"You may now demorph."

[KitsuneMarie]

Applegate's letter to her readers following the final chapter of "The Beginning" issues thanks to those who supported the project, including the readers, and a farewell to the characters: "Time to say good-bye, Jake. Good-bye, Cassie. You, too, Tobias and Marco and Ax. Good-bye, Rachel." (The finality of Rachel's good-bye always gave me mild hope for the survival of the remaining Animorphs--perhaps their story, in their own world, is not yet complete.)

But the part of the letter that has stuck with me over all this time was its conclusion: "You may now demorph."

Were these words as emotionally charged for Applegate as they were for me? Was she acknowledging the depth to which some of her readers had immersed themselves in her world? Did she recognize that her books had transformed many of us and taught us so much: about how questionable morality can become during war, about mistrust and fear, about camaraderie and love, about the preciousness of nature? Did she really think we could put all of that behind us?

Maybe this isn't what she was saying at all. Maybe this is just the over-analytical English major in me. Was anyone else powerfully effected by these words? What do they mean to you?

[Chad32]

I guess you can consider me, and possibly all of RAF nothlits. We didn't let it go at all, and will be forever transformed by her series.

[Alic]

I like how you worded that Chad. +1 when I get home to a computer.

[Chad32]

Thanks. The statement about now demorphing just struck me that way. The series had a transforming effect on us, and now that it's over she says we may now demorph and continue our lives. But many of us decided to become nothlits and never forget.

[Estelore]

1. I love this thread; beautifully done.
2. Yeah... I'm inclined to think of myself as trapped permanently in narrator-morph. I grew up seeing the world through eyes that had been educated by those six perspectives, and those perspectives became so completely and irreversibly a part of me that I can no longer guess what my worldview would be without them.
Instead of being a human mind trapped in an animal body, I'm a reader's mind trapped in a narrator's perspective.

[KitsuneMarie]

I agree: beautifully said, Chad. It seems to me, though, that anyone who actually finished the series and read the note had to be pretty invested in the series at that point. The rough patches in the middle and the sheer number of years since publication of "The Invasion" had lost the majority of her readers by 2001. I guess that's why this sentence has always irritated me; I find it hard to believe that any member of the letter's intended audience could return to who they were and how they perceived the world before reading Animorphs.

[DinosaurNothlit]

Very nicely worded, Chad.  Haha, I guess I'm a nothlit in more ways than one . . .

I guess I never really thought of it that way before, although that phrase still did really resonate with me, too.  For me, it was for a different reason, though.  It seems to imply that every reader is somehow a hidden Animorph.  Or maybe I just saw it that way because I so desperately wanted to believe it.  But it seems to say, "Okay, you guys don't have to hide anymore.  You know the Yeerks are defeated, and earth is safe again.  You may now demorph."  It's like that phrase made it all real.

So, I guess, to me, 'demorph' sort of implied the opposite of what everyone else seems to have thought.  Instead of letting go of Animorphs, I saw it as finding the meaning of Animorphs in your own life.

[KOFSoldier]

I agree: beautifully said, Chad. It seems to me, though, that anyone who actually finished the series and read the note had to be pretty invested in the series at that point. The rough patches in the middle and the sheer number of years since publication of "The Invasion" had lost the majority of her readers by 2001. I guess that's why this sentence has always irritated me; I find it hard to believe that any member of the letter's intended audience could return to who they were and how they perceived the world before reading Animorphs.

I get what you mean.

I don't know, that phrase always did have a strong effect on me, but I always thought it was because it was the last words of an Animorphs book that I would ever read (that I hadn't read before, anyway). That and [spoiler]Rachel's death[/spoiler] always had lasting effects on me. Even now thinking about it brings back old feelings...

But now you've drummed up some new thoughts. For some reason, I've never thought of it that way, but it makes perfect sense. It'd be great if that wasn't just a throwaway sentence...

[RYTX]

It's one of my favorite lines in the series actually. Everytime I read it I can't help but think "not yet."
If she meant it to be all that it was I don't know, but no doubt a powerful sentiment

[Dameg]

^^
I think I'm not a nothlit... or a nothlit who still can morph, because I often morph and demorph... even if I don't have a lot of morphs.

[Phoenix004]

I guess you can consider me, and possibly all of RAF nothlits. We didn't let it go at all, and will be forever transformed by her series.

Well said Chad, I think that's very profound. +1

[Estelore]

Okay, okay, I'll admit it: The whole last book had me bawling my eyes out on and off for three days straight, and I still get snuffly when I re-read the last message.  :'(

So there, you got it outta' me. Happy now?


 

Seriously, though, when you can pretty much sum up your childhood in the meanings conveyed by a book series like this one... of course, then ending is going to be important to you.

[Chad32]

I'm glad so many people like my reply. I feel all clever and wise.

[goom]

i felt the same way.
you worded it perfectly, guys.

[KOFSoldier]

The finality of it was big, too. I think those words held the most weight in possible the entire series.