Group Re-Read, Week 19: #17 The Underground

[Terenia]

Summary
What's tasty, good for you, and only takes sixty seconds to make? Oatmeal. And it's making the Yeerks more than a little crazy. Now Rachel, the other Animorphs, and Ax have a new weapon against the Yeerks. Sounds good, right?

Wrong. Because it means another trip to the Yeerk pool. And the possibility of running into Visser Three. And of not being able to get back up to the surface. The Animorphs and Ax have taken chances before and been very lucky. But this time their luck may be about to run out...

Questions

1) Do you think using oatmeal as a weapon is morally correct? Is it worth the repercussions of condemning the host to enduring a lifetime with a crazy Yeerk?

2) Marco seems to like Schwarzenegger. He's mentioned in several books. What do you think he'd think of the fact that the Terminator is now the governor of his state? (lol, sorry, that just amuses me. Not really a serious question, but...whatever).

3) The whole mole thing...good idea?

Even I know that "we have to win" are the first four steps on the road to hell.

4) What do you think about this quote? Especially coming from Rachel, to whom this seems to become a personal mantra.

Next week we will be reading #18: The Decision

[RYTX]

1) All's fair in love and war they say. Personally I think it's a little messed up, but I sympathize with them; they've been out  gunned for a long time, hard to resist whatever weapons your given, drugs included
2) >:(He has been governor for years now, and still we have not stamped Nevada into the dirt. I think Marco would share my disappointment. And already I begin to worry, it's been like 10 years since this book came out, Arnie is not so impress as a terminator anymore, future fans will not understand
3)I don't know why they couldn't have used shovels, at least for the first few feet; would have saved them an hour
4)It's an interesting line, no matter who says it, but Rachel coming to pick it up, guess it goes to show how people change. Good and bad are touchy subjects, and sometimes the good guy's the one willing to do what must be done

[dolphin4077]

1.  I think Jake kind of answered that question when he didn't give any to Tom. 
2.  Well Marco would probably love the idea of it, but I'm not sure if he would feel the same about the reality of it.
3.  I think mole morph was needed because it could handle the underground environment, but did it have to be the whole plan? 
4.  That quote illustrates this book's character conflict; how Rachel thinks and acts isn't always the same.  She isn't blind to moral questions or her fears, but she is willing to make the sacrifice.

[morfowt]

anything I say is practically repeating what someone else has said...except for the second one...I don't really understand that one...

[Phoenix004]

I still find the whole oatmeal idea hilarious! I loved Jake's speech about the lack of oatmeal based victories throughout history.

Maybe using the oatmeal was morally wrong, but the Yeerks are guilty of far worse crimes. I don't think it's a plan they would have gone ahead with if they'd known about the Yeerk peace movement, but since they thought all Yeerks were evil at the time it is an understandable choice. Also, since many of the Yeerks in the pool didn't have hosts, they wouldn't necessarily be trapped inside a host body driving the poor host insane.

[Terenia]

Just so everyone knows, I'm going to be a little late in posting the Re-Read for #18. I'm going out of town for a few days and don't know if I'll have access to a computer.

I'll post it as soon as possible.

[morfowt]

I could just do it for you...

[Hylian Dan]

I think there's a point in this book where one of the Animorphs says "We have to win," and Rachel notes that those words are the first steps on the road to hell. And then in The Answer Jake gives a dramatic speech saying, "the casualties will be piled high and some of you standing here right now will be dead and I don't care because we are going to win." And that kicks off Jake's... controversial chain of decisions.

I also want to note, I love the exchange in this book where they're making jokes about nuts, and then Jake says, "We'd have to be nuts to be careless," and no one laughs.

[dolphin4077]

There was a lot of great comedic exchanges in this book --Jake's oatmeal speech, the nuts jokes...  But I think my favorite will always be Ax asking, "Why is the meal happy?"