The Testing Trilogy by Joelle Charbonneau Analysis Essay Example

What would it be like if you had to take a test, but if you failed, you died? Well, that is what happens in The Testing Trilogy by Joelle Charbonneau. The story takes place in a future version of earth destroyed by war. In the first book, The Testing, the main character, Cia, gets chosen to participate in the Testing because she was one of the top students in her class. She is excited because being selected for the Testing is an honor. However, Cia determines that the Testing is a test of survival. Cia passes her Testing and makes it to University in the second book, Independent Study. There, she learns about the rebellion, an organization that was created to end the Testing. In reality, Cia learns that the rebellion is a lie. So, in the third book, Graduation Day, she creates her own rebellion to destroy the Testing and the rebellion. Throughout the trilogy, Charbonneau uses the author’s craft moves of dialogue and revealing actions to fabricate the theme. That theme is that sometimes to assure success in one’s aspiration, one might choose to commit actions that negatively affect others in certain ways.  

To start, Charbonneau uses the author's craft of revealing actions to show that to achieve a goal, someone might harm others. In this example, Cia is with her friends, Will and Malachi in the second round of the Testing. The second round of testing is that you need to complete tasks that if failed, will harm you. For example, the first problem of this round is to separate edible plants and poisonous ones. Once the testing candidates have separated the plants, they have to eat the ones that they think are edible. But after eating the plants, Cia realizes that Malachi ate a poisonous plant as he starts to wobble. He then touched a metal box that triggered, “A nail imbeds itself in Malachi’s eye, and he drops to the floor like a stone” (The Testing 111). However, the text later states, “The Testing officials make no move toward Malachi” (The Testing 112). This quote represents the theme because the guards don’t try to save Malachi. This is because the Testing’s goal is to get strong leaders and to weed out the weak leaders. But, to get rid of the weak leaders, the Testing kills them. So, the author uses revealing actions by making the guards not try to save Malachi. This is since the testing officials agree that Malachi is weak and is not worth saving. Adding on, Micheal and Cia go to the rebellion camp to give Symon, the leader of the rebellion, the recordings that would be used as evidence to end the Testing. However, the text states that “Two shots split the air. Michal’s eyes widen...He was dead before he hit the ground” (Independent Study, 304). This represents the theme because the true purpose of the rebellion is to create war. This is because the rebellion with the Testing will challenge the president's power. Since the president doesn’t have enough power to stop them, the Testing and Rebellion will make the president resign from office. This will then lead the rebels to war to try and kill the leaders of the Testing. This war will kill all of the people that want to end the Testing because they are outnumbered by the Testing officials. Therefore, this will make the Testing continue. However, Cia has always believed that the rebellion was to end the Testing, not to keep it going. So, the author uses revealing actions to show that sometimes, one might negatively impact others to achieve their aspirations.

Moving on, the author uses dialogue to show that people will do anything to achieve their goals. In the first book, Cia, Tomas, and Will are together in the fourth round of the Testing. This round of Testing is where the Testing candidates are set in an inhabitable place. Their goal is to make it back to Tosu city by any means necessary. But, Will shoots Tomas. Cia then says, “‘What the hell are you doing, Will?’” He responds with, “‘Isn’t it obvious? I’m getting rid of my competition’” (The Testing 273). This reveals the theme because the quote shows that Will will do anything to reach his goal, which is to pass the Testing and make it into University. This is since Will betrays Cia and Tomas by trying to kill them. When Cia first met Will, he seemed like someone who wouldn’t kill. So, Cia became friends with him and trusted him throughout the earlier stages of The Testing. However, Will takes advantage of that trust, manipulating Cia to become one of his easy targets to kill. Killing other candidates helps Will reach his goal because only 20 out of the 108 Testing candidates will make it to University. So, as stated in the quote, he is getting rid of the competition. Additionally, Cia later tells the president about what happened to Micheal when he tried to give Symon the recordings to end the Testing. As they talk about the situation, the president gets a piece of paper with some names on it and gives it to Cia. This list includes Dr. Barnes and his top administrators, which are the people who have full control of the Testing. Cia then asks, “You want to murder Dr. Barnes and his top administrators,’” the president responded with, “‘No...You are’” (Graduation Day 31-2). So, in the quote, the president is asking Cia to end the Testing. This shows the theme because Cia’s goal is to end the Testing. Yet, to do that, she must kill the leaders of the Testing and rebellion. Because the leaders are dead, this will give the president enough power to abolish the testing. This is hard for Cia because she has always learned to appreciate life. So, she doesn't want to kill others to solve problems. Thus, the author’s use of dialogue shows that sometimes to reach a goal, someone may affect others in terrible ways.

Therefore, the theme of The Testing Trilogy is that sometimes, to reach one's goal, one might decide to impact others negatively. This is shown through the two main authors’ craft, dialogue, and revealing actions.