*sigh*
Fine. If you guys all think he's a traitor. I'd argue, but I was never good at debates...
I'll just stick with my thoughts
can I lock this thread yet? it's starting to sound like an I-hate-david thread...
Lol. That wouldn't be necessary. David was written to be the Animorph we all love to hate.
This was talked before on another Animorph thread. How David was created. What the Animorphs experienced gradually over time, David had gone through in a total of 3 books, probably written over the course of a month in their world, which is a really short time period judging on all the raging emotions the Animorphs had to go through. David was written and shifted to match the person narrating each story, serving as the best antagonist. In a way, I saw it as an escalation of his own character motives.
Learning of the Yeerk threat, feeling the insane fear that you can't trust anyone anymore, not even your family, receiving the morphing power, having to FIGHT for the first time in a dreadful war. He had to go through all those emotions on such a short notice and in a short amount of time. So his reactions mirrored our favorite Animorphs from the getgo. His sociopath issues is what made his turnout a bit different from the rest.
David sorta started off as a mixture of Marco and Tobias. He had this sarcastic mean kid nature (Marco) but was just as lonely (Tobias) from moving constantly with his family. In #20 The Discovery David was Marco's antagonist because he reflected Marco's own behavior from the beginning of the series, a reluctant smart-mouthed kid. That was why he and Marco never get along well. They were already too much alike. Remember how Cassie was able to manipulate David into morphing the ****roach by using Marco as a negative comparison? It worked, didnt it? There was your rivalry.
By book 21 The Threat, David had formed his own opinion on things. In order to be a good antagonist to Jake the protagonist, David rebelled against Jake the leader. A "threat" to the Animorphs' agenda, he tried to be his own leader. Remember how he also wanted to start his own group of misfit Animorphs bent on crime? Yea. He even dared to personally challenge Jake's authority, considering himself a guy in charge of his own actions, which resulted in the famous lion vs tiger fight. Very cool idea for KA to add to the story. Shame Jake lost.
In #22 The Solution, the situation had changed dramatically and David found himself acting as Rachel's ultimate arch-enemy. Rachel had personally targeted David because she mistakenly believed he murdered Tobias. David then personally targeted Rachel for making such an insane threat against his parents. David's rage intensified and he found himself desperate to reach his own personal goals. Only problem is, Rachel's rage intensified too. And I noticed the comparisons b/w David and Rachel. Both were tall. Both blond. Both aggressive individuals. Both had a dark nature. Almost like twins. Oddly enough, throughout the entire book it was like reading about a dark sibling rivalry that had taken a turn for the worst. Brother and sister who hated each other, with a passion. And it ended up as a very interesting dynamic.
By the end of the David experience, which involved going through the phases of being aware of the Yeerk threat, and enduring all those emotions in such a short amount of time, David's own fate foreshadowed the fate of the Animorphs: A youth in desolation, torn by the negative effects and self-damaging experience of a war before his time.
