“’ There’s still a world out there,’ Jeevan said, ‘outside this apartment.’ ‘I think there’s just survival out there, Jeevan. I think you should go out there and try to survive” (Mandel 183).
I chose this passage because it reminds me of The Last of Us. A similarity between the book and The Last of Us is that some people would rather end their lives than struggle to survive. It also reminds me of the beginning of COVID-19. I remember the frantic fear that was going around and how the grocery stores were emptied. I initially strongly feared COVID-19 because my dad is immunocompromised, and I have bad asthma. The passage overall makes me reflect on my experience with COVID-19 and helps me connect emotionally with the characters. It makes me wonder when we will have another pandemic and if we will handle it better than last time.
“’ Elizabeth Colton. The second wife.’ ‘No, I mean, she’s hardly family, is she? When we talked about notifying family, I really just meant Arthur’s brother.’ ‘Well, but she is the mother of Arthur’s only child’” (Mandel 220).
This passage makes me wonder why people think ex-partners would not want to know if their ex died, especially when Elizabeth’s child is Arthur’s son. I assumed divorced couples were just couples who broke up with legal issues. If one of my exes died, I would still attend the funeral because they impacted my life and meant something to me before. I wonder how other people view this topic. Of course, there will always be exceptions when people hate their exes’ guts, but wouldn’t it make sense to tell them?
I think I will write about a place where everyone’s basic needs are met and they feel like they matter in their jobs even though it is not mandatory. I am pretty unsure of how the world works, though. The dystopia will be caused by global warming and the weather destroying everything. I think he realizes that almost everyone is gone, but good people are still out there. He starts to lose himself because he does not talk to anyone besides that group. I think he wants to live for Frank. I think memory has a bad and good side to it. For Kirsten, her memories do not contain the world before everyone got sick, so the apocalyptic world does not bug her as badly. For Diallo, she can remember the world before it fell so she can grieve it. I think Mandel is trying to say that memories are a blessing and a curse. It gives value to the people around us but also hurts when they are gone. It is something we all have to deal with and work through. Airplanes brought Miranda to Malaysia, where she ended up dying. I think airplanes spread the virus faster and made people sick faster. But I also think airplanes signified Miranda’s freedom to go where she wanted without Arthur. Also, the prophet has some connection to airplanes, but I do not understand yet.
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