The Invasion of the Body Snatchers

The Invasion of the Body SnatchersThe Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a groundbreaking novel by John Steinbeck that was first published in 1956. It is one of the earliest stories in which the premise of body snatching is introduced. The book focuses on three characters: Ray, a nervous perfectionist who is extremely fixated on the passing of time; Connie, who has a crippled leg; and Molly, who was born blind.The novel begins when Ray is standing at the office's window observing the passing of years as he watches his business partner Jerry, a friend of Ray's, closes a bottle of cognac with a great care. As he contemplates the event, Ray begins to believe that the passing of time is actually being passed by an imaginary entity named the 'Snapper.'Ray begins to suspect that his business partner Jerry is snatching his thoughts and that, in effect, he is also being kidnapped. Soon, Ray becomes obsessed with his journey, or snatching, across the country. He witnesses the town of Niceville , Texas being attacked by waves of attacks in which he is a prime victim. This experience stirs his obsession with the journey across the country.Ray's quest is cut short in Florida when a truck driver, May Day, crashes his truck in Texas. The trucker wakes up with the Snapper inside him and along with Ray, he also finds that the Snapper is coming into contact with the townsfolk. The Snapper proceeds to take possession of the townsfolk through their dreams. When this happens, the townsfolk begin to believe they are actually seeing the Snapper as they are actually living the dream.The Snapper is actually Ray's older brother who has been left behind with a brother in New York City. Ray suspects the Snapper of having murdered his brother, but the Snapper does not want to be involved in anything involving a trial. The Snapper explains that he has already destroyed Ray's marriage to his wife Emily when Ray was a young man. He tells Ray that the best thing for him to do is to forget about the experience and to never have another experience like it again.Ray becomes consumed with the obsession of moving across the country with the Snapper in tow. Ray goes to spend three months in Montana but meets a friend who convinces him to stay with her. Ray takes a job as a mail carrier while his friend takes care of the mail.The remainder of the novel tells the story of Ray as he travels the country in pursuit of his dream of traveling across the country. With the help of Molly, he faces rejection from many other towns and cities. He faces the ultimate roadblock at a town in Nebraska called Jericho and there he meets a stranger who is the only person he has ever had any feelings for whom he is currently in love.