Samantha Davis

ENGL 208 Childrens Literature

Section 80540
Literary Elements Analysis of The City of Ember
The City of Ember has a Progressive Plot that starts with a short prologue chapter

called The Instructions, which helps give some background information to help the

reader later. The first few chapters introduce the main characters and what everyday life

is like in Ember. Then it is revealed that things are not as great in the city as its citizens

are lead to believe. The generators are starting to break down, there is a lack of food, and

various other problems crop up. The two protagonists, Lina and Doon, try to find a way

to help the city. They find instructions from the builders of Ember that are supposed to

help the people survive. However, Linas sister has torn and eaten some of them, so the

two have to piece them back together. Lina and Doon try to bring this information to

Mayor Cole, the Mayor of Ember in order to help save the city, but he chooses to ignore

them. So Lina and Doon decide to follow the instructions and escape Ember with Linas

sister. Once they escape to Earths surface, they send the instructions back down to the

people of Ember in hopes that they will save themselves. Lina and Doon are then left to

figure out how to survive in this new world.

There are two protagonists in this novel, Lina Mayfleet and Doon Harrow. Lina is

a twelve-year-old girl, who is being raised with her younger sister, Poppy, by their

grandmother. Her parents died a few years ago and her grandmother is somewhat absent

in her life because of her old age. Lina is a bright girl that has had to grow up earlier than

most. Doon is a twelve-year-old boy, who is being raised by his father. Doon is

fascinated by insects and has a desire for more knowledge than he has access to. Both
Lina and Doon are curious adolescents; Lina wants to know the meaning behind secretive

messages she delivers and Doon wants to know how everything works in the Pipeworks.

Lina wants to be a messenger to help others, while Doon wants to work in the Pipeworks

so he can find what is wrong with Ember and fix it to save everyone. There are a few

secondary characters such as Lina and Doons family members, as well as friends like

Lizzy, Mrs. Murdo, and Clary. The antagonist of this story is the greedy Mayor of Ember,

Mayor Cole. He doesnt want anyone in Ember to know that anything is wrong. Mayor

Cole hoards foods and lies about the problems with the electricity to the people of Ember.

Once he learns that Lina and Doon are trying to share the problems they have discovered

about the city with its people, he tries to kidnap them and stop them from sharing the

instructions with others.

The setting of The City of Ember is over 200 years into the future after a

devastating apocalypse. They never go into full detail about what happened in the past,

but we are led to believe that there was a world war in which nuclear weapons were used.

In the story, it is the year 214 in Ember time. Ember, itself, is an underground city that

was built by scientists in order to preserve the human race during a time of crisis in the

world. However, the people of Ember have no idea that their city is underground. The

city only has light on during the day. This includes street lamps and anything run by

electricity. The people of Ember live in apartments, some of which are built on top of

shops. The city has shops and stores that most normal cities would have, along with

greenhouses to help grown fruits and vegetables. There is also a place outside of the city

borders that is always dark. The end of the novel takes place on Earths surface, above

Ember.
 There are many themes in The City of Ember, however I believe the main theme is

that teamwork is necessary to succeed. Throughout the story, Lina and Doon had to work

together in order to complete the instructions message left by the builders and understand

how to use it to escape the dying city. Lina and Doon both had information that the other

didnt, which allowed them to put all of the clues together about what was really

happening in the city. Doon knew what was really happening with the generator and how

to navigate the Pipeworks. Lina had information she learned from delivering messages

throughout the city. Lina also learned information about the food supply from her friend

Lizzy. She was also able to ask for help about what some of the words in the instructions

meant from her parents friend Clary. If Lina and Doon didnt communicate their

information with each other, then they wouldnt have been able to escape from the city.

The style of The City of Ember makes it easy to read. The prologue at the

beginning entitled The Instructions before the actual chapters start gives the reader

critical information that the reader will need in order to understand other parts of the

story easily. The chapter titles give the reader clues about what will happen within that

chapter. The novel is written with a third-person omniscient narrator. However, the

narrator can see only into the minds of protagonists, Lina and Doon. There is also a

shifting point of view alternating between Lina and Doon. This allows the reader to gain

information from both Lina and Doon before the characters within the story share their

information with the other. It gives the reader a chance to start putting the clues together

themselves so that the story is not confusing.