Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
We've Been Through the Desert in a Year with No NameIt's hard to determine the year The Host takes place in. Aside from television, no other modern human technology is mentioned. Wanda sends e-mail...
Narrator Point of View
We, Ourselves, and IAlthough the book is primarily told in a first-person perspective, it's not from the a p.o.v. you generally hear from in literature: an invading alien species. Our narrator, Wan...
Genre
Stephenie Meyer has described The Host "a science-fiction story for people who don't like science fiction" (source). So what does that mean?A lot of science fiction is rooted in, well, science. It...
What's Up With the Title?
In The Host, a host is a human body that has been unwillingly implanted with an alien parasite. But the book is less about the host, Melanie, than it is about the alien, Wanderer, because Wanderer...
What's Up With the Epigraph?
QUESTIONBody my housemy horse my houndwhat will I dowhen you are fallenWhere will I sleepHow will I rideWhat will I huntWhere can I gowithout my mountall eager and quickHow will I knowin thicket ah...
What's Up With the Ending?
Two things of note happen at the ending of The Host. In the final chapter before the epilogue, Wanderer is removed from Melanie and implanted in a new body. The big-picture scenario here is that th...
Tough-o-Meter
Reading The Host is like devouring a super-size bag of Cheetos. It may seem big at a glance, but once you get started, you can't stop. Stephenie Meyer described The Host as "a science-fiction story...