Gregor is requested for a meeting that requires his presence. His mother is NOT going to let him go. But Ripred and the rats intervene to give her no choice. So she chooses to go with them. It's only going to be for a few hours anyway, right?
The Underland is in trouble. There is a plague upon them. One that only affects warmblooded creatures, hence the named Curse of the Warmbloods. It is a blood born illness and spreads most quickly by fleas.
Of course, Gregor gets wrapped up in a quest to find the cure and many crazy things happen and yes, death occurs quite frequently in the same frank manner it has in the past.
The biggest deal is that someone Gregor loves more than anything is also suffering from the plague which gives him no choice in his mind than to find the cure.
Who unleashed this plague? Did it start all on it's own or was it purposeful? This book also discusses biological warfare and the possibilities it entails. What it would mean if a plague were government fabricated-and if they had a cure from the beginning, but couldn't let it out too soon in order to feign innocence. How many victims would be allowed in the so called name of necessary?
Suzanne Collins does have an anti-war agenda. But at least she does admit, through her literature that sometimes there is no choice but to fight in order to defend yourself. But I don't have a problem with her pushing that fighting shouldn't be our first tactic in every situation. That there are alternatives to explore and to go in a step wise fashion through your arsenal of talking things out up through to fighting if necessary. I don't see why anyone should have a problem with that. We teach it to kids all the time-don't through punches talk it out. However, if someone starts beating you, you don't have to lie down and take it, you do what you can to defend yourself to the point where you can get away. Now, with that said, there are certain groups of people who don't want to "talk about it", they don't want to negotiate. Those groups of people are so convinced of their need to destroy that the only thing they respond to is war. It is sad, but it is true. Those groups can only be dealt with in one way and it's tragic. However, someday the world might change. But until then, do we put ourselves in jeopardy to go through all our lovely steps to conflict resolution? And for what causes is it justifiable to go to war? War is also different now, so it affects us differently. It doesn't feel like the literature makes it seem during other conflicts such as the World Wars, the Korean War or even Vietnam. It feels so obscure and so far removed because most of us can go on with our daily lives and not worry about our loved onces being drafted, or EVERYONE being required to go and fight. But it's still there and it's still real.
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