Mrs. Ridolf
American Lit 2.2
Period A
13 September 2012
Mankind vs. Animal Kingdom Have you ever thought about getting lost in the Florida Everglades, facing the most dangerous creatures? In the book CHOMP by Carl Hiaasen, Derrick Badger the star of the show Expedition Survival! He gets lost in the middle of the Everglades because his airboat that he stole crashed. He ran away from his show because he was bitten by a bat and truly believed he was becoming a vampire. Derrick Badger is a dumb, selfish, but funny character in the novel. He plays an important role through the story because he really is the one to blame for everything that is happening in the story. The reader will see how carefully Carl Hiaasen chose the setting to fit all the elements and plot twists in the story. To begin, mankind is faced with many challenges in the animal kingdom. In the Florida Everglades there is not much for humans. There are many dangerous animals, which are most likely angry a human is disturbing their habitat. Within the novel a bat that Derrick Badger tries to eat ends up biting him on the nose. Another example is when Derrick Badger gets lost and begins going insane because he does not think he can survive in this habitat because he is becoming a vampire. The reader can realize that Derrick Badger does not do well with animals. Also, one can see the Florida Everglades is not suitable for humans. Characters in the novel are faced with many challenges because of the Florida Everglades setting. Next, Hiaasen was able to make many elements in the story possible because of its setting. Elements such as the airboats which made it possible for the characters to get back and forth from dry land to water. Do to the fact the Everglades is a swamp the author was able to include exotic animals such as alligators to the story. Within the novel the characters use the airboats to search for Derrick Badger. There are also many wild life creatures used in the story