Our final week of Defy discussion has arrived (and I am barely any closer to finishing the sequel 😬)! We are now at the final two chapters (and shortest chapters) of the book – Chapter 18: Numbers and Chapter 19: Ghosts. Let’s get to it!
Chapter 18: Numbers
Why “Numbers”?
Well, I might think it’s clearly evident why, but I’ll go ahead and explain from my perspective.
At this point in the novel, I felt like enough of the story had been told. I always had intended to end the novel during The Liberation of Paris. When it came to mapping out the chapters and naming them as well, I found myself stuck at a certain point.
I mentioned this before, but the names of the chapters were made according to a secret message I’d created. As you can see in the below picture, the message was STAY QUIET. NO SPEAKING. So, as I went along naming each of the chapters, I suddenly found myself at a sort of an impasse. Chapter 17 was going to be named “Independence”, so ending with the Liberation of Paris seemed impossible now.
One of my first thoughts for a solution was to end the book right there, but what would then become of my secret message? It would suddenly be ruined! So, after some brainstorming, I came up with a creative solution. I was now going to make the last two chapters sort of like reflections.
Since the last topic discussed in the book was the Liberation, I thought what better way to put it into perspective than to show how deadly the war had been. I also wanted to bring it all together, showing it from largest to smallest. This is kind of like showing how the largest numbers can be broken down, making what happened in the small intimate business of Actualités Dietmar a part of the whole picture of the war.
Are These Numbers Accurate?
Eh… More or less.
I used estimates mostly, trying to remain a little bit vague. Since a lot of the actual numbers that were recorded are also estimates and usually have a range of numbers given, the ones in the book aren’t entirely wrong.
All of these numbers, however, are very close to numbers that are considered the most commonly accepted amongst scholars. However, some of the numbers are bigger or not as specific. Also, the number of France’s dead is the total number of the population there dead. In addition, those who died in their colonies and in France were included. Since even towards the end of the war and the beginning of the war a lot of battles occurred somewhere in France, that number is higher than some general counts made.
In more recent versions of my book, I updated the number to just France.
Chapter 19: Ghosts
A Poem for Reflection
Honestly, I have no idea where this came from, but the reflectiveness of the poem itself seemed to be great for a (literal) poetic ending. Plus, as a reader myself, one of the best parts of a novel that I like seeing is when they include the title of the book in a cool way. This could be either through symbolism (like Pride and Prejudice) or actually having a character say the name of the book. I personally think it’s a cool touch to add, so viola! Here it is!
A sweet, short, and concise poem to finish out the book. I wanted there to be something for people to really think about. To bring it all together. And this is what came to be!
And here we have it – Defy is officially over! All 19 chapters have been brought to your attention and discussed! What was your favorite chapter? Were there things you never recognized? Are you suddenly inspired to re-read the book?!
Going forward, I’m going to probably going to take a week or two hiatus while I try to figure out what next to talk about! Comment below if you have any suggestions or questions!
Before you go…
Secrets of the Forest
It’s the year 2300. The earth as we know it has been completely changed by war and a new civilization has arisen from the rubble. It seems like everything is good and fair – violence seems nonexistent. If their life is so perfect and wonderful, why are people banned from venturing into the Forbidden Country? The laws were clear. No one was EVER allowed to go there. Yet, Annalise Bella Mason was determined to go there. She wanted answers. Now, there’s no going back. Episodes up every Thursday!
Read on Kindle Vella! Chapters 1-12 are now up!
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