Billy: Hey, Gary!
Gary: Hi Billy, did you finish reading Z for Zachariah?
Billy: Yes I did, in fact I found it quite interesting how Ann's valley somehow survived the radiation of the war. I think it must've been the unique shape of their valley, and the liveness of it.
Gary: So did I! I also admire Ann for her braveness and courage. She is only a young adult but she can cope. However, I found it quite unsettling of how naive that Ann is!
Billy: I agree. Since the novel is written in a diary format, we have no clue whatsoever of what is going on besides Ann, or what someone else is thinking. This is the disadvantage of the novel, however that also creates the suspense in the atmosphere.
Gary: I totally agree with you too, and I also admire how easily Ann continued on with her life with nobody around. She cooks herself, cleans, harvests the crops and everything else by herself, but everything changed when Mr. Loomis came.
Billy: Exactly, yet i still don't understand why Mr. Loomis was so crazy and awkward. Its so abnormal for him to suddenly act that way.
Gary: I also found it strange how Mr. Loomis became so obsessive and paranoid, even after Ann helped him when he was sick.
Billy: Your right, Gary. Anyways, see you later.
Gary: Bye
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Pictures of the Valley
Ann's home. This is where Ann survived for a year after the nuclear war, as you can see the house is in a valley, it has a porch, and this was where Mr. Loomis also lived, taking over it.
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The Burden valley. This is the U shaped valley that Ann and her family lived. As you can see, the vegetation and tree growth is unaffected here by the nuclear activity.
This is Ann's secret cave hiding place. Although it isn't able to be seen by the house, or very hard to be seen, when Ann is inside the cave, she is able to see the whole valley, and she if able to live inside.
-EMAIL- TO AUTHOR
Dear Robert C. O’Brien
After recently reading your novel, ‘Z for Zachariah’, I would like to compliment you on your unusual way of depicting the story from Ann’s point of view through diary format. The first person narration provides a sense of excitement and suspense for the reader, making us feel as if we were Ann herself. One thing I found that stood out in your style of writing is the way you balanced the vividness of your descriptions with sufficient room for the reader’s imagination to work. It appeals to the readers to be able to let their imaginations run wild within the proximities of the scene that you have set.
Throughout the novel, many of the themes and morals that you put forward have led me to discover more about myself and the people around me. I believe the predominant theme in “Z for Zachariah” is survival. After reading the book I tried to imagine myself in the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust and I realized that your book covered all the aspects pretty much down to the last detail. In those circumstances, most people would have probably acted more on the basic instinct of survival than through rational thought.
Reading your book has led me to be more sensitive to what I have to say and do to other people. Your book has illustrated how one bad deed can cause a relationship, no matter how intimate, to dissolve into bitterness. Although Ann and Loomis were not the best of friends, what Loomis did to Ann, did not only hurt her; it tore an unbridgeable gap in their relationship.
Robert, your book, “Z for Zachariah” is not only an enjoyable read, full of suspense and action but it also gives each reader an important life lesson. You have raised the bar on all children’s novels to a new level.
From Jonathan Yu and Henry Ye
After recently reading your novel, ‘Z for Zachariah’, I would like to compliment you on your unusual way of depicting the story from Ann’s point of view through diary format. The first person narration provides a sense of excitement and suspense for the reader, making us feel as if we were Ann herself. One thing I found that stood out in your style of writing is the way you balanced the vividness of your descriptions with sufficient room for the reader’s imagination to work. It appeals to the readers to be able to let their imaginations run wild within the proximities of the scene that you have set.
Throughout the novel, many of the themes and morals that you put forward have led me to discover more about myself and the people around me. I believe the predominant theme in “Z for Zachariah” is survival. After reading the book I tried to imagine myself in the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust and I realized that your book covered all the aspects pretty much down to the last detail. In those circumstances, most people would have probably acted more on the basic instinct of survival than through rational thought.
Reading your book has led me to be more sensitive to what I have to say and do to other people. Your book has illustrated how one bad deed can cause a relationship, no matter how intimate, to dissolve into bitterness. Although Ann and Loomis were not the best of friends, what Loomis did to Ann, did not only hurt her; it tore an unbridgeable gap in their relationship.
Robert, your book, “Z for Zachariah” is not only an enjoyable read, full of suspense and action but it also gives each reader an important life lesson. You have raised the bar on all children’s novels to a new level.
From Jonathan Yu and Henry Ye
Monday, February 25, 2008
Context / Setting
The place setting of "Z for Zachariah", in particular, the valley, is very vague. Since the format of the book is set from Ann’s point of view, we scarcely know much about what goes on the outside of “her” world. This complicates the story a little, because if a reader were to flip through and read a couple of pages, he/she would have no idea what was going on.
We know from the book that the valley is somewhere in North America because Loomis had to travel a great distance by foot with limited supplies (e.g. food), in order to find the valley. The valley as we know it is roughly “U” in shape with roads leading away from it to the North and South. We know this because Loomis entered the valley from the North and Ann left the valley at the end of the novel from the South end of the valley.
"I am tired of hiding. if you will come to the south end of the valley, I will meet you at the flat rock where the road curves."
The valley is described as lush and green but of course this could have been an exaggeration to create a sense of environment, and because the world had just been through a nuclear war, supposedly turning all things into deadness. Throughout the whole novel, the narrator stays in the valley.
In the movie/TV show, “Play for Today – Z for Zachariah”(1984) which was based on the novel “Z for Zachariah,” the movie was set in a Welsh valley which gave the setting a wet, temperate climate when the actual setting in North America would probably have been slightly drier.
The valley is described as lush and green but of course this could have been an exaggeration to create a sense of environment, and because the world had just been through a nuclear war, supposedly turning all things into deadness. Throughout the whole novel, the narrator stays in the valley.
In the movie/TV show, “Play for Today – Z for Zachariah”(1984) which was based on the novel “Z for Zachariah,” the movie was set in a Welsh valley which gave the setting a wet, temperate climate when the actual setting in North America would probably have been slightly drier.
The context that the novel was written in is very similar to that of other novels based on the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust. Many of the elements that have been kept are the themes of humanity and survival. In “Z for Zachariah”, this is also complimented by Ann’s naiveté in dealing with Loomis, but also her independence and determination while standing her ground against him.
"I will not harm an unarmed man".
The TV series “Jericho” is also based in America after a nuclear holocaust and is a dramatising story of survival for the people of Jericho. Another similar tale of survival is the popular, new TV series “Lost” where a group of stranded survivors must fight with every means possible to hold out until they are extracted from their island.
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