Richard's Animorphs Forum
Animorphs Section => Animorphs Forum Classic => Topic started by: Dogman15 on March 11, 2011, 01:46:25 AM
-
If you've read books 53, and 54, you know what this quote is about.
My question is: Was this actually Tom the human saying this, or was it his Yeerk, calling Jake by name, asking Jake to stop Rachel. (Naturally, the Yeerk knew both Jake and Rachel, and was probably just as scared as Tom at that point.)
Or was it a joint venture sort of thing? Were the thoughts of Tom and his Yeerk so alike at that moment that they both wanted to yell exactly the same thing?
-
I kind of feel it was both of them screaming. Despite that Tom had been a controller for so long and in book #6 when Jake gets Tom's memories or thoughts or whatever it was he says Tom spent his time wishing he could die, I doubt when the time really came he really did – especially with the end so near. But yeah, like what you said I think both Tom and the Yeerk was scared and screamed out for Jake to help.
ACTUALLY IDK. When you said:
Were the thoughts of Tom and his Yeerk so alike at that moment that they both wanted to yell exactly the same thing?
That interested me because I sort of feel like maybe Tom would have understood why he was being killed. I mean he knew Jake and, according to the plot, the only way for the Animorphs to have won the war = Tom/his Yeerk had to die, so he probably knew Jake had to do what he had to do to win the war. I mean even when he screams out for Jake to stop Rachel from killing him, he had to have known he was the one who sent her. Yeah I know I'm contradicting myself, but as I said idk, now I'm thinking about it too much D:
That quote always gave me chills though. It was really sad and upset me but made sense too.
-
It could have been both but I don't know honestly if it was but I wouldn't pass it up by saying it wasn't both.
-
It could have been either (or both) of them as I'm sure they were both scared of dying. On the other hand, Tom has spent over 3 years as a slave, trapped inside his own body and forced to do awful things. I'm not saying he wasn't afraid to die, but if it meant stopping his Yeerk and finally being free from his tormentor, death would also have been a relief.
In conclusion, I say it was the Yeerk talking, making a desperate plea with Jake to spare his brother's life.
-
Yeerk.
Even if Tom didn't what to die, I can't imagine after all this he'd ask Jake to change this at this point for him.
And I base that off the one page of tom's personality we get from the Yeerk in book 6
-
If I was Tom I'd be more afraid of the Yeerk getting away with me than being killed. But who knows what he was really thinking, because the only insight we ever get is him trying to keep his Yeerk from taking his brother. He would become voluntary if it meant his brother was safe, but his Yeerk had such a complete hold on him that it didn't even matter to Temrash if Tom was voluntary or not.
I don't really remember how it goes with the new Yeerk. Did the new Yeerk try to get Jake to join the sharing? I know he tried with Marco. The new Yeerk may have taken Tom up on the offer because I don't remember if he tried to get Jake to join the sharing. On the other hand I think Jake would mention if he saw Tom in the voluntary area instead of a cage.
Man I wish there was a Tom narrated book. Especially after he learns the truth about Jake.
-
Well, first of all, I personally don't believe that winning the war had anything to do with the reason that Jake decided to kill Tom. The Blade Ship still escaped and they still won, so it didn't really matter whether Tom was alive on board or not. Rather, I think that Jake made the call to kill Tom because it was the only way left for Tom to ever be freed from the Yeerk in his head. It was sad, but it was also the happiest ending possible that Tom still had left.
That said, I am very sure that it was the Yeerk who said that quote, although the Yeerk probably wanted Jake to think that it had been Tom. I think that the real Tom probably understood that this was a mercy killing, and he would rather die than spend the rest of his days with no hope of rescue from the Yeerk in his head.
-
Well honestly I think Tom wanted death most of all, so my guess would be the yeerk said it.
Lol despite all my hard gangsta attitude i have in rl, i cried when i knew she was going down. I was like wow...i could NEVER do that to family. I couldnt ask someone to go and sacrifice themselves, espesially not family. But lol yea i cried
-
Which begs the question: why is Animorphs considered a "children's series?"
...Oh, that's right...Because they don't swear ^-^
-
Lol exactly! I was like why would they have someone go on a suicide mission in a childrens book?
-
It shouldn't be, but it is. KA didn't talk down to her readers, and pushed the envelope of what we consider ok to show kids. Being in written form helped, as she wouldn't be able to do it if she wanted to make it a TV series.
-
Yeerk, definitely, but I'm sure Tom was very scared when it came, as is especially shown in the Animorphs universe that there is no afterlife.
The more pressing to me is Jake wanted to tell the others (but stopped himself, rightfully) that being a dolphin was the most fun he had since he saw Rachel kill Tom. That line was just SICK and made me recoil. And THIS is the guy the world WORSHIPS. :o
-
Did he really say that?
-
What? What's wrong with saying the dolphin more was the first time he's had fun since that incident? When would you want him to start having fun again? Six years after? Sixty? Never? What's your problem?
-
I think that Zakryn said that Jake enjoyed watching Tom die. But I haven't read that book since sixth grade. So I don't know.
-
I don't think that's what Jake meant by that thought.
-
Yeah I think you kind of twisted Jake's thoughts there... Seeing how his goal throughout the series was to free Tom and after the war ends he's completely depressed from the choices he had to make that involved Rachel and Tom both getting killed I really doubt he enjoyed anything about watching his cousin kill his brother. :|
Actually, I can't tell if your comment was meant to be a joke or you were being sarcastic. So hard to tell with the internet -_-
-
What did Jake say, then? Can someone get a direct quote?
-
I wanted to say that it was the first real joy I had felt since seeing Rachel kill Tom.
But I definitely think that it wasn't meant to imply that Jake had enjoyed seeing Rachel kill Tom. It just meant that he hadn't felt any joy since.
-
What did Jake say, then? Can someone get a direct quote?
Thanks to the help of a web page which I will not be disclosing, I have a quote from book 54 (as I don't own that book). The site I copied from does not distinguish between "audio speech" and <though speech>, so I'll be guessing when it comes to those <> symbols:
I realized I was no longer standing. I was flat on the floor. I heard my own slow breathing. I should be panting. Something striking at my face again and again. The cobra. Couldn't even see him. I had failed. Tom. Alive.
<Die, human,> he said. <Just die.>
<Rachel!> Tobias cried.
<Help me, Tobias,> I pleaded.
<l can't. . . I . . .>
He didn't understand. <Help me get him. Help me get him!>
<Okay. Okay. He's . . . your left paw, toward your face. Get ready. Has to be fast.>
<I'm ready.>
<Now!>
I jerked my paw, claws extended toward my face. Tom shrieked. I couldn't see him. But I felt something squirming. Like a worm on a fishhook. The snake was impaled on my claws.
<No!> Tom cried in outrage. I brought my paw to my mouth.
<Sorry,> I said vaguely.
<Jake, stop her!> the Yeerk screamed with Tom's mouth.
I bit down on the snake.
Which makes me wonder, why was it "screamed with Tom's mouth" if Tom and his Yeerk are a snake at the moment? And does this mean that Tom died in a snake's body, with his Yeerk off somewhere in Z-space? That's worse than dying as a human with a Yeerk still in your head!
-
Ahhhhhhh. Ok. Now I understand. Boy do I feel stupid. :-[ :-[ :-[
-
Did Tom die as a snake?!? With his Yeerk in Z-Space?
I can't believe I didn't catch this when I last read book 54... what was it? Six years ago? In eighth grade?
-
I never even realized the different things that didnt add up like that. I wonder...
-
What I find really interesting is that we never learn the name of "the Yeerk in Tom's head." If we knew that, it would be easier to separate the two characters. But we don't and that encourages us to think of them as one.
-
Yeerk, definitely, but I'm sure Tom was very scared when it came, as is especially shown in the Animorphs universe that there is no afterlife.
The more pressing to me is Jake wanted to tell the others (but stopped himself, rightfully) that being a dolphin was the most fun he had since he saw Rachel kill Tom. That line was just SICK and made me recoil. And THIS is the guy the world WORSHIPS. :o
I don't think Jake meant that he enjoyed watching Rachel kill tom, he simply hadn't had fun since then, his mind had been in a dark, depressed place.
-
Does it bother no one else that Tom died as a snake? Am I alone in that regard? :huh:
-
As a snake, as a human, it matters little in the end. Death is death and the dead do not care in which body they do their dying. He was still himself. As I'm sure everyone has told you since you were a toddler, it's whats on the inside that counts.
-
Does it bother no one else that Tom died as a snake? Am I alone in that regard? :huh:
I guess it did bother me a bit (especially when compared to Rachel, who did get to die a human being), but not nearly as much as the fact that he died with a Yeerk still in his head. I mean, how long had it been since he'd had a taste of freedom? Real freedom, not in some cage in the Yeerk pool?
-
I guess it bothers me a little.
-
The Auxiliaries didn't die in their own bodies either.