Sunday, September 29, 2013


Jacob Sutton 808                                                                                                        CHARACTER              

 

Legend by Marie Lu

            I have just finished reading the book Legend by Marie Lou.  This book is mainly about two characters who alternate from chapter to chapter narrating this futuristic science fiction novel. It begins with June, a teenage girl who is wanted for unnamed crimes by the controlling government, the Republic and its’ police.   Neither group looking for her know anything about what she looks like as she has many disguises. On any given day, she might be wearing glasses and a mask or, as the media screen, the JumboTron shows her, June might have no hair at all. This demonstrates that June is a very sneaky and clever teenager. June, who is also the narrator, is aware of her pursuit as she comments, “At least twice a month, I see my Wanted poster flashed on JumboTrons scattered throughout downtown Los Angeles”.   As the Republic is unaware of June’s criminal activity, they sent her to the top University in the country because she had a perfect score on the entrance exam. June, who is very aware of her intelligence, is very snobby about school.  She is basically a celebrity in her school.  Everything she does is known by her classmates and members of the school.  Even though June gets in trouble a lot, teachers even like her.  While her criminal life is unknown to those around her, June continues to be a success in school. 

            Another character in Legend is a teenage boy named Day who comes from the poor sector called Lakes.  He is a “patriot” and is against The Republic which carries out unnecessary executions and does horrible things to the poorer people of Lakes.  He is working to stop them from continuing to do terrible things in the country.  He also works very hard to provide for his very poor family.  Even if he must resort to stealing, Day will do everything in his power to help his family and keep them safe. 

            Together, June and Day rebel against the Republic in very similar and dramatic ways.  They have no reason to cross paths until the day June’s beloved brother is murdered.  June, who is working for the republic at the time, finds out that her brother’s best friend, a soldier named Thomas, killed her brother by carrying out the command of the Republic.  At about the same time, Day finds out that Thomas is the same person who killed his mother (also by carrying out the command of the Republic).  They have no reason to cross paths until these main events in the story occur.  While June is fighting to avenge her brother’s death, Day is fighting for his family’s survival and for his mother.  Soon they are working together to stop the Republic from ruling in these ways. 

 

            The book Legend by Marie Lu is a book about courage and strength.  The characters of June and Day really make me think more about standing up for what I believe in.  They also taught me to ignore all the negative things people say about it and to never back down.  I enjoyed reading this book and I can’t wait to read the second one.   

 

2 comments:

  1. I liked how you compared both of the main characters, June and Day, with also describing there characteristics of what and how they are. Also the way how you described the problem of this story, makes me feel, how devastating the characters might of felt while facing this conflict. The way how you organized your first paragraph by first stating the summary and then slowly transferring to the specific details, like the quotes, was a very good idea of how to organize your paragraph. Overall your reading response really got me some interest towards this book, and I am also interested to get to know more about the characters and the complex conflict.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I liked how you described the book in your last paragraph with your thoughts about the characters and the book as a whole. I also think using descriptive language really left the reader thinking. I thought how you wrote one part about each character and their personality helped the reader learn what this book is about. I thought this response is a great recommendation for the book and now I'm interested in this book.

    ReplyDelete