The Vicious Deep

            The book The Vicious Deep is about a boy named Tristan who behaves in both obvious and subtle ways.   Tristan is a high school boy who lives in Brooklyn with his mom and dad. Then one day Tristan goes into the ocean to save a girl when he gets sucked under water and turns up three days later. After that Tristan learned that his mom is a mermaid and Tristan turns into a merman himself.  Tristan’s obvious behavior is that he acts funny when he is nervous but the more subtle trait is Tristan is private with his feelings

 I think Tristan behaves in obvious ways when he is in an awkward situation he uses his humor to ignore the tension. For example, on page 77, right after Tristan figured out he was a merman and is learning little details about merpeople he uses his humor by saying, “My fingers hover over the trident, stopping short of touching it. ‘What does it mean?’ ‘It is the symbol of the sea court,’ (Kurt says) ‘Okay, so a tattoo. I can deal with that. At least I don’t have to get my lip pierced or have a stick driven through my nose.’ I emphasize, ‘Right’” This example shows that Tristan is using his humor to try and break the tension and unnerving discovery that he is a merman.   Another example of how Tristan uses his humor in tension filled situations is on page 19. This scene takes place right after they found Tristan washed up on a shore after being gone for three days.“ ‘So, Nurse Christine’– I take a deep breath and put on my best grave face- ‘am I terminal?’  It takes her a few seconds to register that I’m just kidding.” This excerpt from the text shows how Tristan is being funny after he just mysteriously disappeared for three days. Tristan used his humor there to break the tension of his disappearance. These examples from the book show how Tristan is using his character trait of being funny to get around tension filled and awkward situations.

             I think Tristan behaves in subtle ways that aren’t so obvious because he is private with his feelings. An example how Tristan doesn’t share his feelings is on page 196 when the Sea King is introducing the champions in a fight over the throne. “I’m up. But I don’t have an entourage. I don’t have my dad or a fiancée to walk me in front of the court to show my goods. What am I thinking; I can hold my own if a fight against some jerk at school but I’m not at Thorne Hill anymore. Elias could crack my skull open and use it as a serving bowl if he wanted to.” This example explains how Tristan doesn’t share his feelings because he keeps his thoughts to himself. Another example how Tristan is private with his feelings is on page 186 when Tristan is in his bed reflecting on his life as a merman and thinking about how his life would be as a king. It says “I can’t exactly go back to the way everything was. Now that I know what I am. How do I just sit in class and joke with the boys? How am I supposed to be a champion? The only time I’ve ever fought is when Angelo and Jerry wanted to reenact WWF. ” This piece of text shows that Tristan has all of these feelings bottled inside but he doesn’t share them with anyone. These examples express how Tristan is very private with his feelings and does not share his feelings.

            In conclusion, Tristan behaves in obvious and subtle ways. For example Tristan behaves in obvious ways by using his humor to break a tension filled or nervous situation. How Tristan behaves in subtle ways is he doesn’t share his feelings with anyone and lets them bottle up inside of himself. All in all Tristan is a very unpredictable character, he acts one way but he’s really is something else.

What conflicts are your characters facing and how do they affect your characters? My book, The Awakening by Michael Carroll, is about a generation of super humans. The superhumans fought crime and bad guys and now their offspring Colin and Danny, who are best friends, are dealing with difficult problems. Overall the main conflict my characters are facing is preventing the bad guys from taking their power and trying to maintain a normal life.  Having superpowers ruined and destroyed the lives of Danny and Colin by putting them on the run from secret agents and tearing their families apart by splitting them up.

One way how the presence of superpowers is destroying their lives is because of the situation that Colin is in. For example, Colin was being chased by agents in a helicopter, torn away from his parents and stuck in a lab with terrible conditions. In the text it says “‘Colin please do as I ask.’ Rachel said [she is one of the scientist] ‘No.’  ‘Very well,’ and she pulled something against his neck and a powerful electric shock coursed through his body.”(159) This evidence shows how Colin’s life was turned upside down. Just the other day he was sitting on his bed wishing he had superpowers but after he got powers he was stuck in a lab being tortured like a guinea pig. Another way how superpowers are ruining Colin’s life is because his family is getting torn apart. For example on page 62 it says “ ‘ If either of you sees an opportunity to escape, go for it. But only if you’re absolutely certain that you can make it. Leave us behind.’ ” To save their child Colin’s parents are willing to give up freedom so their only son can escape and be free. These reasons show how having superpowers is a big conflict in this book because it can split up families and destroy lives.

Another reason why superpowers are a big conflict in this book is because it destroyed Danny’s life.  For instance, Danny has been living for about thirteen years with a guy pretending to be his father. But it turns out he was actually a superhuman who was pretending to be Danny’s parent to monitor his abilities. This information is supported in the text on page 55 “‘You’re not Danny’s dad, you’re not Paul Cooper. There’s only ever been one superhuman with shape-shifting powers. You’re Façade. The man nodded ‘Correct.” That shows how Danny’s life was turned upside down since he was deprived of growing up with his real father because a shape-shifting villain wanted to monitor Danny’s abilities . Lastly, why I think that having superpowers is such a big conflict and life changing situation is because Danny ends up losing his right arm as he destroys a machine that would strip superhuman powers and kill many people. For example, on page 183 it reads“‘ Danny you have to shut it off. Hundreds of thousands of people could die. He closed his eyes and concentrated and his arm became translucent and his hand slipped right into the nucleus and ripped out the plugs. But Danny’s arm turned to a solid too quick while his hand was still inside the machine. Pain tore through his entire body as his arm fused with the inner workings of the nucleus. Danny Cooper screamed for a long, long, time before he finally blacked out.” Danny’s arm had to be amputated because it fused with the machine. This shows that Danny’s world was turned upside down with the discovery of superpowers. Just the week before Danny was sitting in class learning math. Now he lost his arm cleaning up a mess someone else started. These examples explain why I think that superpowers are a big conflict in this book and changed the life of Danny and Colin for the worse.

In conclusion, superpowers are a big conflict in this book. For example, it destroyed Colin’s and Danny’s lives by splitting their families apart, causing one to lose an arm, turning another into a lab rat, and separating one from his father. Overall superpowers might seem cool to have but according to the author, Michael Carroll, it can make your life harder and more complicated.