Borne Literary Elements

Science Fiction

Set in an unnamed post-apocalyptic city in the future.

It is narrated in first person from Rachel’s perspective.

Straightforward, Sympathetic, Eerie, Nostalgic

Protagonist: Rachel and Borne; Antagonist: The Company and Mord.

Following the devastation from climate change and the experiments of The Company, the world is left a barren wasteland with strange creatures. One such creature is Mord where Rachel discovers another organism on it that opens her world and reveals a lot about their society.

The climax occurs when Rachel chases Borne away out of disappointment only to find out the creature has been controlling its animalistic instincts too.

“To me, Borne was just salvage at first. I didn’t know what Borne would mean to us. I couldn’t know that he would change everything. Including me.”

This foreshadows how Borne will bring much more enlightenment and growth in their lives.

“A stew of heavy metals and oil and waste that generated a toxic mist, reminding us that we would likely die from cancer or worse. Beyond the river lay a wasteland of scrub. Nothing good or wholesome there, yet on rare occasions people still appeared out of that horizon.”

The allusions made in the novel include environmental themes and the issue of climate change.

“…the more Borne rose up through Mord’s fur, became more like a hybrid of sea anemone and squid: a sleek vase with rippling colors that strayed from purple toward deep blues and sea greens. Four vertical ridges slid up the sides of its warm and pulsating skin. The texture was as smooth as waterworn stone, if a bit rubbery. It smelled of beach reeds on lazy summer afternoons and, beneath the sea salt, of passionflowers. Much later, I realized it would have smelled different to someone else, might even have appeared in a different form.”

N/A

The main parallel is between Mord and Borne as the creatures represent the exploitation of resources and rejuvenation of the world respectively.

“A patina like mother-of-pearl covered the surface.”

“A glittering reef of stars, spread out phosphorescent, and each one might have life on it, planets revolving around them.”