Popular science fiction novel “The 5th Wave” recenty received a movie adaptation that hit theaters this past weekend on Friday, Jan 22. Written by New York Times bestselling author Rick Yancey, “The 5th Wave” follows 16-year-old Cassie Sullivan (portrayed by Chloë Grace Moretz), who struggles to survive after the human population has been nearly wiped out by an unusual alien invasion. On Thursday, Jan. 14, I had the incredible opportunity of speaking with the mind behind the story. While participating in a conference call with Yancey, I and numerous other student journalists each had the chance to ask him questions. Through answering these questions, Yancey provided great insight on “The 5th Wave” and his writing process.
What do you want to see come out of the movie?
The filmmakers were very cognizant of the fact of what really sets the story apart, the heart of it, and the characters and what drives them as ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. That’s the kind of story I love to read, and they worked hard to capture the essence of that.
What did you think of the process of adaptation?
I think I was probably luckier than a lot of writers to have their original work adapted. The rights to the film were picked up before I’d even finished the book. I had some interaction with the screenwriters, so I was in that process pretty much from the very beginning, although I do not have a hand in adapting my work, which is probably a good idea because movies are not books and books aren’t movies. There are demands that are narratively possible in books that aren’t possible in movies and vice-versa. I’ve always tried to keep that in mind as we moved through the process. I think fans of the book will be very pleased with how the filmmakers captured those core stories.
What do you feel in the creation of your story was a strong role or influence that became the inspiration for the novel?
The germ of the story was probably planted around 2008 when the financial markets nearly collapsed worldwide. I had been writing books for young adults for years prior to that. Particularly that time in a young person’s life is almost by nature apocalyptic. Your childhood is coming to an abrupt end. One day you’re under your parents’ roof, and the next day is totally different. Young people relate to the sort of “I’m on my own, how am I going to survive in a world that’s so foreign to me?” That’s one of the major themes of the book. It’s always interesting in a story when the world teeters upon collapse. I just find that fascinating.
What was the deeper message you were trying to get across?
No one likes to be preached at, especially young people. The message is something that I let grow organically. My first goal is to never bore people, because I feel like as the writer particularly in this genre is to entertain. The message unfolded to me as the writer that goes beyond “Humans will do anything to survive.” For me, the deeper message is the bonds that bind us together, and how even an advanced species presented in the books really has no answer for that in terms of engineering our own demise… It’s very, very difficult to eradicate humanity out of humans.
What sets “The 5th Wave” apart?
I wanted to write a story that was big in the sense that this is a worldwide phenomenon but also very intimate and human at the same time, which is why it’s told through different points of view and narrows in on a particular story. I always try to keep it grounded in what I love, where you have ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances.
What influenced you to write in this style?
I was always fascinated with books that were told from multiple points of view. It gives you a look through multiple eyeballs about a situation that’s going on. That was a conscious choice I made when I wrote these books, which was to tell the story not from some omniscient point of view but grounded in the heads of different characters.
Why do you think apocalyptic stories starring young characters are popular in this time?
There are a couple factors. First of all, I can’t think of a more dystopian environment than high school. The other thing I think is a more time specific or culturally specific kind of phenomenon that’s going on. The world has tightened up. Communication is instantaneous. News is instantaneous. Things that would take days, weeks, [and] months to trickle across the globe in terms of information now take seconds. We tend to learn about things in the moment they’re happening, and I think it tends to exaggerate the overall importance of it. It makes things seem like there’s more danger in the world. I might be totally wrong, but I don’t think it makes us more informed or feel more secure.
It can have the opposite effect, which is scare the bejeezus out of us. It’s like, “Oh gosh, what’s next?” There’s this constant anxiety that we’re teetering on the brink of some disaster.
Are you worried about the movie possibly over exaggerating the love triangle trope?
From what I’ve seen of the script, it stays true to the spirit of the novel. The two guys in the story, Ben and Evan, sort of reflect before Cassie and after Cassie, and that’s how they were conceived for the book. They were never conceived for some love triangle or a choice that she had to make between two guys. It’s not about who she’s going to end up at the end of the day.
I love literature where you have a main character and then the secondary characters, or even the love interests, are a reflection of the main character. But readers bring what readers bring to books, and it’s not up to me to tell them. That defeats the purpose of art. For me, as the writer, Ben represents Cassie’s past, who Cassie was but not who she is. Evan represents the young woman she’s becoming and the kind of future or not future she might have. Cassie in particular does not need some boy to come rescue her or complete her life.
“The 5th Wave” was the first sci-fi book I’ve read in a while. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and getting more of Yancey’s perspective made the experience even better as I understand the creative choices he made. I look forward to seeing how the movie compares.
Casey Tobias is a second-year student majoring in women’s and gender studies. She can be reached at CT822683@wcupa.edu. Her Twitter is @Casey__Tobias.