, Research Paper
The book Monster by Christopher Pike was an excellently written story of unimaginable terror and intrigue. He developed his main characters thoroughly and (although most of them died) put them to good use throughout the book. The book truly did consist of “monsters”, and he proved it many times over.
“It began with blood. It would end the same way.” That is a direct quote taken from the first page of the book. The main character of Monster was a girl of about eighteen, named Angela Warner. She had moved to a town called Point from Chicago to live with her grandfather. Her best friend was Mary, whom played an excellent part in the plot. The descriptions in the first scene were excellent, and produced a vivid picture of Mary going on a rampage killing two people with a shotgun. “The blast went through his guts and painted the wall behind him a lumpy red.” This quote really makes you take notice to what is going on. The third main character is introduced, Todd Kline, whom is the head of the Monsters and Mary’s boyfriend. Which are actually turning into some bat-like thing from another planet. The fourth and final main character is Lt. Nyugen from the local police department. Mary is of course arrested for her actions and spends most of the rest of the story in jail. Angela begins seeing Todd and in the process begins to change into a monster. She then spends a lot of time trying to figure out what is going on inside of her and why she is changing.
Once Angela figures out the truth about what is really happing to her, by visiting various people, she decides she must stop these man-eating monsters at all costs. Although they are monsters, they still retain human qualities for the time being. By this point in time, Mary has escaped from jail and been killed by Jim, and also has Angela’s grandfather. Angela makes a visit to the local gun store and buys a dozen cases of shotgun shells. The clerk is a bit reluctant to sell the ammunition to her, but finally to decides to do so. Angela then goes to the local gas station and fills up ten five-gallon buckets full of gasoline. She proceeds to make a bomb out of her materials, and hides it in her basement. Angela then invites the monsters over to her house so they can meet (or so they think). While the meeting goes on, Angela, almost a complete monster by now, sneaks to her bomb, but is stopped. She then finds an excuse to go upstairs to her room where she has hidden another couple of gas bottles. She ignites these then jumps out of her window. All of the monsters inside of the house are killed, and she succeeds in surviving. Although Angela turned completely into the strange bat-thing, she somehow realized that “Humans are not for eating.” and went along for the rest of her life as a monster.
All in all I believe that the story was excellent and interesting. It held my interest very well, even though at times the idea of it seemed a bit childish and far-fetched. Christopher Pike really did do a good job. I would suggest that you give the book a try. I am sure that you will be pleased.