Survival of the Fittest

In the beginning of the book you quickly learn that one theme of the story is Survival. During chapter nine (pg. 77-87) there is many times that there is people dying or just giving up. "They just sat down and waited to die. " (pg. 80) There is always less people talking which isn't a good sign. I think that I would have gave up a long time ago so I think that everyone so far as made a good effort. This is important to the theme because it showed that if you were alone without anyone that you knew then you would've had a less chance to survival. You would be more likely to give up if you didn't have any support. There is a time when Monyroor was asked to come fight for their freedom. He declined the offer so he could stay with his uncles and keep them safe because he knew that he was a good role model them. Oscar got a chigger on the bottom of his foot again. Willy had a piece of steel that they used to get it out. Later that day they realized that they didn't get it all out. They had to find a medicine to stop the infection or Oscar could of gotten really sick. If Jacob and Willy didn't pay as much attention as they did when their Mom was using medicine on their feet they would not of know to use heglig leaves to stop and get rid of the infection. Surviving the unexpected isn't just going to be won by the smarter people. If you pay attention and know lots of past experience to survive you will have a good chance. How else have you noticed the theme of survival being developed in chapter nine? Sometimes they would come across major challenges like when they came to the River Gilo. They had no idea how to get across and they couldn't just swim because Willy didn't know how and Oscar's arm was still unusable. They had to latch together like a spider. This shows teamwork can help you survive anything. It's building on the point that if you had no friends of families members you would be stuck because you could not swim across on your own.

~BW