The Host by Stephanie Meyer

Alright, enough of T.S. Eliot! I'm on to something more modern-that is, so time forward that even the modern society that we live in experiences a little wonder at the technological ideas presented. Like T.S Eliot's poems, whenever I experience a sudden urge to read, Stephanie Meyer's The Host is my fall-back book. It's kind of sad to admit this, but I have read The Host about five or six times (literally I cannot remember because I have lost track over the years). Can you tell my obssesion yet? This time reading though, I have adopted more of an analytical approach than usual towards this peice and have discovered SO many details Meyer added to present the universal truths of the novel that I hadnt initially recognized. For example, reading through  May Swenson's poem The Question at the prelogue to the novel, I realized that the entire poem is foreshadowing to themes and ideas that will be presented. "Body my house, my horse my hound, what will I do, when you are fallen". Wow, if I had read more closely before, I would have understood that this goes along with the idea of the hosts taking over human bodies. When this event occurred, the initial human being was almost erased so that the soul could inhibit and control the body. The novel starts off with a "soul" (considered by the humans to be "parasites") named Wanderer (a name given because she has been a host in eight planets including their Origin planet-something that was quite impressive in the world of hosts)inserted into the host body of rebellion human Melanie Stryder. "Because he was a soul, by nature he was all things good: compassionate, patient, honest, virtuous, and full of love" (page 3). In the mind of souls like Wanderer, their species comes to each planet and takes over in order to maintain peaceful and non-violent existences. Thinking in the way of the Host Species, the idea  is that the soul is the true goodness of an individual and that at times, the emotion resulting from the mind and the action of the body without restraint is the downfall of the human race. "Anger falshed through me, hot and wild. I gasped in surprise at the unexpected reaction. I'd hear of the emotional instability of these human bodies, but this was way beyond my ability to anticipate. In eight full lives, I'd never had emotion touch me with such force" (page 21) Another major part of the novel is the idea of rash emotion, the humans are considered brutal and violent because they easily give into their emotion-in the eyes of the soul, emotion is humanity's downfall. But this idea is counteracted with another-that emotion and an existence full of love, risk, and danger is what make life meaningfull and worth living. Throughout the story, human emotion is put into perspective-we really analyze the different emotions that we experience but from an outside perspective. An example is the presentation of superstition. We all know this feeling, but Wanda, with her analytical soul nature, presents it in the obvious and commonplace way. This forces us to realize how simple emotion really is, even though when we experience it it may be overwhelming and destructive. "I'd never had a host that was capable of superstition. It was an interesting sensation. Like knowing you were being watched, without being able to find the watcher" (page 72). As Wanda acclimates to her new host body, in which she still hears and feels the prescence of the human Melanie, she is forced to realize how dull an without meaning her soul existence in this world has been, realizes that she is as much commited to Melanie's Jared and Jamie and finding them as Melanie is. The Seeker represents negativity, she provides Wanda with the first hand experience of strong-dislike-this dislike leads Wanda to to deny the wishes of the Seeker and actually run to find Jared and Jamie. Therefore, the Seeker teaches Wanda just how emotion can spur on action. Wanda's experience journeyeing and finding Jared and Jamie, her strong rebellion and constant view through the eyes of the "enemy" leads to her reconsideration of all that she has known since her creation. That, is some strong stuff right there, and the main reason why I am passionate enough to have read this novel the many times that I have.