The Hunted by Alex Shearer is a book for our times. Discuss The Hunted by Alex Shearer is a very appealing book. The plot maybe unique but that just makes the book more exciting. In this book most people have sacrificed the joy of having children, their fertility for the dream of eternal youth. Tarrin is a very special boy. He is rare and unique. He is what you called a real boy in this book because he has not used anti-ageing pills or the PP implant. He is a naturally young child. His guardian, Deet is a self-centered, drunkard, ungrateful man. He makes a living by renting out Tarrin to childless couples.
Both Deet and Tarrin are in fear of the ‘Kiddernappers’ that roam the streets there. Kiddernappers do exactly what they are named after. They kidnap children. Tarrin would be about 5-7 million international units. A newborn baby would be about 6-9 million. Tarrin dreams of meeting his parents and finding out who kidnapped him. Many people argue that The Hunted is a book of our times while several might say it is not. The Hunted is a book of our times because Shearer appears to be trying to convey a message to the public that people are sacrificing fertility for youth.
He is trying to say that this book a warning of what could happen in the future. The book has gotten to such an extreme that they talk about how 9 years olds can take the PP implant and can stay young forever and live till about 120 years and more. For example at the beginning of the book Tarrin comes across Ms. Virginia Two shoes who has taken the PP implant. She is a professional singer and dancer. On the hall it said that she was 55 years old and still dancing and at the end of the book it said she was 125 years old and still dancing.
Also the books talked how people take the Anti-ageing pills to keep them young and 40 years old is the oldest you will get. On the other hand people say that this book is just trying to scare us. Shearer is giving us an empty threat. Whatever is happening doesn’t mean that is going to happen in the future. Also in the book it said that Deet is exaggerating that growing up is really bad when it really isn’t that bad. He says that there are too many ‘grown-ups’ in the world they need children. Another reason why The Hunted is a book for our times because in this world are obsessed with looking young. 5% of the people who are in developed countries have already had a plastic surgery or are going to have a plastic surgery. Look at the cosmetic advances here. You have anti-ageing creams that reduce wrinkles. You have ‘Botox’ which freezes your faces nerves so you don’t have wrinkles for 3-4 hours. Plastic surgery has improved. You can pull skin to make it tighter and you could add an eyebrow if you wanted to. Also there is dye. If you start to grow white hair you can dye it depending on the colour of your hair. You can also have hair root cell plantations if you have a lot of hair fall.
Also there is something like the PP implant already. It is called thylidomide. Similarly people are living longer here but when they give birth their babies come out deformed or defected. However people say that the anti-ageing creams are superficial they don’t work. Botox has severe sideffects. It can change the facial expression of the person and maybe can create more wrinkles. Some dyes can you have a lot of hair fall or they make the look lifeless and dull. Hair root cell plantations are very expensive the majority of the people can’t afford to take it.
Children will always be valued. Not everbody would have taken thylidomide. Some one would have done something different and had babies. Those babies may also have other babies and so on and so fourth. Yet another reason why this book is of our times is that fertility is rising. In fifty years who knows that the mainstream of people may have become infertile and only special people can give birth. Results show that in 1995 the infertility rate was 7 percent. So about 1 every 14 people was infertile. In 2005 the infertility rate was 15 percent, which is about 1 every 7 people.
They expect in 2025 that the infertility rate will be about 33 percent, which is about 1 out of 3 people will be infertile. Although some may say that since that infertility will. They say that if there is a cure for everything then why not infertility. Surely people can come up with something to cure infertility. You have stem cell therapy, cloning, and tylidomide. Certainly someone will come up with something that can cure infertility. Scientists want to prolong life but if nobody young is there then they will start to think of a cure for infertility. 50 years ago people thought cloning and stem cell research was impossible.
Now look at it. It has become true. The last reason why this book is for our times is because people take the anti-ageing pills because it is a primeval instinct. Nobody wants to die. If the people in our world could live longer I am sure they would. If you tell a person when he is going to die on that day he will stay at home or get security protection because he will try to prevent himself from dying. In spite of this people dispute that some people may not take the pills and would rather give birth to a child. Some people would love to have a child and that is why they might not take the PP or thylidomide.
Children will always be valued. Rather than living 150 years with no joy people might give birth to a child and live to 100 years with joy. They will die and 100 and with a smile on their face. Finally I am with Shearer on this one that this is a book of our times because 50 years ago our life expectancy was about 50 and now is about 70-80 years old. They predict that in the next 50 years it can double which is 160 years with the improvements we have. Thylidomide is a perfect example of anti-ageing pills and PP implant. It shows the future of our world.
