chance to start over, but with a head start. I also really like the concept of degenerative religion. It makes sense for a religion to become, or to be made so that it becomes, obscured to fulfill an agenda such as genetic purification to counter the effects of radiation on the gene pool. I predict that David will leave his home as a result of his telepathy and will explore the world outside of his present civilization.