4/13: “The Passage” by Justin Cronin

After reading the beginning of the “The Passage” by Justin Cronin and learning about Project Noah, it was hard to decide whether it was the right choice to pursue Project Noah or not. In the story, Professor Jonas Lear of Harvard University thinks that he has found the cure for dying which is immortality. Deep in the jungles of Bolivia, Lear and his U.S. army-funded research group set out to find a cure, but instead all but a few die from a mysterious virus. However, the military is able to retrieve a sample of the virus. The experiments were named “Project Noah”. Project Noah has both its pros and cons. Although it may seem like it would be beneficial and help save several lives, it also poses many risks and dangers to the community. The test subjects are the inmates who have nothing to live for and are sentenced to death as long as they give their consents. It seems that no one really care for the inmates since they committed such horrendous crimes that have put them in death row. These inmates are still humans and it seems inhumane to make them as test subjects in my opinion. It is not known that if Project Noah is effective or not. It may give them another chance in life or the inmates may just die from it, which was the original plan for the inmates. The outcomes is also unknown, who knows what kind of havoc it may create; it may be worse than it was originally assumed or it could do quite a good for the community. Therefore it is really hard to determine whether Project Noah is the right choice to pursue or not.

The significance of the name, “Project Noah”, is that it is from the biblical character Noah, who lived for nine hundred and fifty years. With this reference, the goal of this project is for scientists to find a way for people to live a longer life to immortality. Another reason why it holds such significance is because it gives people a second chance at life. Noah was chosen by God to build an ark and rescue both genders of every animal to repopulate and save them from an upcoming dangerous flood. This reflects to the project because Noah started a whole new world and a beginning for the animals just as Project Noah starts a new world and a beginning for the humans.

What Cronin creates in “The Passage” is a world relying heavily on science and medical research which is reflected on today’s society where scientists and doctors are trying to discover cures for all sorts of diseases. But it can also be reflected in today’s society in another way. Nowadays, the government has become more strict and controlling on the people and their surroundings and actions. People need consents for everything and need to be aware with everything they do. They are constantly being watched for their actions. They are living in constant fear that if they do one mistake, they will be punished for it and quite harshly too such as the driving laws that are regulated on the streets. The consequences for that have become so extreme that even one little mistake can mess it all up for a person. This reminds me of the novel, “The Hunger Games”, because the characters are always in constant fear and are very careful with what they do because the consequences will end badly if they break a law.