What is the theme of after the first death by Cormier?
Some of these themes are Courage, Survival, Resilience, Sacrifice, Endurance, and being wise. Summary After the First Death written by Robert Cormier is a book about two guys named Artkin and Miro who hold a bus load of children hostage on a bridge for two days.
What is the main idea of after the first death?
The events depicted raise important questions about the nature of death and the process of mourning. After the First Death (1979) by Robert Cormier is a young-adult novel that explores the intense terrorist hijacking of a school bus through the eyes of three teen protagonists. It's part thriller, part tearjerker.
What is the genre of after the first death?
After the First Death (1979) by Robert Cormier is a young-adult novel that explores the intense terrorist hijacking of a school bus through the eyes of three teen protagonists. It's part thriller, part tearjerker.
What is the setting of after the first death?
This guide follows the Random House Childrens Books 1979 version of After the First Death. After the First Death follows several characters who are affected by the terrorist hijacking of a bus in Massachusetts.

What is after the first death about?
After the First Death describes the terrorist hijacking of a summer camp bus full of children. The main characters include Kate, a high school student driving the bus, Miro, one of the terrorists, and Ben, the son of a general holding a senior position in "Inner Delta"; a government anti-terrorism organization.
Does Raymond die in after the first death?
At the end, as retribution for the accidental death of one of their men, Artkin kills Raymond, and even goes so far as to reject Kate's offer to kill her instead, insisting that it must be a child who dies.
What is the conflict in after the first death?
In terms of conflict, the bus is the location of the book's external conflicts—both Kate against the hijackers and Inner Delta against the terrorists. Kate and the children represent what's at stake in this confrontation and the potential consequences of Inner Delta's failure.
How old is Ben in after the first death?
Ben Merchand. Miro is a 16 year old boy who has been raised to become an terrorist by a man named Artkin. He is assigned his first task to prove his manhood by killing for his cause. Miro is assigned to assassinate the driver of a school bus full of young children.
What did Artkin do to Ben in after the first death?
In the following commotion, Artkin is shot, but he manages to shoot Ben before he dies. Miro can't believe Artkin is dead. He expected to die himself, but “He had never counted on Artkin dying” (213). The helicopter crashes into the van, sending Miro and Kate flying.
Who is Ben in after the first death?
Benjamin Marchand Marchand is the commander of Fort Delta in Massachusetts. Despite his father's role in the military, Ben is an ordinary teenager with normal teenage problems. Shortly before the hijacking of the bus, Ben falls in love with a local girl and is heart broken when she treats him cruelly.
What is the setting of after the first death?
Hallowell, MassachusettsAt its heart, After the First Death is a story of fathers and sons. It takes place in Hallowell, Massachusetts, a small town outside Boston notable only for the fact that its population lives near an important army installation: Fort Delta.
Why does Benjamin feel guilty about his former preoccupation with Nettie Halversham?
At times though, his love is clouded by his job and what priorities it calls for. Why does Ben feel guilty over Nettie Halversham? because it was all Ben could think of while terrible things were happening.
Where was the Chocolate War published?
Pantheon BooksThe Chocolate War is a young adult novel by American author Robert Cormier, published in 1974. It was adapted into a film in 1988....The Chocolate War.First editionAuthorRobert CormierGenreYoung-adult novelPublisherPantheon BooksPublication date19748 more rows
How many pages are there in After the First Death?
This Study Guide consists of approximately 24 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of After the First Death.
Why did Ben let his father down?
Ben also claims to have been shot, therefore the reader knows some of that time was spent in the hospital. Ben is clearly nervous about this meeting with his father, clearly afraid he has let his father down because he did something wrong during the hijacking. The reader does not learn until late in the novel that Ben feels as though he let his father down because he told the hijackers the time of an impending assault on the bridge under torture.
Miro
" [Miro] should have died with Artkin on the bridge. That would have a statement for others to see...It would have been glorious to die with Artkin." (Cormier, 232)
sacrifice
Ben went on the bridge were the hijackers were to show them the stone. This was a true sign of bravery because he risked his life for just a stupid stone.
Patriotism
Kate answers her own question by trying to escape from the hijackers. If Kate did not have this bravery, Kate wouldn't have been able to make the escape.
Miro is fond of such things as cartoons and music from American culture, but he is supposed to hate it as he is part of this group
His actions through out the story shows his patriotism as he strive to free his homeland or try to.
Mark
Throughout the novel, Miro doesn't show too much bravery. However, in the ending of the novel, his actions spoke louder then words.
What is the book after the first death about?
After the First Death (1979) by Robert Cormier is a juvenile suspense/horror that examines the fragility of life through a terrorist hijacking of a bus full of children. The book in conjunction with Cormier’s two most famous teen titles, The Chocolate War (1974) and I Am the Cheese (1977), won him the Margaret A. Edwards Award from the Young Adult Services Division of the American Library Association in 1991. Cormier was born in 1925 and lived his entire life in Leominster, MA. He had his first professional publication in The Sign Magazine while a freshman at Fitchburg State College. After graduation, he worked writing scripts and commercials for radio station WTAG. He went on to have an award-winning career in newspaper journalism, working for the Worcester Telegram and Fitchburg Sentinel. He left the newspaper to write novels fulltime in 1978 and passed away in 2000. This guide follows the Random House Childrens Books 1979 version of After the First Death.
Who wrote the plot of After the First Death?
Thanks for exploring this SuperSummary Plot Summary of “After The First Death” by Robert Cormier. A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics.
What happened to Miro in the second day of the hijacking?
Early on the second day of the hijacking, American forces attack. In the commotion, Miro escapes with Kate as a hostage. They hide in the nearby woods, where Kate makes a final attempt to win Miro over. Her efforts cause Miro to lose control of himself. He shoots Kate, killing her, and makes a run for it, ending the book unchanged from how he began.
Why does Kate fear that she will be killed by the terrorists?
Miro is next ordered to try to gain the trust of the driver. Kate fears that she will be killed by the terrorists because they know she has seen their faces.
What are the themes of the Chocolate War?
Characters facing abuse , violent situations , betrayal, and acts of revenge are frequent themes in Cormier’s works, which include The Chocolate War and I Am the Cheese. The four terrorists, Miro, Artkin, Antibbe, and Stroll commandeer the bus that Kate is driving.
Why does Ben fear meeting his father?
Ben fears meeting with his father because of events that transpired during the hijacking. He is thinking about suicide, but also of receiving his father’s forgiveness.
What does Kate tell Miro about Artkin?
Miro and Kate escape and Kate informs Miro that she believes Artkin to be his father. Miro thinks Kate is trying to trick him, and he kills her; Miro escapes. In a hospital with a gunshot wound sustained during the attack on the bridge, Ben discovers that his father has used him to try to trick the hijackers.
Where does the story After the First Death take place?
At its heart, After the First Death is a story of fathers and sons. It takes place in Hallowell, Massachusetts, a small town outside Boston notable only for the fact that its population lives near an important army installation: Fort Delta.
What does the poem "The Funeral" mean?
The poem reinforces the finality of physical death and, in response, the desperate mourning that parents endure. The funeral, Thomas suggests, is like a second death. A parent should never outlive a child. But in such an event, a father suffers his grief twice over. First comes mourning, then forgiveness.
What does Artkin blame for the attack on Kevin?
Artkin blames it on a weak heart. Little Kevin becomes their first sign of aggression. Artkin bundles up the boy's body and does a crazy dance for the army snipers who have gathered around the bus. Kate is horrified. Soon after a failed escape attempt on the part of Kate, the army moves in.
What is Kate's mourning?
Kate mourning the death of two young boys, Kevin and Raymond, both killed on her watch. Cormier's novel is filled with loss, travesty, and grief. The events depicted raise important questions about the nature of death and the process of mourning. Lesson Summary.
What is the theme of the book There is no other?
There is no other.'. With these initial words, Robert Cormier hints at the novel's underlying theme of death and reconciliation. The novel's title comes directly from the final lines of Dylan Thomas's poem, 'A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London' (1945).
What does the title of Thomas' poem mean?
Alternatively, one might read these lines to mean that souls live eternally. In one sense, the title suggests that people are doomed to die.
Who killed Kate in the book?
In a moment of grief and desperation, Miro shoots and kills Kate. Cut to the hospital where Ben and his father whisper a secret and pained conversation. Finally, the author reveals that Ben died. The penultimate chapter narrates his father attempting to come to terms with his son's death. The title finally hits home.
