captive: 304403

1. captive: 304403 Created by kelsey chow

2. characters Nathaniel Jacobson/304403: Main character of the story who, by accident, finds out about the real world. He attempts to escape with fellow humans but ultimately fails and re-enters the experiment again. K.M.: The current ruler of Colony Earth and only extraterrestrial shown in the story. His species does not have the ability to conceive emotions; therefore, they want to take them from humans. A few thousand humans are left alive only for experimental usage and for their blood. Once the extraterrestrials have consumed a certain amount of human blood, the species will be granted immortality. Doctors and Nurses: Non-living creations of K.M., used to care for humans and conduct the experiments. Their only jobs are to follow orders and procedures. Taylor Maine: 304403’s newest identity, He is a teenage surfer.

3. plot Setting: Present, Past and Future. 1940s-2030s The story starts out with Nathanial Jacobson sitting on his deathbed. He stares at a spider crawling about on his wall and starts thinking about his life. -FLASHBACK- He thinks about the parents he hates, the first time he met his wife, his twins, his divorce, and his will. -End of FLASHBACK- He’s back at staring at the spider. He watches it die. And waits for his turn. He thought he had died but apparently not. He hears the voices of a Doctor and two Nurses, talking about drawing blood and giving him a check-up. When he wakes up he looks in the mirror to see a twenty year-old boy and not his eighty-one year old self. He finds out extraterrestrials have taken over Earth, renamed it Colony Earth, and have killed off the majority of humans. Before killing the humans off, they took away all their memory and stored it in machines.. The humans kept alive are an ongoing experiment in which they “live” the lives of the people who died. By undergoing the process they lose a bit of their life each time. That is why most die by forty. After the experiment is over, their memories are wiped away. Their feelings and emotions left from their lives are sent to a “master file”, then transferred to aliens.

4. plot After learning out about what the aliens are doing, Nathanial-304403 sets off to find other humans. He recues only three before they are caught and taken back into the experiment. He wakes up the next time living the life of a Taylor Main. Confused? Extraterrestrials Master File Lives the person’s life through his/her memory. v Loses lifespan due to Life & Memory Transfer process. Alive Dead After waking up gets blood drawn out. The aliens drink their blood for immortality. Gets memory of the person’s life transferred into the master file. v v Gets questioned by Doctors on experience. Memory is wiped out right before next “life”. v Memory Memory An average person will live 3 lives a day. After waking up each time… Machine

5. archetypes Story: Tragedy, Voyage & Return/Quest Hybrid Hero: Scapegoat, Apocalyptic, Denied Journey: Mysterious Origin, Embodiment of Human Race, Loyal Band of Companions Hero? How so?: Strength & Integrity, Endures Hardship for the Greater Good and Leaves the Familiar to Enter an Unfamiliar & Challenging World. Characters: Hunting Group of Companions, Devil Figure Quest: Vengeance, Survival, Save His People, Fool’s Errand Situation: Battle Between Good and Evil, Light & Darkness, Nature & Mechanistic World, the Tower, Numbers

6. symbols Spider: Death & Rebirth. In history, the Greeks and Norse saw spiders as weavers of fate-past, present and future. When Nathanial sees the spider before its and his death, it symbolizes that his death is to come and that he will wake up (rebirth) in his real state. Death of the spider symbolizes the end of the machine’s ( the machine is the weaver of his fate) control over his life. 304403: Together, three and four make the perfect number:7. But as you can see there is a zero blocking the connection of three and four. Symbolizing there will be chaos and not a perfect order in his life.

7. symbols Towers: Where humans are held captive. Loneliness and isolation. Room of Stars: The starry sky symbolizes mystery, adventure and imagination. Red Coats: Symbolizes danger. K.M. and the Doctors hold control and power over the humans and are also the hero’s enemies.

8. things to notice IV Drips, Tubes, & Wires: They hold down the humans but are also used to help them escape from the tower. “a wave of relaxation surf through my head to toes”: This line was used when Nathanial felt the coming of death and when the Nurse shot morphine into him and his journey in reality ended ( “death” of his true self). The “wave” also represents a “flood”- meaning that destruction (of himself) is to come but rebirth( of a new life-Taylor) will result.

9. themes · Journey · Loss · Discovery • Dominance of Fate • Hero on a Quest • Death & Rebirth • Good v.s. Evil • Corrupt Society