Ann Burden

Ann Burden

Ann Burden

Ann Burden is the main character in the novel "Z for Zechariah" by Robert O'Brien. The novel is in the form of her diary. Science fiction stories frequently have some kind of disaster and then the reaction of human kind to that disaster. Robert O’Brien has created two extreme characters: Ann Burden, a nurturing, kind and loving girl; and Mr Loomis a cold, distant and bitter man. The author has very cleverly made the names of the characters correspond to their personality. Ann Burden: lifting the burden of the world. Mr Loomis: looming, mysterious and sinister. These contrasting characters are the essence of this science fiction novel. Z for Zachariah, because of its characters, is the perfect example of a good science fiction novel.

Ann is a very hopeful character, “Even so, I woke up feeling more hopeful than I have for a long time.” This quote also shows she has been in bad moods throughout the story. In that same paragraph she makes it quite obvious of her weakness, spiders. “It is cramped and I worry about spiders.” Ann does like animals though, she has chickens, 3 cows and a dog named faro. Chickens and cows are farm animals, so Ann must have some farming techniques. She can drive tractors cut crops and look after animals. Another hope of Ann is to become a English teacher. But with hardly any life left on earth, it would be a very hard job.

Ann is also a quite fearful character, “I do not dare leave the house for more than a few minutes at a time,” but she overcomes her fears.”This morning I did” when Ann has a fear she doesn’t keep it in she lets it out and is very expressive.

For a 16 year old, Ann is very mature, she shows signs of this when she does daily chores and survives, survival techniques are a key sign of maturity and Ann certainly has Survival techniques. Some of Ann’s techniques are simple, for example, milking cows, but lighting fires is a tough job that is under estimated.

Ann is patient, she waited...

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