The Power of Six Blog Post #3

The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore is a science fiction novel about a boy named John Smith, who is really a member of the Loric from Lorien hiding on Earth from the Mogadorians. John is #4 of the Loric nine, and he is next in line to die. For most of the book, John, his friend Sam, and #6 of the Loric are on the run from the Mogadorians, traveling from town to town to escape from them. They hide among humans. During this period, survival is a key theme. If they die, they are letting down the other members of the Loric and evidentially endangering them. This could potentially ruin the home planet of Lorien. They’ll do whatever it takes to save their own lives.

            Survival is evident in John’s dog (Bernie Kosar), who is clearly committed to helping the planet of Lorien. If John and all of the other members of the Loric die, the planet will be in chaos. The text says: “I watch hundreds of lights in the tube spark to life, swirling until they become one; just as he puts his finger on the trigger, Bernie Kosar clamps down on his thigh.” I find that this also shows how important John is, proving that the dog would even risk his life to save him. Bernie Kosar is probably only with John because the members of Lorien know how important John’s survival is too.

            Another way that survival is a theme is that Sam put his life at risk and is now a captive by saving another member of the Loric, #9. Proof of this is that Sam now has to spend who knows how long in the Mogodorian cave, while #9 got to leave with John. He is another person who recognizes how important number’s 1-9 are and realizes that they must survive. I think that Sam’s favor will come back around, and he will be saved because helping others can be very deserving.

            Overall, survival plays a big role in The Power of Six. This relates to hiding. Hiding played a huge role in a book I read over the summer called Before We Were Free. Differing from an alien boy hiding from other aliens, this book was about a girl hiding from the secret police in the Dominican Republic. I find this interesting because even though the books are from completely different genres, they both have a similar theme.