The Host, cogitations about ethics and morals.
The Host has always been my favourite book and the truth is that nobody understands why. They always say “How can it be your favourite book? You’re 21 years old, study science and that book is a love novel for teenagers” (I think that is not reason enough not to be, but anyway) I have decided to explain here why, in my opinion, people underestimate this book.
When you have this book on your hands for the first time, on the back cover you can read that the book is about a love story. And that is right, but people are closed to the love of a romantic relationship for teenagers (which too) judging by the section of the bookstore from which they have taken this book and they read with that preconceived idea in their heads which, unfortunately, does not let them see the deep interior that this story has.
WARNING, SPOILERS.
I think the part of the book that we can learn the most from is (more or less) when Wanda decides to stop at Picacho Peak, since this point, it is a mere introduction. Melanie gets Wanda to reach a somewhat more objective point of view since she “forces” her to empathize with her situation. During the book cogitations are made on what good and evil implies and on what is good or bad that, although it defies logic, are not always linked.
The author exposes two realities, one is the society of souls, in which everyone is kind, empathetic and helps each other. We could say that they are doing good, right? In the same way, souls speak of an enemy, the Vultures. But would not the role of souls on earth be the same as that of Vultures on the first planets where souls settled after The Orgin? They say that their enemies were really bad with the inhabitants of these planets but they “fixed” it. On the other side are humans, who act violently against souls but, although the latter refuse to realize it, they behaved with humans like Vultures on other planets. I don’t mean to say that the end justifies the means, but in this case, don’t humans have the right to claim what is theirs? In this case, although violence is associated with evil, these people fight for the only thing left in the world, their lives and the lives of the people they love and that could be understood as something that is right. How do you get away from the reality that you have been taught to see and learn to be objective? It is something really difficult since each point of view supposes a different reality (yes, I think I’m more or less quoting Qui Gon Jinn), but I think that being objective means assuming the point of view that generates more benefits and less damage without take into account our personal situation. This book teaches us this very well.
Another point to discuss about the book is trust, how can we learn to trust the unknown? I don’t want to say “trust an enemy” because I just don’t see it that way. As Ian says, Wanda would be nothing more than a private under the misdeeds of her commander, she would not be explicitly the enemy, if not an unknown.
This world has taught us not to trust, (I personally don’t usually trust anyone, I only trust three people and two of them are my parents, and if I don’t trust them turn off and let’s go*) but if someone shows us that their intentions are good in all its fullness, why does it still cost us so much? Doc exposes himself to us as someone with the ability to understand and make people understand and he acts with kindness as one would expect from a doctor [I must say that he is my favorite character in the book (yes, obviously Ian goes after him, Ian is lovely, let no one suffer) but, seriously, what were they thinking about in the casting of the movie? THAT’S NOT DOC, it should have been Jake Abel. Well, almost no character fits but we better not go there], he does not hesitate to distrust the medicines that Wanda takes to save Jamie. In this case, this lack of confidence may be due to pride, it hurts him as a doctor not to be able to heal someone he loves and that, instead, someone comes with a magic potion and heals him as if it were a miracle. But Doc deep down understands that Jamie’s health is above anything else. However, what about the other characters? What about, for example, Sharon? (What was Doc doing with Sharon? Ehh, no, I mean, they don’t even glue, sorry, Doc deserves someone better). Sharon, by not trusting Wanda mired in her stubbornness, was capable of letting her little cousin die. And she also left Doc, who was supposedly the love of her life, because he trusted in something that, to human eyes, was strange. It could also be about envy but I don’t want to extend this too much since envy is something that we usually perceive easily without anyone having to show it. Finally I would like to highlight the case of Jared, it seems to me that it was the most difficult for him to trust and he was the one who did it with more strength and security. Maybe it was because he had nothing else left to hold on to but, if anything, he had faith in Wanda when it was more difficult for him to trust her (Jeb had a great judgment because of his age and, moreover, it was his niece’s body, which did not interfere sentimentally, and Jamie played with the benefit of the innocence of children, for whom it is easier to trust and believe). He had to put his prejudices and feelings behind him to keep a cold head and act objectively and I think that’s commendable.
We are also taught to forgive. Not only in the most obvious moment, when Kyle apologizes for trying to kill Wanda (Kyle, I must admit, is a character that seems somewhat comical to me, perhaps because, in a less violent way, he reminds me of close people. We all know a Kyle), I mean more hidden moments in the book. When Jamie approaches Wanda for the first time after she was released from her makeshift prison (the second time he has seen her in history), it is understood that he has forgiven her, he has forgiven her taking away her sister, the closest thing that he had to a mother. Although Wanda apologized later, by that time he had already forgiven her. Melanie, by allying with Wanda, makes it clear that she has been forgiven since her intentions were not really bad. In the same way, all the characters forgive through Wanda all the evils that souls have done to them. It is not easy to know how to forgive and even less in certain circumstances, but this book shows us that it is possible, but we must want to forgive.
Finally, The Host teaches us to love. Not the love that Wanda feels for Jared, in fact that is an example of the only meaning that today they usually give to love someone. Love implies sacrificing for another person, doing everything possible to make the other feel happy. She loves Melanie because she knows that she is a friend whom, after all they have lived together, she can trust. She loves Jamie because she knows that in the child there is only kindness and sincerity. She loves Doc because she knows he is a man of his word and that he would not harm anyone, not like many other people in this world. When Wanda saves Kyle from falling into the water, she does it, mainly because of her affection for Ian, she doesn’t want him to suffer for losing his brother. I believe that to know how to love others you have to get rid of any desire for evil towards the other and learn to appreciate their virtues and defects, because each person is unique, otherwise we would be like the souls that, lacking defects, are identical and incapable of loving.
Ultimately, it seems to me that the book shows us Wanda as an allegory of the hidden virtues in each person that, perhaps out of fear, we are unable to show others. I hope you now understand why this is my favorite book. And these are things that are very difficult to find in other stories, so it seems to me that it has a very special value and that almost no one, unfortunately, is able to appreciate.
I’m sorry if there is any mistake or some quote or reference that may be wrong, I’m Spanish and I have read the book in my native language. Thank you for reading!
*Spanish expression that means there is nothing left to do
