The “Thunderhead” Novel by Neal Shusterman Essay

Introduction

In the present day, literature continues to evolve, changing its narrative and problematic. While the classical works of literature presented problems common for the era they were written in, modern books are dedicated to the troubles of the present. The Arc of a Scythe series is an example of such literature. While it does not nominally deal with the problems of the present day, being set in the future, it nevertheless attempts to answer a question which is important today. The question is simple: what happens to humanity in the future if history goes along a positive route. The present essay is dedicated to the analysis of the second book of the series, Thunderhead. In this book the story becomes global and touches upon more philosophical matters than the more local story of the first book. The author’s perspective is the description of a futuristic utopia, and the main idea is that, even in a utopia, humans will still undergo corruption and cause problems.

Body

The Overarching Theme and the Author’s Perspective

The book is the alternative to the dystopia of other fiction works. In the book, dystopian features are not obvious, with every aspect of the futuristic human life functioning as it should. The Thunderhead, an AI designed to control everything in the world except death, functions successfully, resolving the main ecological issues of today “in a single mortal-age lifespan” (Shusterman 51). It has the ability to employ the sum of human intelligence, which it contains, “to solve persistent problems” (Coats 263). Humanity has defeated death itself, and it is only allowed to counter the problem of overpopulation, in which cases the so-called Scythes carry it out.

However, despite this utopian society functioning as planned, there are still negative tendencies. The Thunderhead itself questions its role as the manager of humanity, and fears that the utopia will devolve into dystopia. It thinks about it in the following manner: “when the brutality of the dance overwhelms the beauty… the future is threatened… I often wonder if the scythedom realizes how fragile the spines of the dancers are ” (Shusterman 278). The Scythes, meanwhile, aim and compete for power, even motivating one of the main characters, Scythe Lucifer or Rowan, to assassinate some of them for corruption. However, this corruption is inevitable, as the Scythes have a quota to fill – five people per week, according to The Thunderhead. Rowan eventually understands it: “All the corrupt scythes whose lives he ended – none of that changed anything” (Shusterman 377). The Thunderhead sees the corruption as well, yet it cannot do anything. In its own words, “each time I witness a cruel act by a corrupt scythe, I… bring a lamentation of rain” (Shusterman 222). Thus, even the most advanced society overseen by a machine is still vulnerable to human greed and violence.

The problem presented to both readers and characters is the need for improving the system that seems perfect but still has its secret downsides. The loss of mortality is one of the most important features of the perfection, with the author wondering what humanity becomes while being practically immortal. Other involved matters are revenge, illustrated by Rowan, and one’s conscience, including an individual growing into their given role on the example of Citra, or Scythe Anastasia. Her own thoughts related to us by the author even call it as such: “she had to think of herself as Scythe Anastasia when she gleaned. The play. The role” (Shusterman 32). Thus, the idea is that the negative aspects of a seemingly perfect setting, including the place the concepts of revenge and playing a role have in it, are illustrated by the key characters of the book. The overarching theme of the book, then, is that in a utopian futuristic setting, it is the Man who is the potential villain, not the Machine.

The Reasoning for Writing the Novel

The author is interested in life and the associated struggles, and especially the lack of them. He wonders what happens when humanity defeats disease, pain and fear (Angel). The wish to research these matters is his key motivation. As mentioned above, Shusterman wanted not to describe a dystopia or an illusion of utopia, but a genuine utopia, its influence on human society, and the consequences (Barisich). Thus, one of the author’s key interests is to picture how an utopia can influence a routine human life with the advantage of the absence of wars, diseases, and, almost, death itself.

Another motive for writing the book is to create an example of benevolent AI. AI is often the villain in dystopian futuristic stories, and Shusterman preferred to do the opposite: an AI, which is the best creation in the history of humanity, utterly loyal and compassionate to humans (Angel). Despite the temptation it being tempting to make The Thunderhead a villain in the end, Shusterman opts for it to remain a benevolent character (Sellers). He places the threat onto humans instead, specifically, the Scythes, who are corruptible, unlike the machine, and are not under its direct control. Thus, the idea of a benevolent AI in a classical Man-versus-Machine conflict is another aspect the author wanted to describe in the book.

The Author’s Ability to Convey the Ideas

Shusterman explores the themes he set out to explore beautifully and in-depth, using an array of narrative instruments to create the plot. The pacing is optimal as well; despite Thunderhead being a large book, the reader is not easily distracted throughout the reading. This is provided by hints of bigger events taking place, new threats appearing, and by characters with complicated moral values. The Thunderhead’s thoughts are worth mentioning as well; as it is an omniscient, benevolent creation, its thoughts are the closest the narrative has to the author’s own ideas. Overall, Shusterman illustrates the ideas expertly, with an innovative approach to the characters.

The Reasons for The Text’s Success

The book is popular because it aims at both adults and teenagers, gaining a large audience as a result. The story is dramatic, capturing the readers’ emotions, and the deep philosophical questions it presents are resonated in the mind of the reader. The numerous audience of the book proves that Shusterman was right in describing the matters he wanted to describe. The problem of a possible utopian future and its difficulties is an actual and important matter, while readers have grown bored of various dystopian fantastic settings and wish to explore other options.

Conclusion

In his book, Neal Shusterman describes a utopian society where death is limited to a function for controlling overpopulation, and every other aspect of human life is dealt with by an AI called The Thunderhead. When describing this society, Shusterman skillfully writes a book that is non-standard for the science fiction genre and achieves success among both teen and adult audience. The main theme of the book is the idea that, even in the best possible futuristic scenario where wars are gone and the AI is reliable, humanity is still susceptible to corruption. This theme proves to be successful and is close to the reader.

Works Cited

Angel, Rebecca. “Neal Shusterman: ‘Thunderhead’ Interview.”GeekMom, 2018.

Barisich, Justin. (2021). Neal Shusterman. BookPage | Discover Your next Great Book!

Coats, Karen. “Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman.”Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, vol. 71, no. 6, 2018, p. 263. Crossref.

Sellers, John A. (2018).Four Questions for Neal Shusterman. PublishersWeekly.Com.

Shusterman, Neal. Thunderhead. Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2018.