Themes In When We Wake By Karen Healey

The novel When We Wake by Karen Healey is a captivating story that shows the author’s view on what the world will be like in one-hundred twenty years. The novel explores Healey’s view on the selfishness of mankind, and the fact that people will do almost anything to get what they want, including sacrificing our own planet. The author showcases this theme by presenting it throughout the description of the setting, the unveiling of the plot, and the development of the characters. The story takes place in Australia in the year 3027. The author did an exceptional job describing the setting of this future that she had imagined. When the main character, Tegan, wakes up from her medically-induced sleep one-hundred years after she dies, even she …show more content…
Throughout the entirety of the book, the main character, Tegan Oglietti, is on an investigation to uncover the lies that the government has been telling her. Each truth that gets discovered sparks a shift in the events that take place in the book, and readers realize that every event that occurs has a very specific reason. You, as the reader, will begin to think of characters differently and start to believe that a specific direction of plot will occur, when in reality, it is quite the opposite. For example, there is a scene that takes place while the main character is running away from the government, where she cannot decide on a place to go, or a person to aid her. She settles on asking two of her friends, Abdi and Joph, who had been portrayed as shy, weak, and unintelligent throughout the whole story, for assistance in revealing the government’s secrets. When they see how much trouble Tegan is truly in, the facades that these characters had covered themselves with, disappeared, and we were left with two professional drug manufacturers who knew everything there was to know about fighting, hiding out, and hacking government systems. It was only after the author revealed that detail that you could make all the small connections between the characters from prior scenes, and look at Abdi and Joph as entirely different …show more content…
It makes a novel more enjoyable to read when we can relate to the characters and get involved with their thoughts. The author did a tremendous job of creating the backstories for each character and making them seem real and relatable for any reader, while still reinforcing the theme; mankind will do anything to get what they want, no matter how many people it hurts along the way. A few examples would include Colonel Trevor Dawson, the Father, and even Tegan herself. Colonel Dawson, the leader of the project that brings Tegan back to life, believes in destruction. He thinks that if something is not working correctly or to his standards, it should be thrown away and replaced. He shows this mindset to the readers when he tries to toss Tegan aside for wanting to control her own life instead of letting him experiment on her, completely disregarding Tegan’s feelings and emotions. He thinks of her as an object to be used as he pleases. The Father, ruler of the cult Inheritors of the Earth and the main antagonist in the story, believes that Tegan is a moral abomination. He suggests Tegan kill herself for her sins and believes that reincarnation is only up to God, not at the hands of scientists. He concludes on locking the young girl away until she agrees with “God’s Word”, without recognising that she is suffering too, having believed in the same God that he did. Tegan, the main character, believes in equality for all,