Theme Of Perseverance In Kady's Illville
The importance of perseverance and doing the right thing even in difficult circumstances is the theme of Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. One of the main characters, Kady, perseveres through the mess around her and sacrifices numerous things for the greater good. The book setting is mainly in a cramped space ship on course to a warp station and the sci-fi plot carries the theme throughout the story. The symbols in the story, death, illness and the artificial intelligence, as well as the literary elements, aid the theme by crashing events on the characters wave by wave. Having the integrity to do what is best for the future and humanity despite personal circumstances is a reoccurring theme in Illuminae. The character’s development, especially Kady’s, supports the theme of doing what is best for the greater good because she gives up so much, even her own life, to save others. The main characters, Kady Grant and Ezra Manson are trying to save themselves and everyone else from a giant, psychotic company,
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that is chasing after them to murder thousands of people. Kady is a strong-willed computer genius and at first she is hacking the ship’s systems to discover what the leaders are not telling her. Furthermore, she is snarky and extremely independent; even though she could be an exponential help for the ships’ systems, she chooses not to listen to orders and does not work well in teams. The realization of the reality of how little we are compared to our universe and everything humbles people to sacrifice a lot. The artificial intelligence wants Kady to fight the evil cooperation and put every person that is left at risk. However, she makes a deal, the lives of the people that are still alive for her life, she will stay and fight the enemy ship, so that the rest of the group can escape. The attitude change of Kady supports this, “Let them go,’ she[Kady] says. The thousand people. You let them get down to the shuttle bays and fly across to Hypatia [spaceship]’. AIDAN [artificial intelligence]: ‘Why would I do that?’ Kady: ‘That’s my price.’”(Kristoff 425-426) Even though her whole world has been destroyed due to this artificial intelligence, she still complies to work with it to save these people, well aware that she will die. Kady’s whole situation supports the theme of the book because she sacrifices everything to save people’s lives. Space is extremely belittling to our status in the universe; humans are so tiny and insignificant, however, our problems are important in our perspective because that is all we know. The story is set in space on a ship, which is crawling to reach the Jump Station Heimdall to escape from BeiTech, a corrupt company that wants to cover up their mess, of illegal mining at Kerzena, then killing their competitors and lastly, by killing all the witnesses. Furthermore, it develops the theme by giving an example of the differences between our smaller awareness and the overall importance of humanity. “Instead, she watches the stars. Celestial bodies so distant it takes their luminance thousands of years to reach her. When the light that kisses the backs of her eyes was birthed, her ancestors were not yet born. How many human lives have ended in the time it took that light to reach her?”(Kristoff 455) (This quote is taken when the artificial intelligence is watching Kady performing the task it (AI) asked her to do) Human problems, like what we are going to wear the next day or who we are going to ask to prom that are insignificant, represents the minuscule humans in the vast universe. Jay Kristof and Amie Kaufman believe the ‘greater good’ is the universe or humanity as a whole; it is more important to save a thousand people than one person. Kady learned that her life would be more useful if she saves numerous people, sacrificing the ultimate object, her life. The symbols of death and the stages of life and death are used by the authur.
There are many deaths in the story that slowly pick away at the characters thoughts. Everyone knew Kady was dead, but she still persevered through this journey to save as many people as she could. Death is natural and one of the most traumatic occurrences living things can go through. Furthermore, it evolves the theme by giving an example of a circumstance that someone would have to push past to aid the majority live. The artificial intelligence is not alive, and when it was turned off, it was dead. However, it does not exactly die because it can be rebuilt. The artificial intelligence, AIDAN, reaches the question, what state is it in? This quote occurs when AIDAN is activated again to help defend the ship against the BeiTech ship, “I wonder if that was death. And if I was dead, am I now alive again? What is not alive cannot die. I think, therefore I am. Am I?” (Kristoff
264) The literary elements that Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff use in Illuminae are irony in dialog to create more of a relaxed story telling format. The reader can achieve a deeper connection with the characters when the dialog is not traditional and simply informative. Another literary element that is heavily added to the story are similes, the characters often compare their circumstances with space and their importance. Furthermore, metaphors and onamonapias are used to help create the scene and feel of the events. Through the panic and terrible events that the characters were put in, the reminder of the ‘greater good’ was still at hand as soldiers and parents surrender their lives for humanity and the people left. The symbols and literary elements really aid the story to convey the idea of hardship and sacrifice. Kady’s story is the bolder of the two main characters’ stories; her character development drastically changes from the start to the end of the book. She sacrifices her life to save people who might not even make it out alive. Nevertheless, she risks it and makes a deal with the artificial intelligence to save hundreds of people, so that they have a better chance of living. Viewing space and all the planets and stars can help adjust the perspective of a single person. Humans are so small compared to the universe, and this perspective can be compared to a single life compared to millions of lives. The greater good is often achieved by sacrificing the smaller number to save the larger number. The symbols and literary events help the theme to be more relatable to the audience that has not been through hardships. The theme of Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, is the importance of perseverance and doing the right thing, even in difficult personal circumstances. Illuminae’s theme is a reality slap that numerous people might have to consider the option of sacrificing for the greater good.
that is chasing after them to murder thousands of people. Kady is a strong-willed computer genius and at first she is hacking the ship’s systems to discover what the leaders are not telling her. Furthermore, she is snarky and extremely independent; even though she could be an exponential help for the ships’ systems, she chooses not to listen to orders and does not work well in teams. The realization of the reality of how little we are compared to our universe and everything humbles people to sacrifice a lot. The artificial intelligence wants Kady to fight the evil cooperation and put every person that is left at risk. However, she makes a deal, the lives of the people that are still alive for her life, she will stay and fight the enemy ship, so that the rest of the group can escape. The attitude change of Kady supports this, “Let them go,’ she[Kady] says. The thousand people. You let them get down to the shuttle bays and fly across to Hypatia [spaceship]’. AIDAN [artificial intelligence]: ‘Why would I do that?’ Kady: ‘That’s my price.’”(Kristoff 425-426) Even though her whole world has been destroyed due to this artificial intelligence, she still complies to work with it to save these people, well aware that she will die. Kady’s whole situation supports the theme of the book because she sacrifices everything to save people’s lives. Space is extremely belittling to our status in the universe; humans are so tiny and insignificant, however, our problems are important in our perspective because that is all we know. The story is set in space on a ship, which is crawling to reach the Jump Station Heimdall to escape from BeiTech, a corrupt company that wants to cover up their mess, of illegal mining at Kerzena, then killing their competitors and lastly, by killing all the witnesses. Furthermore, it develops the theme by giving an example of the differences between our smaller awareness and the overall importance of humanity. “Instead, she watches the stars. Celestial bodies so distant it takes their luminance thousands of years to reach her. When the light that kisses the backs of her eyes was birthed, her ancestors were not yet born. How many human lives have ended in the time it took that light to reach her?”(Kristoff 455) (This quote is taken when the artificial intelligence is watching Kady performing the task it (AI) asked her to do) Human problems, like what we are going to wear the next day or who we are going to ask to prom that are insignificant, represents the minuscule humans in the vast universe. Jay Kristof and Amie Kaufman believe the ‘greater good’ is the universe or humanity as a whole; it is more important to save a thousand people than one person. Kady learned that her life would be more useful if she saves numerous people, sacrificing the ultimate object, her life. The symbols of death and the stages of life and death are used by the authur.
There are many deaths in the story that slowly pick away at the characters thoughts. Everyone knew Kady was dead, but she still persevered through this journey to save as many people as she could. Death is natural and one of the most traumatic occurrences living things can go through. Furthermore, it evolves the theme by giving an example of a circumstance that someone would have to push past to aid the majority live. The artificial intelligence is not alive, and when it was turned off, it was dead. However, it does not exactly die because it can be rebuilt. The artificial intelligence, AIDAN, reaches the question, what state is it in? This quote occurs when AIDAN is activated again to help defend the ship against the BeiTech ship, “I wonder if that was death. And if I was dead, am I now alive again? What is not alive cannot die. I think, therefore I am. Am I?” (Kristoff
264) The literary elements that Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff use in Illuminae are irony in dialog to create more of a relaxed story telling format. The reader can achieve a deeper connection with the characters when the dialog is not traditional and simply informative. Another literary element that is heavily added to the story are similes, the characters often compare their circumstances with space and their importance. Furthermore, metaphors and onamonapias are used to help create the scene and feel of the events. Through the panic and terrible events that the characters were put in, the reminder of the ‘greater good’ was still at hand as soldiers and parents surrender their lives for humanity and the people left. The symbols and literary elements really aid the story to convey the idea of hardship and sacrifice. Kady’s story is the bolder of the two main characters’ stories; her character development drastically changes from the start to the end of the book. She sacrifices her life to save people who might not even make it out alive. Nevertheless, she risks it and makes a deal with the artificial intelligence to save hundreds of people, so that they have a better chance of living. Viewing space and all the planets and stars can help adjust the perspective of a single person. Humans are so small compared to the universe, and this perspective can be compared to a single life compared to millions of lives. The greater good is often achieved by sacrificing the smaller number to save the larger number. The symbols and literary events help the theme to be more relatable to the audience that has not been through hardships. The theme of Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, is the importance of perseverance and doing the right thing, even in difficult personal circumstances. Illuminae’s theme is a reality slap that numerous people might have to consider the option of sacrificing for the greater good.