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Chapter 55
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The 5th Wave, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Trust and Belief
Survival and Perseverance
Warfare and Dehumanization
Family
Summary
Analysis
Ben is flying in a Black Hawk helicopter with the rest of his squad, where the wind is deafeningly loud. They’re on a mission to infiltrate an enemy base, exterminate any infested people inside, and capture supplies. They land and go in on foot. While in cover, they see a patrol coming by, who, when viewed through a special eyepiece that everyone in the squad has, have green blobs over their heads. Ringer asks Ben (whom she still calls Zombie) if they should fire. Despite having orders to kill, Ben’s instinct is not to rush.
This passage represents a test for Ben and his squad, where they will see whether their training has prepared them for the difficulties of real-world combat. Ben’s decision not to immediately attack the patrol could mean a lot of things—that he is a prudent and careful leader, or perhaps that he doubts the mission. Similarly to how Cassie faces doubts in a romantic relationship, Ben has to deal with the uncertainties that come with taking on leadership responsibilities.
Themes
All of a sudden, a bullet hits the pavement somewhere near Ben. He gives the order to fire back, and Ringer hits one of the green blobs, then moves and shoots another. One member of the patrol gets away. Ringer says it’s a trap—based on the bullet’s impact in the pavement, the person who fired at them wasn’t in the patrol but is instead off to the side, possibly on a roof. They seem to have cover for the moment, but if they move, they’ll expose themselves to sniper fire. Ringer complains about being dropped on a night mission with no night vision goggles.
Although Ben accepts the mission at face value, Ringer seems to view things more skeptically. She notices that the bullet wasn’t fired by the patrol and that they seem to have been deliberately set up with a challenge by arriving at a night-time mission with no night-vision goggles. This chapter shows how Ben and Ringer balance each other out, with Ben calming Ringer’s rashness but with Ringer providing a counterpoint to Ben’s overly trusting nature.
Themes
