After the first death door Robert Cormier

Book report

Title: After the first death.
Author: Robert Cormier
Robert Cormier was born in Massachusetts in the USA and still lives just three miles from the house in which he was born. He began writing at school where he had praised for his poetry. At the age of nineteen he had his first short story published when a college teacher, Florence Conlon, sent one of his stories to a national magazine without his knowledge. His first novel for teenagers, The Chocolate war, was published in the UK in 1975, and was followed by others such as “I am the Cheese”, “Heroes”, “Tenderness”, “We all fall down”. He quickly established a reputation as a brilliant writer. Robert Cormier had also been a journalist for 30 years. He is married with 3 daughters, a son and 10 grandchildren.
Pages: 233
First date of publication: 1979

Summary:

The story began with a story of a boy with a hole in his chest. His name is Ben, he is the son of a General and he is sixteen years old. He has to negotiate with the hijackers of a school bus.
The trouble began at an old railway bridge. A few hijackers, Miro (16 years), Artkin, Stroll and Antibble made a plane to hijack a school bus. Miro and Artkin had been studying the route for weeks they knew exactly the time when the bus left. The day they hijacked the bus, drove to an old railway bridge. Miro’s job was to kill the bus driver, which had to be his first killing. The bus driver’s name was Kate. She had to take care for the children.
Artkin gave all the children brown cake with dope in it, which makes the children sleepy and quiet. One child was allergic to the drug, he died. Artkin threw him off the bridge, as a warning for the police.
Kate was very social to Miro, she talked to him to win his trust. As she would not die in that bus.
In meantime, Artkin made requirements for Inner Delta, a secret FBI location. Artkin wanted them to release political prisoner. He wanted 10 million dollars and he wanted to liberate his fatherland. The hijackers killed a child when Inner Delta shot the bus.
When Antibbe had accidentally been shot in his chest, Artkin killed Raymond. Raymond had become a friend from Kate, because he was the strongest of all the children and he hadn’t taken the brown cake with dope. Raymond could help with the escape but that was too late. Kate had been trying to escape with the bus but her mission failed.
The hijackers heard the bad news their leader had been captured by the agents of Inner Delta. Artkin didn’t believe it so he would have a special stone of Sedeete’s apartment. Some one had to show it but I had to be someone who wasn’t a police officer. The general sent his son Ben. The general knew it would the very dangerous but trusted his only son like his right hand.
Ben arrived at the school bus. Ben had to take all of his clothes. The hijackers checked if Ben didn’t have a weapon. He had been questioned by Artkin. Ben told Artkin everything after a couple of kicks. However, Ben told Artkin not the whole truth he had said Inner Delta attacks at nine thirty but it was eight o’clock.
During the attack Ben had been shot in his chest. The other hijackers Stroll and Artkin had been killed. Miro and Kate escaped into the wood. Kate tried to intimidate Miro to make Miro believe Artkin was his real Father. Miro got upset and killed Kate. He walked to the road. Miro saw someone who was urinating and killed that man. He took the car of the man he drove away to start a new life.
Ben wasn't killed by the bullet, he was just in a coma. When he came out of the coma, he wrote a book about what was happened that day at the bridge. So that his father knew what did happen at the bridge. With this part the book started.

Explain the title: “After the first death”

Miro had planned to kill the bus driver. He knew exactly how he would like to do his first death. However, when they hijacked the school bus Miro saw that the bus driver was a woman. They needed the women for the care of the children so Miro’s first death failed. Later in the book when Inner Delta attacked the bus, Artkin was killed. Artkin was like a father to Miro. Miro thought he had killed Artkin because he didn’t tell Artkin of all the police around the bus. Miro tried to escape together with Kate.
The conclusion: In Miro’s mind he killed Artkin first, so this was his first death. However his real first death was Kate, not exact at time but at the end of the story. He also had to kill another man to begin a new life.

Who is the narrator?
The story is told by Ben, sometimes Miro, Kate and partly by a narrator.

What is the genre of the book?

It is a psychological thriller.

What is the theme of the story?

The theme of the story is terrorism.

Which developments are going through the main characters?

When Ben came out of coma, he wrote about what happened on the bridge and about his life, with the purpose his father would know what he had done to him.

Is the story told chronologically?

In the story are flash-forwards and flash-backwards.

Where does the story take place?

It takes place at an old bridge some were in the United states of America. A part of the story takes place in a hospital.

When does the story take place?

The story takes place around 1975

Characterization:

Ben: He is 16 years old, and he is the son of a general who works for Inner Delta. He is very shy and he does everything his father asks him to do.
Miro: He is 16 years old too. He has grown up somewhere in the east. He didn't have a good youth because his parents had died by a car accident. He has grown up in a neighborhood where criminals learn young children how to be a criminal.
He likes American girls and that is the reason why he finds it hard to kill Kate.
Kate: She is the bus driver. She is 17 years old. She is blond, fair-skinned, no weight problems, healthy girl. In the beginning of the book, she is nervous but later in the book she tries to be plucky, by riding away with the bus.
Ben’s father: He is a patriot. He is a general working for Inner Delta and that means a lot for him. He has a bad relationship with his family. He loves his country more than his son.
Artkin: He is in charge of the operation. He is a real leader. He knows what to do in every kind of situation. He only trusts a few people.
Antibbe: He is a man between 25 – 35. He is also a born terrorist and he fights for his father country.
Stroll: He is the driver of the van. He is a black man. His age is somewhere between 30 – 40

My own opinion:

I really enjoyed reading this book. In the beginning of the book, it is a little bit weird what happened with the boy. Later on the book, I understand the first part.
The book was very nice to read. There was a lot of action in the book and I liked that. I was constantly curious about what was going to happen next. When I read the book I was away from this world and I really saw everything happen on the bridge and in the bus. However there was one thing I didn’t understand and that is that Ben’s father risked the life of his own son for his country. No one would do that. For the rest the book was exciting. Especially the part where the special troops try to take over the bus again. There was also a shocking part in the book and that is the part where Kate tells Miro that Artkin could be his father. However, Artkin was already dead so Miro will never know it for sure.