An airbeast was inside: a Huxley ascender, its tentacles in the grips of a dozen ground men. The beast pulsed and trembled as they drew it gently out, setting its translucent gasbag shimmering with the red light of the rising sun.
"A medusa," gasped the boy next to her.
Deryn nodded. This was the first hydrogen breather ever fabricated, nothing like the giant living airships of today, with their gondolas, engines, and observation decks.
The Huxley was made from the life chains of medusae - jellyfish and other venomous sea creatures - and was practically as dangerous. One wrong puff of wind could spook a Huxley, sending it diving for the ground like a bird headed for worms. The creatures' fishy guts could survive almost any fall, but their human passengers were rarely so lucky (Westerfield, 30-31).
Deryn is applying as a soldier for the army. Part of the prerequisites was “air sense”, the ability to travel in flight and know what to do if dire situations arise all the while keeping a cool and level head. For this test, candidates must fly using a Huxley, an airbeast that looks like a medusa with its tentacles.
I think personally having a Huxley as a pet would actually be enjoyable; I could use it to relieve my stress after a long day of work. That is of course barring the danger involved with flying a Huxley. Though a Huxley, design-wise, would not be very popular with the public. Like I mentioned before, we as a society unfortunately like cute and fluffy objects and animals. That’s why brands like Hello Kitty are so popular. A Huxley on the other hand has tentacles, is slimy, and is overall displeasing to the eye. Not to mention the fact that the Huxley has to put tentacles over the person in order to fly, which may also put some people off.
The passage about the Huxley seems to inspire both awe and fear into the audience. This is the first instance in the novel about a Darwinist creature; it’s interesting in that it’s a combination of jellyfish species and can fly, yet, it is also sort of frightening that it’s essentially a tentacle monster that can fly someone. The imagery, as well as the description of the Huxley work together to provide a sense of awe about this unique creature but also a sense of fear from the dangers of falling and the idea of being surrounded by slimy tentacles. The audience does get this sense of foreboding from the monster itself, but the uniqueness of the creature serves to instill more interest and awe than it is fear.
The idea of the fabrication of a Huxley seems to suggest that society today isn’t afraid to venture into new unknowns, even if that unknown is a tentacle monster. Even the Leviathan is proof of bold, large, and new innovations of today.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Leviathan - The Bats
"Well, don't worry," Alek said, clapping a hand on Dylan's shoulder. "The Stormwalker can carry all the food your airbeast needs. Though I can't see how one creature could eat all this."
"Don't be daft. The Leviathan isn't one creature," Dylan said. "It's a whole tangle of beasties - what they call an ecosystem."
Alek nodded slowly. "Did I hear Dr. Barlow say something about bats?"
"Aye, the flechette bats. You should see those wee beasties at work."
"Flechette? Like 'dart' in French?"
"That sounds right," Dylan said. "The bats gobble up these metal spikes, then release them over the enemy."
"They eat spikes," Alek said slowly. "And then ... release them?"
Dylan stifled a laugh. "Aye, in the usual way."
Alek blinked. The boy couldn't possibly be saying what Alek thought he was. Perhaps it was another of his peculiar jokes.
"Well, I'm glad we're at peace, so your bats won't be, um ... releasing their flechettes on us." (Westerfield, 328)
To help save the Leviathan, Alek offers Dylan/Deryn caches of food and supplies back at his family’s castle. They discuss how to transport the food back to the Leviathan, as well as the Leviathan’s diet and the bats used for warfare that the Leviathan has.
If bats developed the ability to eat spikes and then used them as projectile weaponry, I think bats would go on to be potentially one of the most dangerous, if not the dangerous, animal on the planet. It is a bit worrisome if some animals developed some dangerous self-protection habits. In the future, we could have worms spitting out corrosive acid and burning through our skin, or cats with the ability to extend their claws, or birds learning how to spit out seeds at predators. More people would probably be afraid of animals at this point, and probably more pet laws will be put into place. The future of pets would probably be dark and grim if they learned to use these abilities against humans…
The passage itself makes a clear point not to underestimate animals at all; they can be cunning and dangerous beings (even if they aren’t genetically altered like they are here). Westerfield ironically makes this point through comedic effect; in this scene, there is clearly an awkward, yet humorous, moment between Alek and Dylan concerning the flechette bats. The use of awkward pauses done by ellipses, as well as the awkward phrasing of Alek’s words, contributes to this sense of both fear and light-heartedness. It’s not exactly funny about the possibility of getting hit with metal spikes coming out of a bat’s mouth, but Alek’s uneasiness about the whole development dispels part of the fear with humor. Besides making the readers chuckle a bit, the passage itself does astonish us, making us wonder what sort of other animals introduced in the novel will have weird yet powerful abilities.
Developing bats with the ability to eat spikes seems to indicate that our society has a strange knack for developing weird yet potentially useful objects. Having this sort of innovation isn’t bad; if we as society lived within the lines, barely any inventions would get created. Though… the practicality of developing bats out of all animals to be the ones to shoot out spikes remains to be questioned. At least the Leviathan is practical; it has the size and power to both fly a fast rate and shoot out projectiles to defend itself against enemies.
"Don't be daft. The Leviathan isn't one creature," Dylan said. "It's a whole tangle of beasties - what they call an ecosystem."
Alek nodded slowly. "Did I hear Dr. Barlow say something about bats?"
"Aye, the flechette bats. You should see those wee beasties at work."
"Flechette? Like 'dart' in French?"
"That sounds right," Dylan said. "The bats gobble up these metal spikes, then release them over the enemy."
"They eat spikes," Alek said slowly. "And then ... release them?"
Dylan stifled a laugh. "Aye, in the usual way."
Alek blinked. The boy couldn't possibly be saying what Alek thought he was. Perhaps it was another of his peculiar jokes.
"Well, I'm glad we're at peace, so your bats won't be, um ... releasing their flechettes on us." (Westerfield, 328)
To help save the Leviathan, Alek offers Dylan/Deryn caches of food and supplies back at his family’s castle. They discuss how to transport the food back to the Leviathan, as well as the Leviathan’s diet and the bats used for warfare that the Leviathan has.
If bats developed the ability to eat spikes and then used them as projectile weaponry, I think bats would go on to be potentially one of the most dangerous, if not the dangerous, animal on the planet. It is a bit worrisome if some animals developed some dangerous self-protection habits. In the future, we could have worms spitting out corrosive acid and burning through our skin, or cats with the ability to extend their claws, or birds learning how to spit out seeds at predators. More people would probably be afraid of animals at this point, and probably more pet laws will be put into place. The future of pets would probably be dark and grim if they learned to use these abilities against humans…
The passage itself makes a clear point not to underestimate animals at all; they can be cunning and dangerous beings (even if they aren’t genetically altered like they are here). Westerfield ironically makes this point through comedic effect; in this scene, there is clearly an awkward, yet humorous, moment between Alek and Dylan concerning the flechette bats. The use of awkward pauses done by ellipses, as well as the awkward phrasing of Alek’s words, contributes to this sense of both fear and light-heartedness. It’s not exactly funny about the possibility of getting hit with metal spikes coming out of a bat’s mouth, but Alek’s uneasiness about the whole development dispels part of the fear with humor. Besides making the readers chuckle a bit, the passage itself does astonish us, making us wonder what sort of other animals introduced in the novel will have weird yet powerful abilities.
Developing bats with the ability to eat spikes seems to indicate that our society has a strange knack for developing weird yet potentially useful objects. Having this sort of innovation isn’t bad; if we as society lived within the lines, barely any inventions would get created. Though… the practicality of developing bats out of all animals to be the ones to shoot out spikes remains to be questioned. At least the Leviathan is practical; it has the size and power to both fly a fast rate and shoot out projectiles to defend itself against enemies.
Leviathan - Darwinists vs. Clankers
The airship lay in a dark lump on the glacier's featureless white. It looked smaller now, as if slowly deflating. No fires or lamps were visible, just the strange glow he'd noticed earlier. Tiny pinpricks of light moved in the wreckage, like green fireflies buzzing about the giant creature's wounds.
Alek shivered. He'd heard awful stories about the Darwinists' creations: half-breeds of tigers and wolves, mythological monsters brought to life, animals that spoke and even reasoned like humans, but had no souls. He'd been told that when godless beasts were created, the spirits of demons occupied them - pure evil given flesh (Westerfield, 230).
The Leviathan had crashed into a desolate wasteland high up in the mountains, and Alek, the main protagonist, goes to check out the crash, worrying that there may be people who may be injured from the crash or need food. Once he got close enough to the site, he realized that the Leviathan wasn’t an airship, but rather a living being, and reflected upon all the facts that he was told about the Darwinists and their creatures.
The Darwinists’ creations definitely sound like monsters and creatures out of a fantasy book or video game instilled into reality. I think it would be cool to live alongside such creatures though, despite the obvious risk, but they shouldn’t hurt someone provided they’re treated well. We can learn more about them and we can also learn more about the past civilizations and why they worshipped such creatures so much. Having animals that can talk would obviously help in this endeavor, and being able to communicate with one another would help create more bonds between humans and animals.
What this passage seems to be illustrating is how difficult it is to understand where everyone’s coming from. Westerfield makes this point within the context of the story, as well as the descriptive words Alek uses to describe the Darwinists’ creatures. There are two factions, the Clankers and the Darwinists, who are against each other. The Clankers are the machinists and the Darwinists are the people who create animals and creatures not of the world naturally. Alek is a Clanker; Daryn is a Darwinist; the two have misconceptions of each other’s faction, and here especially, the readers see how misinformed and biased Alek is about the Darwinists’ creations, since they know how they are like from the viewpoint of Daryn. Alek claims that their creations are essentially demons, when it is obvious at this point of the plot that they have feelings as well. Seeing as this is one of the major causes of the main conflict within the plot, this type of scenario makes us, as the readers, reevaluate our perspectives of each side or even reevaluate our perspectives in terms of any “factions” going on within our own lives.
Part of being human is making mistakes; this includes misunderstandings as well. But making the effort to understand one another is what makes someone human on the inside. Understanding one another builds stronger bonds and relationships and offers a new perspective on the situation at hand. Without understanding, perhaps scientists may have never found out the connection between birds and ancient lizards.
Alek shivered. He'd heard awful stories about the Darwinists' creations: half-breeds of tigers and wolves, mythological monsters brought to life, animals that spoke and even reasoned like humans, but had no souls. He'd been told that when godless beasts were created, the spirits of demons occupied them - pure evil given flesh (Westerfield, 230).
The Leviathan had crashed into a desolate wasteland high up in the mountains, and Alek, the main protagonist, goes to check out the crash, worrying that there may be people who may be injured from the crash or need food. Once he got close enough to the site, he realized that the Leviathan wasn’t an airship, but rather a living being, and reflected upon all the facts that he was told about the Darwinists and their creatures.
The Darwinists’ creations definitely sound like monsters and creatures out of a fantasy book or video game instilled into reality. I think it would be cool to live alongside such creatures though, despite the obvious risk, but they shouldn’t hurt someone provided they’re treated well. We can learn more about them and we can also learn more about the past civilizations and why they worshipped such creatures so much. Having animals that can talk would obviously help in this endeavor, and being able to communicate with one another would help create more bonds between humans and animals.
What this passage seems to be illustrating is how difficult it is to understand where everyone’s coming from. Westerfield makes this point within the context of the story, as well as the descriptive words Alek uses to describe the Darwinists’ creatures. There are two factions, the Clankers and the Darwinists, who are against each other. The Clankers are the machinists and the Darwinists are the people who create animals and creatures not of the world naturally. Alek is a Clanker; Daryn is a Darwinist; the two have misconceptions of each other’s faction, and here especially, the readers see how misinformed and biased Alek is about the Darwinists’ creations, since they know how they are like from the viewpoint of Daryn. Alek claims that their creations are essentially demons, when it is obvious at this point of the plot that they have feelings as well. Seeing as this is one of the major causes of the main conflict within the plot, this type of scenario makes us, as the readers, reevaluate our perspectives of each side or even reevaluate our perspectives in terms of any “factions” going on within our own lives.
Part of being human is making mistakes; this includes misunderstandings as well. But making the effort to understand one another is what makes someone human on the inside. Understanding one another builds stronger bonds and relationships and offers a new perspective on the situation at hand. Without understanding, perhaps scientists may have never found out the connection between birds and ancient lizards.
Leviathan - The Parrot
"A message parrot," Dr. Barlow said. "Based on the Congo African Grey. We've been training it especially for this trip. It can read airmen's uniforms and gondola markings, just like a proper Service lizard."
"Training it, ma'am?" Deryn frowned. "But I thought this Constantinople business came up all of a sudden."
"Indeed, things are moving more quickly than expected." Dr. Barlow lay one hand on the mysterious box. "But some of us have been planning this mission for years."
Deryn gave the box another wary glance, then turned to watch the parrot. It flapped through the ropes and guidelines, straight into the open windows of the bridge.
"That's brilliant, ma'am. It's like a flying message lizard!" (Westerfield, 160)
"They have many of the same life threads," Dr. Barlow said. "In fact, some of us believe that birds share ancestors with the ancient lizards..."
Here, Deryn just noticed Dr. Barlow use a parrot to send a message to the captain, just like how their military uses message lizards to transmit messages. She questions the parrot being used as a messenger and learns that the parrot was trained to essentially be like a message lizard, but with the capabilities of flight. Part of the reason that it was able to be trained to be like that is due to the connection that birds share with lizards from long ago.
It would be interesting to develop traits in animals and even in ourselves that have been lost due to the way inheritance works. We could have the dexterity to swing from vine to vine in the jungles, or even have the ability to make flying squirrels. Zoos would probably be a lot more interesting if they could train animals to regain their lost characteristics. Lizards could start imitating speech, or start flying. Ostriches could have necks as long as giraffes. The number of possibilities would be endless, and it would definitely make going to a zoo more interesting and varied.
The passage makes a point that even different species of animals can have much in common and even share ancestry, despite their looks or behavioral differences. Westerfield makes this point very explicitly; he uses an example of a parrot compared to that of a lizard and notes that birds like parrots and lizards once had a common ancestor way back in ancient times. The parrot being able to do the same duties as that of a message lizard does support the idea that the two are related way back in the past. The idea of a parrot even remotely related to that of a lizard makes us, the readers, reflect upon the objects, the animals, and the people we see every day and wonder if possibly they could also be related to each other as well in some way. For example, nobody would think that chocolate, one of life’s greatest delights for some people with a sweet tooth, is related to a seed. Being able to connect animals to long-lost traits is an advantage in promoting new usages. The Leviathan for example, serves both as an airplane for travel as well as a fighter for war.
The depiction of a future where animals can learn to adopt more favorable traits would seem to indicate that actually our society in the present day would face some sort of challenge that would force animals to adopt more favorable traits in order to survive as part of the Darwinist theory. Global warming and the Earth trying to adapt itself to the new climate changes would probably be the catalyst for such a change. On the other hand, it could just be that our present society is just developing at a much rapid rate than we think it’s developing, and that we can train ourselves and other animals to adopt favorable behavioral patterns.
"Training it, ma'am?" Deryn frowned. "But I thought this Constantinople business came up all of a sudden."
"Indeed, things are moving more quickly than expected." Dr. Barlow lay one hand on the mysterious box. "But some of us have been planning this mission for years."
Deryn gave the box another wary glance, then turned to watch the parrot. It flapped through the ropes and guidelines, straight into the open windows of the bridge.
"That's brilliant, ma'am. It's like a flying message lizard!" (Westerfield, 160)
"They have many of the same life threads," Dr. Barlow said. "In fact, some of us believe that birds share ancestors with the ancient lizards..."
Here, Deryn just noticed Dr. Barlow use a parrot to send a message to the captain, just like how their military uses message lizards to transmit messages. She questions the parrot being used as a messenger and learns that the parrot was trained to essentially be like a message lizard, but with the capabilities of flight. Part of the reason that it was able to be trained to be like that is due to the connection that birds share with lizards from long ago.
It would be interesting to develop traits in animals and even in ourselves that have been lost due to the way inheritance works. We could have the dexterity to swing from vine to vine in the jungles, or even have the ability to make flying squirrels. Zoos would probably be a lot more interesting if they could train animals to regain their lost characteristics. Lizards could start imitating speech, or start flying. Ostriches could have necks as long as giraffes. The number of possibilities would be endless, and it would definitely make going to a zoo more interesting and varied.
The passage makes a point that even different species of animals can have much in common and even share ancestry, despite their looks or behavioral differences. Westerfield makes this point very explicitly; he uses an example of a parrot compared to that of a lizard and notes that birds like parrots and lizards once had a common ancestor way back in ancient times. The parrot being able to do the same duties as that of a message lizard does support the idea that the two are related way back in the past. The idea of a parrot even remotely related to that of a lizard makes us, the readers, reflect upon the objects, the animals, and the people we see every day and wonder if possibly they could also be related to each other as well in some way. For example, nobody would think that chocolate, one of life’s greatest delights for some people with a sweet tooth, is related to a seed. Being able to connect animals to long-lost traits is an advantage in promoting new usages. The Leviathan for example, serves both as an airplane for travel as well as a fighter for war.
The depiction of a future where animals can learn to adopt more favorable traits would seem to indicate that actually our society in the present day would face some sort of challenge that would force animals to adopt more favorable traits in order to survive as part of the Darwinist theory. Global warming and the Earth trying to adapt itself to the new climate changes would probably be the catalyst for such a change. On the other hand, it could just be that our present society is just developing at a much rapid rate than we think it’s developing, and that we can train ourselves and other animals to adopt favorable behavioral patterns.
Leviathan - The Kraken
The huge tentacle swept through the air, a sheet of seawater spilling like rain from its length. The Royal Navy kraken was another of Huxley's fabrications, Deryn had read, made from the life chains of the octopus and giant squid. Its arm uncoiled like a vast, slow whip in the spotlights.
Taking its time, the tentacle curled around the schooner, its suckers clamping tight against the hull. Then it was joined by another arm, and each took one end of the ship. The vessel snapped between them, the awful sound of tearing wood bouncing across the black water to Deryn's ears.
More tentacles uncoiled from the water, wrapping around the ship. Finally the kraken's head rose into view, one huge eye gazing up at the Leviathan for a moment before the beastie pulled the schooner beneath the waves.
Soon nothing but flotsam remained above the waves. The guns of the Gorgon roared in salute (Westerfield, 114).
Here, enemy ships threatening the Leviathan are being destroyed by another creature of fabrication, a kraken, made from the hybridization of the octopus and the giant squid. The Royal Navy saves the Leviathan using this creature to sink their enemy ships to the point that barely any remnants of their ships remained on the surface of the waters.
Being to make mythical sea creatures through hybridizations sounds both fascinating and scary at the same time. Making a kraken would be interesting for a tourist attraction, though setting it out in the ocean would just be devastating to the sea life. Using mythical creatures would be great for warfare though; for example, the kraken would just destroy navies like the situation described in this passage. Though… for the sake of humanity, it may be best not to dabble too much in the arts of combining animals if we get the technology to do so, lest we find ourselves with a planet destroyer...
The situation in the passage seems to show a much dangerous side to these Darwinist creations, or creatures made unnaturally. A single kraken was able to disable and dismantle a whole navy with its tentacles. Westerfield emphasizes this sense of danger primarily through the imagery that he conveys through the kraken’s actions. The way that he describes how the kraken used its arm to take hold of the ship’s sides and how the ship snapped into two suggests how these navy ships are children’s play for the kraken; the ships themselves are like ants against a greater force. The passage definitely brings the readers back from admiring the usage of these sort of creatures like in the last post and makes a point to them of the possible dangers and risks that come along with the power these creatures hold. It’s all fun and games… until a whole navy goes down to a mythical sea creature.
Based on this passage, the way the kraken effortlessly rips these enemy ships suggests that we as society nowadays are capable, or are on the road of being capable, of developing some dangerous things, whether they are creatures or devices. Even in the present day, some scientists have already developed a way to make the bird flu even deadlier by making it contagious through the air. As technology grows, so does our capacity to both provide assistance and inflict harm to our society.
Taking its time, the tentacle curled around the schooner, its suckers clamping tight against the hull. Then it was joined by another arm, and each took one end of the ship. The vessel snapped between them, the awful sound of tearing wood bouncing across the black water to Deryn's ears.
More tentacles uncoiled from the water, wrapping around the ship. Finally the kraken's head rose into view, one huge eye gazing up at the Leviathan for a moment before the beastie pulled the schooner beneath the waves.
Soon nothing but flotsam remained above the waves. The guns of the Gorgon roared in salute (Westerfield, 114).
Here, enemy ships threatening the Leviathan are being destroyed by another creature of fabrication, a kraken, made from the hybridization of the octopus and the giant squid. The Royal Navy saves the Leviathan using this creature to sink their enemy ships to the point that barely any remnants of their ships remained on the surface of the waters.
Being to make mythical sea creatures through hybridizations sounds both fascinating and scary at the same time. Making a kraken would be interesting for a tourist attraction, though setting it out in the ocean would just be devastating to the sea life. Using mythical creatures would be great for warfare though; for example, the kraken would just destroy navies like the situation described in this passage. Though… for the sake of humanity, it may be best not to dabble too much in the arts of combining animals if we get the technology to do so, lest we find ourselves with a planet destroyer...
The situation in the passage seems to show a much dangerous side to these Darwinist creations, or creatures made unnaturally. A single kraken was able to disable and dismantle a whole navy with its tentacles. Westerfield emphasizes this sense of danger primarily through the imagery that he conveys through the kraken’s actions. The way that he describes how the kraken used its arm to take hold of the ship’s sides and how the ship snapped into two suggests how these navy ships are children’s play for the kraken; the ships themselves are like ants against a greater force. The passage definitely brings the readers back from admiring the usage of these sort of creatures like in the last post and makes a point to them of the possible dangers and risks that come along with the power these creatures hold. It’s all fun and games… until a whole navy goes down to a mythical sea creature.
Based on this passage, the way the kraken effortlessly rips these enemy ships suggests that we as society nowadays are capable, or are on the road of being capable, of developing some dangerous things, whether they are creatures or devices. Even in the present day, some scientists have already developed a way to make the bird flu even deadlier by making it contagious through the air. As technology grows, so does our capacity to both provide assistance and inflict harm to our society.
The Leviathan
The Leviathan's body was made from the life threads of a whale, but a hundred other species were tangled into its design, countless creatures fitting together like the gears of a stopwatch. Flocks of fabricated birds swarmed around it - scouts, fighters, and predators to gather food. Deryn saw message lizards and other beasties scampering across its skin.According to her aerology manual, the big hydrogen breathers were modeled on the tiny South American islands where Darwin had made his famous discoveries. The Leviathan wasn't one beastie, but a vast web of life in ever shifting balance.The motivator engines changed pitch, nudging the creature's nose up. The airbeast obeyed, cilia along its flanks undulating like a sea of grass in the wind - a host of tiny oars rowing backward, slowing the Leviathan almost to a halt.The huge shape drifted slowly overhead, blotting out the sky. Its belly was all mottled grays, camouflage for night raids.In the sudden coolness of the huge shadow, Deryn stared up, spellbound. This vast, fantastic creature had actually come to rescue her (Westerfield, 71).
At this section of the plot, Deryn, the female heroine, is drifting as the wind and her Huxley, a creature made unnaturally and is designed for single person flights, take her literally half-way across England. However, the Leviathan appears and rescues Deryn from her long flight, and takes her in. The Leviathan is also a creature made unnaturally, but it is more of an ecosystem; it is designed with hundreds of species present both inside and outside its body working collaboratively to keep the Leviathan afloat. Both the Huxley and the Leviathan are both used as military transportations and even as weapons.
I’m not really too sure as to how I would feel towards using biological creatures for warfare purposes, but I think it probably would not go too well with the public today. To be honest, there would probably need to be some sort of boot camp for actually being able to handle these creatures, and also being able to have the courage to be in contact with them. The creatures themselves are all hybrids, created by merging different species together to obtain favorable traits. Using creatures like these would probably drive off all the soldiers who are afraid of insects, beasts, or just animals in general. Also, environmentalists and religious authorities would be indignant over these developments, most likely saying that it’s unnatural and goes against God’s natural order. However, I think the idea of having biological creatures working together with technology is a possibility, though it’s not an idea that would develop any time soon. I believe it does have the potential to change society for the better, however.
The passage seems to show the possibility of using nature and technology in a way that both parties benefit from one another and to work together for one common purpose. Westerfield describes the Leviathan both in terms of its biology and its mechanics. For example, the Leviathan is described as a conglomeration of “countless creatures fitting together like the gears of a stopwatch”, using a simile to compare the way the species work together in terms of a machine. Even though it is technically one single biological creature, we, as the readers, get the sense that there is some sort of synergy between the nature and the technology used here from the imagery of the beast and its connection to that of technology and machines. It does make us think about a future where we could have this balance between technology and nature, instead of say, technology completely dominating over nature.
This type of future seems to indicate an ideal reality where we can make machines and creatures work together, despite their different functions, body structures, and behaviors. The emphasis in this passage, however, is on creatures of nature. It does seem to suggest that in the present day, we mostly focus on the latest technology, like iPhones, and we don’t particularly care too much about nature. But, there does exist some way in that both technology and nature in present day can work together to achieve a possible common goal, just like how the Leviathan functions. Hopefully, technology won’t completely take over the world in the future and that nature is still alive.
At this section of the plot, Deryn, the female heroine, is drifting as the wind and her Huxley, a creature made unnaturally and is designed for single person flights, take her literally half-way across England. However, the Leviathan appears and rescues Deryn from her long flight, and takes her in. The Leviathan is also a creature made unnaturally, but it is more of an ecosystem; it is designed with hundreds of species present both inside and outside its body working collaboratively to keep the Leviathan afloat. Both the Huxley and the Leviathan are both used as military transportations and even as weapons.
I’m not really too sure as to how I would feel towards using biological creatures for warfare purposes, but I think it probably would not go too well with the public today. To be honest, there would probably need to be some sort of boot camp for actually being able to handle these creatures, and also being able to have the courage to be in contact with them. The creatures themselves are all hybrids, created by merging different species together to obtain favorable traits. Using creatures like these would probably drive off all the soldiers who are afraid of insects, beasts, or just animals in general. Also, environmentalists and religious authorities would be indignant over these developments, most likely saying that it’s unnatural and goes against God’s natural order. However, I think the idea of having biological creatures working together with technology is a possibility, though it’s not an idea that would develop any time soon. I believe it does have the potential to change society for the better, however.
The passage seems to show the possibility of using nature and technology in a way that both parties benefit from one another and to work together for one common purpose. Westerfield describes the Leviathan both in terms of its biology and its mechanics. For example, the Leviathan is described as a conglomeration of “countless creatures fitting together like the gears of a stopwatch”, using a simile to compare the way the species work together in terms of a machine. Even though it is technically one single biological creature, we, as the readers, get the sense that there is some sort of synergy between the nature and the technology used here from the imagery of the beast and its connection to that of technology and machines. It does make us think about a future where we could have this balance between technology and nature, instead of say, technology completely dominating over nature.
This type of future seems to indicate an ideal reality where we can make machines and creatures work together, despite their different functions, body structures, and behaviors. The emphasis in this passage, however, is on creatures of nature. It does seem to suggest that in the present day, we mostly focus on the latest technology, like iPhones, and we don’t particularly care too much about nature. But, there does exist some way in that both technology and nature in present day can work together to achieve a possible common goal, just like how the Leviathan functions. Hopefully, technology won’t completely take over the world in the future and that nature is still alive.
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