The 5th Wave
by Rick Yancey
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Cast of Characters
- Plot Summary
- An Analysis of Major Characters
-
Chapter Summary and Analysis
- Part 1 (The Last Historian), Chapters 1-12
- Summary: Part 1 (The Last Historian), Chapters 13-24
- Summary: Part 2 (Wonderland), Chapters 25-30
- Summary: Part 3 (Silencer), Chapter 31
- Summary: Part 4 (Mayfly), Chapters 32-36
- Summary: Part 5 (The Winnowing), Chapters 37-41
- Summary: Part 6 (The Human Clay), Chapters 42-52
- Summary: Part 7 (The Heart to Kill), Chapters 53-55
- Summary: Part 8 (The Spirit of Vengeance), Chapters 56-64
- Summary: Part 9 (A Flower to the Rain), Chapters 65-77
- Summary: Parts 10-12, Chapters 65-82
- Summary: Part 13 (The Black Hole), Chapters 83-91
- Symbols and Themes
- Key Facts
- Key Quotes
- Discussion Questions
- Take The Quiz
- Further Reading
- Flashcards
- Biography of Rick Yancey
Key Facts
Title: The Fifth Wave
Author: Rick Yancey
Type of book: Novel
Genre: Young adult, science fiction, adventure
Original language: English
First published: 2013
Set in: Roughly the present day, but in a world where alien invaders (also called Others) are systematically annihilating the human race. The action takes place in Ohio, in and around Cincinnati.
Narrator: Cassie Sullivan and Ben Parish, primarily. Occasionally there is a third-person narrator.
Points of view: First-person limited from the perspectives of Cassie Sullivan and Ben Parish; third-person limited from perspectives of Sammy Sullivan and Evan Walker.
Tense: Alternates between past and present tenses.
Protagonists: The central protagonist is Cassie Sullivan, a sixteen-year-old girl trying to rescue her younger brother from the aliens who have invaded Earth. Ben Parish is also a protagonist, and the novel switches to his point of view several times. Cassie and Ben share the same goal of rescuing Sammy Sullivan, Cassie’s five-year-old brother.
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