Maximum
Ride by
James Patterson is about 6 bird kids, Max (Maximum), Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman,
and Angel. Throughout the story-which is told from Max’s point of view-the ‘bird’
kids are trying to run from a place called the School and figure themselves
out, like about their past and parents. Who
are they? Were the really Test Tube babies like they think? And, is Max really
supposed to ‘save the world’ like the scientists say? Though, Max wants to find
out more about the school, their past, and the whole saving the world thing,
the other members of the Flock, just want to settle down, find a home, relax
and let the world be destroyed-just as long as they survive. But of course, the School has other ‘plans’
kidnapping the Flock-again-the School tells them that they’re gonna be ‘retired’-basically
gonna die. People have other plans, things that’ll help them only, so how is
Max gonna be able to save the world?
Throughout the story, Max learns that
maybe not everyone is what they seem be-especially in her own Flock. Fang, who is like, Max’s right-winged man, is
becoming more like the kids, all he wants to do is settle down and live on their
own, even when he knows Max’s supposed to save the world, and that’s one of the
main things she wants to do. ‘Let them Blow up the World and Global-warm it,
and pollute it. You and me and the others will be holed up somewhere, safe. We’ll
come back out when they’re all gone. Don’t playing their games of world
domination.’ Though, Fang usually supports Max and is like Max’s antagonist,
Fang really wants to lie back, and just let the scientists do what they wanna
do to world-but like Max says, how are they gonna if they could get destroyed in the process as well?
I personally think Fang’s idea is having
this negative effect on Max’s plan. Max needs to be able to save the world from
whatever the scientists plan to do-with or without her Flock. She always with
her Flock, so, she wants to fight the bad guys with her Flock supporting her
all the way. But with Fang being all like let
them do what they wanna do to the world, as long as we’re safe, that’s the
important thing right? And with the others supporting Fang, how is Max
gonna be able to have her Flock support her
when they don’t really care? What is gonna happen to the world if Max does what
the Flock wants her to? It won’t be nice for them will it? How will they survive
if the world they know it will be different from after it’s destroyed or fixed?
Fang may be one of the main things
bothering Max about the world, but he’s not the only one for sure. There’s also
Angel. Little, sweet, 6 year old Angel who has been like Fang-supporting Max
through things, and thanks to her mind-reading powers, helping her solve major
things. But ever since Angel has been exposed to ‘cruel’ things that the School
gave/told her, Max has noticed something about Angel-she’s different from the ‘sweet
little frail girl’ Max knows. She’s more…power-hungry to Max. She’s more likely
gonna betray Max to guarantee power for herself, like she does in the book.
When the Flock is kidnapped Angel joins over to the School side, and when she
and Max talk she says, ‘Max-you know I had to do what was right. You weren’t
making the best decisions anymore. I have lots of special powers. I deserve to
be leader. I deserve to be saved. I’m much more special than you and Fang.’ And
this really isn’t the first time Angel’s been power-hungry and thinking she’s
more special. But, really, is Angel ready to become leader? She’s the youngest
one, she doesn’t know things, not like Max, she hasn’t been through the world, and
she doesn’t know how the School operates-even if she thinks she does.
Like Fang, Angel being like this isn’t
helping Max with her mission. Max adores Angel, she thinks that Angel’s like
her little girl. Even though she knows Angel’s changed, Max still wants to
protect Angel, protect her from the ‘dangers’ of the school and the world.
Though Angel tends to be like Max’s
little girl, Angel wants power more, she wants to be leader, she wants to run
things her way, she wants to be the
one people listen to, look up to, not look down at. I know what it’s really
like in Angel’s case, I’m not saying I’m hungry for power (where am I gonna get
power anyway?) but I don’t want to be looked down at, I want people to look up
at me, I know I’m not the only one. Many others hate being looked down at, they want to be looked up or equal to
others, personally, I think, who wants to be looked down at? I know I don’t. But, Angel betraying Max and
the Flock by going to the school side, I don’t think that’s the way to get
power. Personally, I think Angel can get power by her own things, not by going
to the side she thinks is gonna ‘win’ or has the more power. I think she should
be able to get through her goals through friends-what’s the point of having
power if your friends and others don’t like and just…ignore you?
Fang and Angel are just mere examples
of things blocking Max’s main mission. There are others who want her to do this than that and things for them.
Out of Max’s problems, I can learn that there are things that can stop you from
your goals or missions, it’s not just your enemies, and your friends can stop
you too. But the main thing is how are
you gonna react to it? Are you gonna let them influence you? Are you gonna
define them and do what you wanna do? Max’s reaction was obviously defined
them-she’s stubborn to want to be able to save the world-but what if she wasn’t?
What if she gave into her friends’ will? What if she’s influenced into doing
what others want without thinking about the results of it? Then where would she
be? What would happen to the Flock? Would Angel be leader? Would they be relaxing
at a home like Fang said? Max needs to be able to decide, is she gonna let
others tell her what to do? Or keep the main mission as her most important
mission? How is she gonna react to the
others wants?
No comments:
Post a Comment