After The First Death

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1979

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

Part 11

Part 12

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

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Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

The Bus

The bus represents the conflicts, both internal and external, of After the First Death while also standing on its own as a symbol. By itself, the bus shows how one place means different things to different people and at different times. The hijackers view the bus as a means to an end. At the beginning of the book, the bus is a commitment Kate takes on when her uncle isn’t available to drive, and the kids view the bus as the time between home and fun at camp. Later, the bus becomes a place of danger for the captives and, for Kate, the place she fears she will die.

In terms of conflict, the bus is the location of the book’s external conflicts—both Kate against the hijackers and Inner Delta against the terrorists. Kate and the children represent what’s at stake in this confrontation and the potential consequences of Inner Delta’s failure. During the final skirmish at the end of the book, the bus emerges unharmed while the van and helicopter take irreparable damage. The bus symbolizes Inner Delta’s success in overcoming the hijackers while the destruction of the other vehicles shows that the success is not without loss.

The bus also represents internal conflicts and how Kate, Miro, and Ben each learn things about themselves. For Kate, the bus is where she discovers her own type of bravery. Though she’s scared of the hijackers, she sets that fear aside to tend to the even more frightened children. Her attempt to drive the bus away shows how desperation brings out bravery. Kate doesn’t know if her plan will work, but she knows she has to try and save the kids. Miro questions himself while on the bus. He entered this mission with clear goals, but the situation on the bus, specifically that the driver is a young woman and not an old man, makes him rethink what he knows. To Miro, the bus means uncertainty. While Ben only spends a fraction of time on the bridge, the bus leaves an indelible mark on his mind. The bus divides his life into “before” and “after,” a divide he cannot cross back over.

Masks

Masks, both literal and figurative, play a role in After the First Death. Miro and the other hijackers wear masks at various points during their operation. The masks are black in color with lines of red around the mouth, nose, and eyes. These masks obscure the wearer’s identity and instill fear in observers. They are both a disguise and a tactic Artkin’s team uses to gain submission from any opposition.

Though Miro’s mask is the same as the rest of the team’s, he wears it differently. Rather than keeping it on the entire time, Miro chooses to face Kate as himself. As a result, he is more vulnerable to new ideas. His youthful and sorrowful appearance allows Kate to talk to him like an equal and ask him questions that make him doubt his motives. When he does choose to wear the mask, Miro finds relief in its darkness. He knows his purpose while he wears the mask. Without it, he is uncertain. His mask represents the different sides of his personality and the various potential outcomes for his character.

After the First Death also deals in the metaphorical masks people wear at different times. Kate and Ben dawn such masks throughout the story. During the standoff, Kate fluctuates between masks of bravery, fear, caretaking, and others. Sometimes, she chooses to wear a particular mask, and other times the events of a given moment dictate which mask she wears. As a representative for Inner Delta, Ben wears the organization’s hypothetical mask. He is also a mask himself—disguising Inner Delta’s true plan behind his innocent appearance. After the bus incident, Ben wears a mask of normalcy, pretending he is all right, when in truth, the incident left a part of him broken.

Bridges

Bridges symbolize the many character and plot arcs throughout After the First Death. The abandoned rail bridge where most of the story’s conflicts take place offers the perfect location for strife. The bridge is located across a ravine from one of Inner Delta’s properties, and nearby woods give snipers a place to wait. The bridge itself is treacherous with an uneven surface, rickety structure, and harrowing drop. The hijackers walk in a crouch between the bus and the van to minimize the chance of being found by a stray bullet.

The bridge also represents how each character crosses from one state to another. Kate takes the literal journey of life to death, one often represented by bridges in religion and literature. Though she doesn’t die on the bridge, she crosses the bridge in its entirety. The side she entered from symbolizes her life, and the other side is her death. Miro also crosses the full length of the bridge. Rather than life and death, the bridge brings him full circle. He starts the book secure in the knowledge of who he is and what his goals are. While on the bridge, he questions these things, and after crossing the bridge and killing Kate, he becomes the killer he was trained to be. Ben makes it across part of the bridge, which shows how he never fully resolves the bus incident in his mind. Rather than completing his journey, Ben feels trapped on the bridge, something that is only fixed when he jumps from Brimmler’s bridge and ends his life. He needed to return to a bridge in order to find closure.

In addition to the location of Ben’s death, Brimmler’s Bridge also demonstrates the relationship between Ben and his father. Brimmler’s Bridge is a short way from Castleton Academy, where both Ben and his father attended school. His father is familiar with the bridge, which is one reason Ben chooses it as the place to take his life. Ben knows his father will trace him to Brimmler’s Bridge, meaning Ben wants his father to put the pieces together. Brimmler’s Bridge connects father and son across both time and understanding.