by TPS reader desouzay21
Admittedly, I was slightly concerned when I began to read We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson. Just from the first chapter alone, I had gathered the information that the protagonist of the novel, Henry Denton, was a character that fell under the “lone wolf” archetype. He was bitter, believed that life was terrible, and due to a tragic event in the past, pushed away all of his friends who actively tried to help him move on. Once I learned this, I had figured that I already knew exactly how the story would turn out. I even played out the events in my head like so:
Henry would remain stagnant for a while. Something would occur that would make him start to feel a little bit happy, in this case, he would meet someone new after Jesse committed suicide. He would become intimate with this person but realize that he is not ready yet. Things would take a turn for the worse, and he would become skeptical, longing for past times when things were better. He would constantly push away his friends and family until he finally begins to talk to them more and be more honest. Then he would realize that he should appreciate the friends and family he has, form a romantic relationship with the partner that recently entered his life, and have the epiphany that maybe life isn’t that bad.
I was able to plot out what would happen in the book solely based on his character and the prompt at the beginning of the book. To an extent, my predicted character development was what occurred in the book, but thankfully, I can say that I enjoyed the book to a great extent.
The setting and plot are both very simplistic. Henry Denton is abducted by aliens in his home state of Florida and given a choice. They show him a holographic image of the Earth being destroyed and place a button before him. If he presses it, he saves the world, and if he doesn’t, what occurred in that holographic image comes to reality. Ergo, the main characters, Henry, Audrey, Diego and Jesse, are what drive the book. I expected Henry to go from bitter to slightly hopeful to bitter once again and then generally content. However, for me personally, Henry is a protagonist that I found myself relating with more as the book went on. I thought I would find his spiteful, anti-social, apathetic thought process frustrating, and for the first few chapters, I did. I kept wondering, “Why does he constantly complain about how life is awful and then push people away who try to make his life better? He’s simply making himself miserable”. But, throughout the book, Hutchinson gives the reader more answers to this question.
Henry believes that his father abandoned his family because of him. He believes that Marcus, the stereotypical jock, only makes out with him in the bathroom because he is hormonal and doesn’t actually desire a stable, romantic relationship. He believes that Audrey, Jesse’s best friend and Henry’s good friend, left him at the most important time; when Jesse committed suicide. He deals with people at school making fun of him and beating him up, his grandmother having dementia, his elder brother, Charlie impregnating his girlfriend, Zooey, and his mother constantly working. Finally, he believes that Jesse, his former romantic partner, committed suicide because of him.
Once these reasons come to light, you begin to understand why Henry is so jaded and pushes people away. Why should he trust others when the world has given him so many reasons not to? His development throughout the book is endearing, as he slowly loses his cynical outlook on life. One thing that I greatly appreciate about that Hutchinson did was that he developed the people around Henry, as well as Henry himself. In my opinion, the book would have been significantly worse if Henry was the only character to change as the book went on and the rest of the characters remained stagnant and one dimensional.
Audrey isn’t just the girl next door who’s friends with Henry. She too is dealing with issues of her own such as Jesse’s suicide which impacted her so deeply that she needed to go to a mental hospital and Henry ignoring her. Over the course of the book, she is able to mend her relationship with Henry and help him overcome Jesse’s death and his uncertainties with going into a relationship with Diego.
Diego isn’t just the new romantic partner for Henry. He isn’t simply a rebound for Henry after Jesse’s death. He deals with his own issues such as his anger management and his mysterious past, which is revealed to have been him assaulting someone and going to juvenile detention. Despite all of his troubles, he still loves Henry unconditionally and wants to see the best in him, which is why he got into a fight with Marcus later on in the book.
Jesse isn’t just a character that people constantly reminisce about, thinking of him as wonderful. As we learn throughout the book, he dealt with depression and believed that he was not good enough for Henry. We learn through Audrey that he used to cut himself, which is something that Henry never knew. By the end of the book, Henry does not think less of Jesse, but instead, he is much closer to understanding why Jesse did what he did, which is why he is able to confront Jesse at his tombstone.
Although these are the main characters, the side characters develop as well. Charlie becomes more responsible and mature as the book progresses, accepting the role of a soon to be father. Henry’s mother is able to move on from her husband leaving her just as Henry is able to move on from Jesse’s suicide. She also improves her relationship with Henry by being more open and honest with him, which leads to Henry opening up to her and receiving therapeutic help. Other characters, such as Zooey and Ms. Faraci, teach Henry valuable life lessons and try to help him throughout the book. Zooey has a miscarriage which leads to her falling into grief, but she is able to slowly move on as she helps Henry with his mental issues. Ms. Faraci is simply a kind person that means well and tries to help Henry in his plight. Although they receive very little development, these characters are endearing.
In conclusion, if I had to summarize my experience with the book, I would say I enjoyed it greatly. Although the book takes a short while to get better due to Henry’s admittedly annoying and cynical attitude towards life, he learns to accept that even though life can be terrible, people keep marching on. The characters in the book felt real to me, as their reactions to events were rational and reasonable. Nothing in the book felt too out of reason for me, which I appreciate. Watching these characters grow felt realistic because people change just as life does. None of them, barring Marcus who disappointingly ended up being the stereotypical hormonal jock, remained stagnant and instead grew through their experiences, just as all people should. In other words, as Henry states, “We are the ants, and we’ll keep marching on.”
TPSreads 