Shaina Mulky

Mrs. Tolkan
English 12 / Period 2
30, October 2015
The Host, Summary
The Host, explores an advanced world where aliens have invaded human minds. The
aliens hope to make the human species extinct and create a perfect world with no crimes.
Humans have become hosts for a parasitic breed of alien souls that attach themselves to a
persons brain and then take control of the body. Only a few free humans are left, and Melanie
Stryder is one of them, until she too is caught and an alien soul is inserted into her brain. Melanie
was willing to kill herself to protect her family and jumped out of a 4 story building but she
barely survived. The seekers (aliens) had a medicine spray that cured her injuries. The soul that
is now living inside Melanie is called Wanderer, and her job is to access Melanies memories and
figure out where the remaining humans are who have resisted the invasion of the souls.
However, Wanderer comes to figure that Melanie will not surrender her mind, and the two must
share Melanies body.
As Wanderer struggles with the hardship of living in a body still inhabited by its former
mind, she is privy to certain memories of Melanies loved ones: her brother Jamie, and the man
she loves, Jared. She soon finds herself in a tenuous partnership with Melanie, taking on a
journey to find Melanies family. Melanie leads Wanderer to a cabin that her uncle owns find a
place among the human resistance fighters, when she finds them, they didnt trust wanderer

because she is a seeker. A few of the men tried killing her to prevent trouble to them, but then
they grow to realize that she is different. The humans also learn that Wanderer and Melanie are
trapped in the same body, with two separate identities with the ability to feel, love, and make
conscientious decisions separately. Wanderer became an advantage to the humans part because
she was eligible to go shopping at stores with other seekers and not get caught. Jamie had a deep
cut that he wasnt going to survive to and Wanderer was also able to get into the seekers hospital
and get the spray that cures injuries.
As Wanderer has escaped from the other seekers there are many of them out searching
for her and other humans. Wanderer learns to see the worlds situation from the humans
perspectives and begins to understand the life and complexities of humanity, so different from
her previous lives in other worlds. As tensions mount among the human resistance, Melanie and
Wanderer forge a bond inside Melanies head and begin to appreciate one another. Wanderer
(who nicknamed Wanda) learns about human love and sacrifice, and gains an understanding of
humanity. Together, Wanderer, Melanie, and the resistance fighters must work together to find a
way to make a change in the world that will allow the two species to coexist. Just as everyone
was thinking they were the last humans and the last seeker to switch side they find another group
of good people.

Shaina Mulky
Mr. Price
English 11 / Period 2
2, March 2015
The Host, Analysis
The Host, published in May of 2008 by Stephanie Meyer, is a science fiction book about
aliens invading Earth. This book lets people open their minds to things beyond daily life. It
allows readers to enrich their appreciation for their freedom and the human race currently not
going extinct.
I had many different first impressions of this book. The literary work entertained me due
to the fact that it is a Stephanie Meyers book and her work is known to entertain many. This
story was in first person point of view so I was able to learn the full emotions and thought of the
narrator whom was sharing a body with someone else. Also the way she described the aliens was
distinguishing, which drew my attention. This story teaches about love, loyalty and honesty and
many more real life actions. This is a great book to read if the reader is interested in species
beyond earth. As a result, I enjoyed this book because of all the unique qualifies it has to offer.

This story is place in the Science Fiction genre because it takes existing scientific
concepts and extrapolates them to the inevitable conclusion. There are 203402 words in this
novel. Also, it is written in prose, or ordinary, common English language.
The most important way to critically analyze a work of literature is through its elements and
techniques. All literary ideas used in this novel are used quite well in terms of entertainment.
However, there are a few that highlight and emphasize the authors purpose. These include
theme, allegory, imaginary, symbols, and allusion. Central themes to the plot of the story include
evolution versus and freedom. These are the main central themes of the story. Another theme
seen is man vs. intruders, also known as a type of external conflict. There is also internal conflict
including man vs. self. Furthermore, the entire plot and the way the narrator is challenging the
idea of freedom of thought. Evolution only becomes a supportive tool of the major universal
theme of thought. Also, symbolizing is used quite heavily. One memorable episode is the
mention of how Wanda has a passion for processed foods: red vines, snickers, and pop tarts,
which she calls delicacies, a term humans dont really use. Also imaginary is used quite often,
the eyes are a window to the soul on Earth, Wanda calls the themselves souls. The way of
telling if a human host is occupied by a soul is by a faint silver ting in their eye, like a pretty case
of eye-ringworm. Therefore, the eyes are a window into seeing the alien souls. Theeyesarealso
awaytoseeaperson'strueintentions.Inthecaves,peopleoftengloweratWanda,regardingher
withhostileeye.