Common Themes

Many authors have their specialties, such as Clive Cussler with his love for boats and cars includes them into his story. This is very common, an example is the author Arthur Ransom wrote most of his stories along the lines of pirates. The author's were able to describe these boats, or cars, or pirates very well and create great books because they knew the subject. The author had a personal attachment to what they were writing about. I believe that this is something that I should take into account when writing stories, because I believe that this is the key of success for many authors.

Where can the UN attack team go?

In this novel when the United Nations attack team were needed most they weren't allowed to help out. This is because Costa Rica, the country Kurt was in, wouldn't allow this. So, this led to the death of 450 people onboard the Sea Sentinel. Had the team been allowed to come the terrorists would have been stopped, and with almost no casualties. But since the team wasn't given jurisdiction many people suffered losses. I believe that the United Nations attack team should have jurisdiction in any country if the council should prove it necessary to use combat.

Literary Devices

In this novel the author Clive Cussler, makes good use of literary devices such as similes, and metaphors. An example of this is when Kurt says "Being down here is like the inside of a hornets nest." This enriches the story by giving more detail to what the setting actually looks like. I know now after that simile that the tunnels they were crawling in were not very pleasant. Many authors use these devices to help with their story, which I believe is a very good idea.

Lawyer's

In this book there are over 5 characters that were lawyer's. I believe that there are too many lawyers in the world. This is portrayed in the book because there were a lot of lawyer's. Many people including myself believe that we need more producer such as people who make things. There are more lawyer's than producer in the world. I think that this is wrong and I believe so does the author. So, the book portrayed this idea implicitly throughout the novel.

The looks of different races

I have always wondered why different races have different looks and how they got their unique look. For example in the novel, the Eskimos had broad shoulders, were short, had Asian coloured skin, and a square jaw. How did these Eskimos get to look like this. The African Americans have black coloured skin, how did they come to have this colour of skin. This has been a question that was lingering in the back of my mind for a long time, but this novel brought this question to the surface. I still don't have an answer to why different races have different looks.

Heroes/Role Models

I believe that every person needs a role model or a hero in their life. In this book Kurt, looked up to his dad, and made many references to how superior he was. I believe that Kurt wouldn't have tried as hard as he did on many occasions had he not wanted to live up to his father. This is the case with many people. I know for me, I've always looked to my parents for advice because they are my role models, they set the trend for me. If they had and 86% average in Grade 10, I would want to beat that. So, I strongly believe that everyone needs a role model to help them succeed.

Money is the root of all evil

This is a very true saying in this book as it portrays this aspect in many parts of the novel. The whole enterprise of the Eskimos started because the leader wanted money. He wanted money so badly that he was willing to release a DNA-modified fish into the ocean that would eat all the fish. This was because the leader wanted to control the fish market and become rich. Had money not been there then I highly doubt that the leader would have wanted to take over the world through fishing for fun.

Friends

I believe this book shows the true necessity to have friends. Also, how important friendships can be. For example, the main antagonist didn't make any friends so it would be kill them if the need would arrise. In the end when Kurt, the main character, comes and tries to kill him, his henchman just stood by. The antagonist asked for their help but he was so brutal to them, they didn't bother to save someone they didn't like. Also, Kurt was about to have an abrupt halt to his life when his best friend Joe Zavala came and saved him. Had they need been good friends Joe might not have travelled half way across the wolrd to the north pole, climb up the side of a blimp while 10000 feet in the air, to save him. I believe this book shoes the true meaning of friends.

Fear

Fear was very present in this novel, natives were being imprisoned in the Eskimo camp and being forced to work and die. This must have placed fear very deep inside of them, because they were worrying for themselves and for their family. Also, Austin must have felt fear which held him back in the blimp while being attacked with a sword. When I feel fear I am immobilized, I don't feel like fighting back, I just want to hide in the corner and be left alone. I don't know how Austin could stand the though of being killed by a sword. He is constantly in danger throughout the novel, I don't know how he didn't break down, he has a very strong mind, to be in danger and being scared for that long.

Dog Sledding

In this novel there is a dog sledding race between two of the eksimo's at a charity event. I believe that his was very important in real life as well in the novel because if promotes the knowledge of the Eskimo people. Many people just think they are natives that live in igloos. But, in fact there is much more to them. Such as the ancient traditions of whale hunts. They used to ride dog sleds as there main form of transportation as it was fast and if you knew what you were doing safe. Now, they are more modernized and ride snowmobiles to and from their houses, not igloos. This is why I thought that the dog sledding event was important because it promoted the Eskimo people as a whole.

White Death

When I finished the novel I looked at the front cover and saw the title "White Death." I wondered why the Author decided to name his book White Death. Then when I thought about it this was a very appropriate title because this book took place mostly in the far north. Meaning White or cold (snow). The death refers to the Eskimos that killed anyone who came in their path of world domination. Thus we get the title White Death, so overall this is title has a very good fit to the book.

Exotic Species

There are many exotic species that are being introduced into ecosystems that are taking over a niche that was occupied by another species. The exotic species takes the food from the old species and drives them out. This happens during the novel. A new super-predator salmon is introduced into a artic ecozone, this species killed all the fish in the area because the new salmon ate it all. This severely disturbed the relationship between the animals and the ecosystem because many species were extirpated from this area. This happens commonly in Canada, such as the zebra muscles.

Davy Jones Locker

Davy Jones Locker was a phrase used in this story. So, I was wondering where this phrase came from. As it doesn't really have any direct correlation to the ocean. The first clear reference comes from Tobias Smollett, who wrote in The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle in 1751 that: “This same Davy Jones, according to the mythology of sailors, is the fiend that presides over all the evil spirits of the deep, and is often seen in various shapes, perching among the rigging on the eve of hurricanes, ship-wrecks, and other disasters to which sea-faring life is exposed, warning the devoted wretch of death and woe”. So his locker is the bottom of the sea, the ocean’s depths. I took this exerpt from the site "http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-dav1.htm"
So, now I know where this phrase may potentially came from.

The Media

In numerous occasions the media have overexadurated the actual occurrence. In this novel Numa (National Underwater Marine Agency) was blamed for the crashing of two ships. What really happened was one of the ships was being controlled by Oceanus an evil corporation that was looking to monopolize fishing. The media decided to ignore this and go with the better selling idea that Numa crashed the ships. This however gave the public a distorted story and resulted in Numa receiving bad press. This happens in real life constantly. Just read the newspaper.

Advancing Technology

In this novel that I have chosen "White Death" there is a vast amount of technology being used. Such as, "Max" who has artificial intelligence but is a mere computer program. I wonder if in the near or distant future we will have programs that when told they can find vast amounts of information using the internet and their own personal databases. Imagine, instead of checking your e-mail which can be very time consuming you have a computer program write your e-mails for you and read them. Then explain the main facts about the e-mails. This would be the next best invention since the internet.

Multinational Corporations

There are many Multinational Corporations that are trying and sometimes succeeding in Monopolizing their respective industry. There is a company like that in my book called Oceanus. This company monopolized the fishing business and drove out the more local fishers because they couldn't compete. The same problem is occurring in real life. Fishers in the maratimes are losing their jobs because they carry less fish than the big companies. Also, these large companies have huge fishing boats who stay out longer and catch way more fish. I believe that these multinational corporations should be set to a limit because they are hurting the maritime and many other areas of the world.

Conscience

Most of the men in this novel have no conscience. They can kill at will and will never look back or regret it. This is almost second nature to them. The eskimo's in this novel killed many people in their regime until they lost their leader and ran like headless chickens. Also, Kurt Austin, the main character is also this way. Throughout the novel he broke a nose and killed four people, and he never thought about it again. Or, the author never included that into the story. The head of the eskimo group was this way too. He killed innocent people just to get the way he want and he deserved the death that Kurt gave him, by being eaten alive by altered DNA sea samon. I will talk about this subject more in the future.

Blimps

I wonder why blimps were ever invented. They seem so pointless, they are very dangerous which can be proved when Hindenburg blew up because they used an explosive gas. After that they changed gases. This doesn't change the fact that Blimps are slow and cost ineffective. They should have created a better design, that was more effective. This could be that they could be powered by more engines or if when they used planes by more planes. Also I think that this book should have included planes rather than blimps. Planes are fast and are normally more comfortable except when there is turbulence.