Octavian Nothing: Final Essay

Author's note: I am writing this essay to inform you on the similarities, and differences between two very interesting characters from two different books. Octavian, from Octavian Nothing, and Dervish from Demonata.

 I think that Octavian from my Historical Fiction book and Dervish from my thriller book have a lot in common. Some similarities are that they both go through big family problems, and they both are very curious of what is out in the world that they do not know about yet. Some differences are like Dervish has to fight off demons, and Octavian is a slave. Dervish and Octavian have many similar traits.

They both are dealing with major family problems throughout the story. Octavian was once a future prince with his mother at princess in their country. Then they were brought to Boston and sold to slave owners. Now his mother is deeply sick, and he has to try and save her. Dervish lost his nephew to a wizard in search of people to save the world with him, now Dervish is trying to fight of all of the demons trying to get to his nephew.

Also, they both are very curious of the world and what else is out there. Octavian is a slave; he has not seen much of the world or even his own town. He always asks his mother to tell him more about their country, she can’t tell him that much because she was pretty young at the time as well. He can’t ask the slave owner because the probability of actually telling him is very low. Dervish has been to many places, even in the demon world! Although, he hasn’t been everywhere and he knows that, and he studies the places he wants to go so maybe one day he can actually go there.

Octavian and Dervish are quite different, though. Dervish goes around fighting demons for a living. He’s been to many different dimensions in the demon world. Octavian is a slave that works and goes through tests every day. He usually just stays at the main house, and works with plants or takes tests for the scientists. Also, Dervish isn’t treated with much respect from anyone besides his family. He is seen as crazy around his community, people see him as someone you believes in demons and other mythical creatures and also says he has seen them and fought them before. Octavian gets treated with respect from mostly everyone, even his slave owner! His mother obviously treats him with the most respect out of everyone. Then the king comes and he doesn’t care for anyone very much so he starts treating Octavian like he really is a slave. 

So, Dervish and Octavian have much similarities, as well as differences. Dervish is a demon fighter. Octavian is a slave who was captured and brought to Boston to be sold. Dervish hasn't been many places in the real world, neither has Octavian because he can't. Also Dervish and Octavian both have family problems going on in there life.

Octavian Text Structure

Author’s note: The Author’s purpose is to inform you on the cause and effect of relationships in your novel, what caused the climax to occur, and the consequences of that event.

Octavian was once a prince on his country, then he was captured by slave owners and brought to Boston, he is now going through a series of tests and his results are being recorded by scientists. First, Octavian was a very powerful person along with his mother in their homeland. They were then captured by slave owners and sold in Boston to a scientist. By being sold Octavian was then tested on his ability to do things in a matter of time.

The climax of the story was at the party when the scientists told Octavian that they were working on something to save people, and then it went wrong making everybody sick, then a lot of them ended up dying. The scientists didn’t tell him what they were doing, he was walking around and he heard them talking about it. So he asked them what it was, and they told him nothing but not to tell anyone and to keep it to himself.

By Octavian not telling anyone nobody had a chance to save themselves so they ended up getting really, really sick and some even died in the process. Octavian’s mother was one of the sickest people of them all, but he took extra good care of her just in case.

Octavian vs. Slave owner

Author’s note: The author’s purpose is to inform you on Octavian’s life and what he goes through. Then put it into another person’s point of view and see what it would be like then.

How would you feel if you were a young boy/girl going through the tough times of slavery in early Boston? Well that’s what Octavian has to live through, but he also have to live through an amount of scientists experimenting on him. Octavian and his mother were very powerful people in their country, but when they came to America they were captured by slave owners. They put Octavian’s mother to work right away, but they wanted to learn more about him since he was still really young. The slave owners didn’t want the slaves to their real names, so they called each other by numbers like 03-01. Octavian’s owners were scientists and everyday they would put him through a series of tests. Sooner or later he finds out about why they are doing this and he gets pretty upset so he tries to break out of the horrible place.

I think that Octavian’s point of view affects the story in a way. He is a little boy from a free country, and now he is a slave for a scientist. Octavian looks at life as a pretty good place at first, then as time goes on he feels trapped and he sees what the scientists do to the other slaves. Then his point of view definitely changes when everyone is at the party and people start getting the pox, even his mother. Not knowing what to do, he tries helping everyone but he doesn’t know that there is no stopping it. While he is helping all of the people he also tries to visit his mother as much as possible. So, at the beginning of the story Octavian was a little boy at mind, but as the story went on he became a smart man at mind seeing what is happening around him and taking it on.

I feel that if you were to put the story into the slave owner’s point of view it would be a lot different. Octavian sees the tests that he goes through as something they do for fun at first; the scientists see it as helping the world with new inventions of materials. Yes, the scientist sees Octavian as a slave just like any other one. But he treats Octavian with respect at first because he is young and useful to his tests and work. When Octavian his mother and the owner meet the king and his people they treat Octavian as if he were just another slave, but they treat his mother with great respect since she was once a princess.

Overall, I think that the story might be somewhat different if you were to put the story in the slave owner’s point of view. Although, it might also be alike in a way. Octavian is a very nice person and changes his point of view towards everything as the story goes on. The scientist is kind only to Octavian and his mother and nobody else, but as the story goes on when the king comes he sees how badly he treats the slaves and starts to change in a way.