Week 5. Vanessa Letter to the man

Dear the man,

Hi! This is the first time I’m writing a letter to you. First things first, my name is Vanessa Cho. I live in the normal, non-apocalyptic world (I wish you could be here, too!) and I’m a few years older than your son. To be honest, I really wanted to write a letter to you since I started reading the first few pages of the book, but then I calmed myself that when story gets deeper and more events happen, I might have more to say to you. So, now I’m writing a letter to you with all my heart.
I’m sure that I won’t fully understand how you feel every day since I’ve never been in a post-apocalyptic situation. But one thing I can be sure of is the fact that you and your son are really having lots of trouble and facing the harsh environment. What I’m trying to say is that I really have sympathy toward you and every time I read the book I want to somehow help you guys get a light of hope. I’m always impressed by the actions you take to protect your son. I can’t help myself crying (a bit of an exaggeration?) whenever you calm your little boy even if you don’t know what you might face later on. But you know what? I think your existence itself is a great relief to your son, so don’t be so sad even if you feel incompetence and exhaustion. Your actions also make me think of my own parents as well. They love me very much just like your unlimited attention to your son. I think the close bond between parents and their children never fades, especially in difficult situations.
Anyways, I was really thrilled and nervous at the same time when you stood in front of a house that seemed to be deserted. (pg.204) Since you have a memory of the naked people lying in the basement of another house, I assume you might have been really worried at the first time. But what did you find? You found food! Hurray! You could also fire the hearth and keep warm with your son. You must have been really glad to have done something to make your son proud. The meal you had there was really good, right? But I could see that you didn’t lose tension because you had the pistol gun right next to you even while eating.
I didn’t quite understand why you said ‘They are watching for a thing that even death cannot undo and if they do not see it they will turn away from us and they will not come back.’(pg.210) Who are they? And what is the thing that death cannot even recover? At a brink second, I thought that ‘they’ might be the other survivors and ‘the thing’ might be something like food or supplies. But I really am not sure.
Next, you reached the beach. Well, it wasn’t a beach that people would normally accept it as. It was gray and had a really depressed atmosphere. I saw you have found a boat and inside it there were rather lots of valuable things that you could use. Especially I was really surprised and glad at the time when you found the flaregun. When your son said the pistol gun was not there, I thought, how are they going to survive? What happens if they meet the bad guys? Now that you’ve found at least the flaregun, it made me relieved. Taking risks sometimes helps, huh? I think you are really brave in trying to fight against your state and making new attempts.
Oh, how did you feel when your son got sick and you couldn’t actually do anything except to give him some sugar water? You must have felt so terrible, being the boy’s father, you heart must have sank with sorrow. That’s probably why you sobbed in rage, clenching your fist. When I read that part of the book, I was again really depressed and wanted to give you hope. Even if I cannot be a great help to you, I really hope that you will endure and fight against this situation. Always keep in faith and please take good care of your son. The last thing I want to see is you two suffering from danger. I’ll give you all my energy! Keep the faith

Sincerely Vanessa, Cho