Themes in Exodus by Julie Bertanga :: essays research papers

‘Exodus, Julie Bertanga, is a novel that is set in the future. Throughout the book many themes are discovered. The novel delves into the life of a fifteen year old girl, called Mara. It is an adventurous fantasy story, that is about finding yourself and who you are. In this essay, I will be discussing the theme of change and responsibility, and how it is affects the character. Change is one of the biggest themes in this novel. It entwines with all other themes at some stage or another. It begins write at the start of the book and ends with the novel. I believe the author made change a part of this novel because change is a part of everyone’s life. Without change life cannot progress and grow. People can become â€Å"stuck† if they do not experience enough change in early life. Sometimes the changes are small, and sometimes the changes are huge. A good example is Mara becoming an older sister. That is a small change. The big change was when her family was gone, and she had to venture out to the world unknown by herself. One of the changes in this book is noofood. Mara looks at her plate of bright and beautiful noofood. Yuk. All around her in the cafà ©, people are happily tucking in to exotic – looking platefuls of the stuff, but it turns Mara’s stomach. The aroma of real food haunts her. This shows the difficulty of getting used to new things, and how it is human nature to stick with what we know. Mara has difficulty eating noofood because she has experienced the wonderful taste of â€Å"real food†. Change is a necessity in this book, as Global Warming is threatening to kill all life from â€Å"The Wing†. This is where Mara comes in. It is her job and responsibility to go and find a new place to live, to start life again. This brings me to the theme of responsibility. Responsibility is a key part of life. Learning how and when to be responsible is one of the hardest things a person has to do. Although I believe it is a minor theme in this book, it still has a huge affect on Mara’s actions. Mara is the one who holds the responsibility in this novel. It is her task to find new land, a new way of life, a new way to survive. As the wing is rapidly disappearing because of the rising waters, they have to find a new place to settle.