Peeps (novel)
Encyclopedia
Peeps is a 2005 novel by Scott Westerfeld
revolving around a parasite
which causes people to become cannibalistic
and repelled by that which they once loved. It follows the protagonist, Cal Thompson, as he lives with this parasite and tries to uncover a possible threat to the whole population of the world. The apocalyptic threat to the world that begins in Peeps continues in The Last Days
, which featured some of the same characters.
Cal is recruited by the Night Watch, a secret government organization that has existed for centuries to contain the disease and its victims. His first assignment is to capture all the girls he's infected. But soon Cal realizes that there is more going on than he has been told: the disease is changing in response to mysterious forces from under the earth that are waking up after centuries of slumber.
of the novel, Cal is a "carrier" of the parasite. Essentially, his body contains the parasite
that in most people causes dementia
, cannibalism
, and other vampiric
symptoms. Cal gains the advantages of the parasite without suffering from the dementia, suffering only minor side effects. Because the parasite is transferred through almost any bodily fluid, it causes Cal to feel sexually aroused at all times. Due to its effects on people who are not carriers, however, he must resist these urges, which prevents him from having any natural relationship
s.
Cal is nineteen years of age, and has been a carrier of the parasite for a year when the novel begins. He is a hunter for the Night Watch, hunting down out of control Peeps (or Parasite Positives) beginning with his ex-girlfriends, whom he infected. The Night Watch dates back to colonial times in America
, but has never revealed itself to society for fear of causing widespread panic. The novel focuses primarily on his hunt for Morgan, the mysterious woman who infected him with the parasite. Along the way, he forms a relationship with Lace and discovers that the Night Watch has not told him all that they should have.
called "Dick's Bar". She is from one of the city's "old families", and her parasite is part of the "old strain", meaning that she does not go crazy from the parasite, but still gets things like superhuman hearing and strength.
featured in the novel is portrayed as being the source of many myths and legend
s. The symptoms in a carrier are only a craving for fresh meat and sexual arousal around the clock, but the symptoms of the normally affected are quite different. The parasite causes dementia
and cannibalism
, which were suggested as causing legends of most notably vampire
s, but also werewolves
and zombie
s, among others. The protagonist
describes the superhuman
strength, speed, and vision as the human body simply operating on emergency power. He describes it as being the same as a mother protecting her child, specifically the rush of adrenaline
provided so that she can act as she needs to. The parasite simply causes the body to act on this emergency adrenaline all the time, requiring extra food. These superior ability are shown in the novel several times by Cal. He claims to need to tape over the light of his DVD
player to be able to sleep at night, as well as being able to read fine print by starlight. He jumps fearlessly from a balcony to the one beside it, causing suspicion from Lace, not afflicted with the parasite at the time. The parasite can be spread either directly from human to human, or via an infected rat or cat. Rats are shown to be attracted to infected persons. The parasite also seems to give those infected with it either immortality or at least extreme longevity, as shown by the Nightmayor, who had lived for centuries.
Two different strains were featured in the novel. The first to appear is a new strain, the symptoms and possible treatments for which have been known to Cal prior to the events of the novel. The body can react in two ways to this strain. The first, and most common, causes dementia, cannibalism and a painful response to light of any kind. Other symptoms involved hatred of what was once loved, which can range from a singer to a skyline, which can be used in order to capture the infected, and near total reliance of primitive instincts. Seemingly supernatural strength is present in this response, but it is used most often in instinctive reactions and basic needs, primarily food. In order to keep the parasite spreading through the population of the earth, the infected can spread the parasite to rats, who defend them and continue to spread the parasite, even if their progenitors cannot. The out of control cannibals who contract the disease and exhibit these symptoms are hunted down by the Night Watch, a group which fights to contain this strain of the parasite. There is no true cure for this reaction to the strain, and hospitalization coupled with an experimental plan of drugs is the only known treatment to contain a threat, apart from imprisonment. The second possible reaction to this strain, and the much less common, involves a more subtle response. People who contract this strain of the parasite and receive this reaction are known as "carriers" of the disease, for they do not suffer from its worst effects but have the possibility of spreading the disease nonetheless. A craving for meat remains, involving that of the human variety, but a carrier of the strain is no longer forced to succumb totally to their instincts. It is possible for the carriers of this strain to live a near normal life, because the stronger symptoms are absent. However, they must shy away from any close contact with others humans, involving simple things such as kissing and sharing a toothbrush, for fear of spreading the disease further. The worst of the remaining reactions, primarily sexual arousal and cravings for meat, can be overcome. The carriers are compared to Mary Mallon
, most commonly referred to as Typhoid Mary, by the protagonist.
The second and older strain presents itself in a different manner. To the untrained eye, it may appear to be the same as the new strain. However, this strain is much more manageable. It appeared in ancient times, long before the new strain existed, and aided in defeating the attack of a race of large worms. By infecting as many people as possible, an army was created to defeat the giant worms threatening humanity. This older strain all but disappeared after it was no longer needed, existing only in a brood of rats living underground. When the giant worms that once threatened the existence of the human race return, they force the infected rats to the surface who then spread the old strain back into the human population. The strain is used to defeat the giant worms once again, allowing the human race to survive, but not without a certain degree of damage done to the world. The dementia and cannibalism are present towards the beginning of the infection, and is much more easily treatable. Old methods which were used in the last large-scale parasite infection are rediscovered and used, such as garlic
and rosemary
. This is evidently meant to represent the beginnings of vampire legends involving garlic as protection.
The parasite is further explained in The Last Days
, adding another dimension to the parasite. It is revealed that in ancient times, there were certain "singers" that could call up giant worms from within the Earth so that they could be more easily killed. This allowed the army of fighters against the giant worms to attract the worms under their preferred conditions, such as time and location, with sufficient preparation. The singers were able to attract the worms by singing words that were guided by the parasite living within them, sounding meaningless to the average human, but captivating nonetheless. Dr. Prolix ("The Shrink"), an age old carrier of the parasite has vague memories of seeing one of these singers calling a giant worm up to be killed, and Minerva, a prominent character in The Last Days, has inherited this ability from the parasite positives of centuries ago. She experiences receiving these songs from underground in her home, where old burial grounds are located, giving a possible origin to this ability.
, a parasitic disease
caused by the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii
. Another is Trematoda
a parasitic worm commonly referred to as a fluke. Wolbachia
, a bacterium, was also mentioned.
, bestowed in May 2007. It was listed as one of the 2006 ALA Best Books YA Awards and selected as one of the "Best Books of the Year" in 2005 by School Library Journal
.
Scott Westerfeld
Scott Westerfeld is an American author of science fiction. He was born in Texas and now divides his time between Sydney, Australia and New York City, USA.-Books:...
revolving around a parasite
Parasitism
Parasitism is a type of symbiotic relationship between organisms of different species where one organism, the parasite, benefits at the expense of the other, the host. Traditionally parasite referred to organisms with lifestages that needed more than one host . These are now called macroparasites...
which causes people to become cannibalistic
Cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...
and repelled by that which they once loved. It follows the protagonist, Cal Thompson, as he lives with this parasite and tries to uncover a possible threat to the whole population of the world. The apocalyptic threat to the world that begins in Peeps continues in The Last Days
The Last Days (novel)
The Last Days, a horror novel by Scott Westerfeld, is a companion book to Peeps. It takes place in New York, during the end of civilization hinted upon in Peeps.- Plot summary :...
, which featured some of the same characters.
Plot summary
Two days after arriving in New York for college, Cal loses his virginity to a girl who picks him up. From this encounter Cal picks up an STD, but this is an unusual one: it turns its victims into "peeps" -- parasite positives—raving cannibalistic monsters with unusual strength, night vision, heightened senses, and an affinity with rats. Cal himself turns out to be immune, but he's a carrier—he gets the strength and senses without the nasty side effects. But before he knows it he has infected others.Cal is recruited by the Night Watch, a secret government organization that has existed for centuries to contain the disease and its victims. His first assignment is to capture all the girls he's infected. But soon Cal realizes that there is more going on than he has been told: the disease is changing in response to mysterious forces from under the earth that are waking up after centuries of slumber.
Cal Thompson
The protagonistProtagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
of the novel, Cal is a "carrier" of the parasite. Essentially, his body contains the parasite
Parasitism
Parasitism is a type of symbiotic relationship between organisms of different species where one organism, the parasite, benefits at the expense of the other, the host. Traditionally parasite referred to organisms with lifestages that needed more than one host . These are now called macroparasites...
that in most people causes dementia
Dementia
Dementia is a serious loss of cognitive ability in a previously unimpaired person, beyond what might be expected from normal aging...
, cannibalism
Cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...
, and other vampiric
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
symptoms. Cal gains the advantages of the parasite without suffering from the dementia, suffering only minor side effects. Because the parasite is transferred through almost any bodily fluid, it causes Cal to feel sexually aroused at all times. Due to its effects on people who are not carriers, however, he must resist these urges, which prevents him from having any natural relationship
Relationship
Relationship or relationships may refer to:* Interpersonal relationship* Intimate relationship* In mathematics and statistics:** Binary relation** Causal relationship** Correlation and dependence** Direct relationship** Inverse relationship...
s.
Cal is nineteen years of age, and has been a carrier of the parasite for a year when the novel begins. He is a hunter for the Night Watch, hunting down out of control Peeps (or Parasite Positives) beginning with his ex-girlfriends, whom he infected. The Night Watch dates back to colonial times in America
USS America
USS America may refer to:, a 74-gun ship of the line, laid down in 1777, but not launched until 1782.* America pressed into United States naval service as a picket boat during the Civil War., was part of the Civil War “Stone Fleet” deliberately sunk to block the harbor in Charleston, S.C...
, but has never revealed itself to society for fear of causing widespread panic. The novel focuses primarily on his hunt for Morgan, the mysterious woman who infected him with the parasite. Along the way, he forms a relationship with Lace and discovers that the Night Watch has not told him all that they should have.
Lace
Lacey, known primarily as Lace, meets Cal Thompson by chance in the elevator of her apartment building. Because of her conviction in wanting to keep her expensive apartment at the amazingly low price she currently lives in it for, she tags along in Cal's investigation in search of the means to which she can blackmail her landlord. She becomes entangled in Cal's life and duties as a member of the Night Watch, and on the way begins to form an emotional tie with him.Morgan Ryder
Cal's progenitor, Morgan changed his life eternally when she infected him with the parasite. She met him a year prior to the beginning of the novel at a gay barGay bar
A gay bar is a drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender clientele; the term gay is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBT and queer communities...
called "Dick's Bar". She is from one of the city's "old families", and her parasite is part of the "old strain", meaning that she does not go crazy from the parasite, but still gets things like superhuman hearing and strength.
Setting
The novel itself begins in Hoboken, New Jersey, but mostly takes place in the heart of New York City.Parasite
The parasiteParasitism
Parasitism is a type of symbiotic relationship between organisms of different species where one organism, the parasite, benefits at the expense of the other, the host. Traditionally parasite referred to organisms with lifestages that needed more than one host . These are now called macroparasites...
featured in the novel is portrayed as being the source of many myths and legend
Legend
A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...
s. The symptoms in a carrier are only a craving for fresh meat and sexual arousal around the clock, but the symptoms of the normally affected are quite different. The parasite causes dementia
Dementia
Dementia is a serious loss of cognitive ability in a previously unimpaired person, beyond what might be expected from normal aging...
and cannibalism
Cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...
, which were suggested as causing legends of most notably vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
s, but also werewolves
Werewolf
A werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope , is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse...
and zombie
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
s, among others. The protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
describes the superhuman
Superhuman
Superhuman can mean an improved human, for example, by genetic modification, cybernetic implants, or as what humans might evolve into, in the near or distant future...
strength, speed, and vision as the human body simply operating on emergency power. He describes it as being the same as a mother protecting her child, specifically the rush of adrenaline
Epinephrine
Epinephrine is a hormone and a neurotransmitter. It increases heart rate, constricts blood vessels, dilates air passages and participates in the fight-or-flight response of the sympathetic nervous system. In chemical terms, adrenaline is one of a group of monoamines called the catecholamines...
provided so that she can act as she needs to. The parasite simply causes the body to act on this emergency adrenaline all the time, requiring extra food. These superior ability are shown in the novel several times by Cal. He claims to need to tape over the light of his DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
player to be able to sleep at night, as well as being able to read fine print by starlight. He jumps fearlessly from a balcony to the one beside it, causing suspicion from Lace, not afflicted with the parasite at the time. The parasite can be spread either directly from human to human, or via an infected rat or cat. Rats are shown to be attracted to infected persons. The parasite also seems to give those infected with it either immortality or at least extreme longevity, as shown by the Nightmayor, who had lived for centuries.
Two different strains were featured in the novel. The first to appear is a new strain, the symptoms and possible treatments for which have been known to Cal prior to the events of the novel. The body can react in two ways to this strain. The first, and most common, causes dementia, cannibalism and a painful response to light of any kind. Other symptoms involved hatred of what was once loved, which can range from a singer to a skyline, which can be used in order to capture the infected, and near total reliance of primitive instincts. Seemingly supernatural strength is present in this response, but it is used most often in instinctive reactions and basic needs, primarily food. In order to keep the parasite spreading through the population of the earth, the infected can spread the parasite to rats, who defend them and continue to spread the parasite, even if their progenitors cannot. The out of control cannibals who contract the disease and exhibit these symptoms are hunted down by the Night Watch, a group which fights to contain this strain of the parasite. There is no true cure for this reaction to the strain, and hospitalization coupled with an experimental plan of drugs is the only known treatment to contain a threat, apart from imprisonment. The second possible reaction to this strain, and the much less common, involves a more subtle response. People who contract this strain of the parasite and receive this reaction are known as "carriers" of the disease, for they do not suffer from its worst effects but have the possibility of spreading the disease nonetheless. A craving for meat remains, involving that of the human variety, but a carrier of the strain is no longer forced to succumb totally to their instincts. It is possible for the carriers of this strain to live a near normal life, because the stronger symptoms are absent. However, they must shy away from any close contact with others humans, involving simple things such as kissing and sharing a toothbrush, for fear of spreading the disease further. The worst of the remaining reactions, primarily sexual arousal and cravings for meat, can be overcome. The carriers are compared to Mary Mallon
Mary Mallon
Mary Mallon , also known as Typhoid Mary, was the first person in the United States identified as an asymptomatic carrier of the pathogen associated with typhoid fever. She was presumed to have infected some 53 people, three of whom died, over the course of her career as a cook...
, most commonly referred to as Typhoid Mary, by the protagonist.
The second and older strain presents itself in a different manner. To the untrained eye, it may appear to be the same as the new strain. However, this strain is much more manageable. It appeared in ancient times, long before the new strain existed, and aided in defeating the attack of a race of large worms. By infecting as many people as possible, an army was created to defeat the giant worms threatening humanity. This older strain all but disappeared after it was no longer needed, existing only in a brood of rats living underground. When the giant worms that once threatened the existence of the human race return, they force the infected rats to the surface who then spread the old strain back into the human population. The strain is used to defeat the giant worms once again, allowing the human race to survive, but not without a certain degree of damage done to the world. The dementia and cannibalism are present towards the beginning of the infection, and is much more easily treatable. Old methods which were used in the last large-scale parasite infection are rediscovered and used, such as garlic
Garlic
Allium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion genus, Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo. Dating back over 6,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent...
and rosemary
Rosemary
Rosemary, , is a woody, perennial herb with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple or blue flowers, native to the Mediterranean region. It is a member of the mint family Lamiaceae, which includes many other herbs, and is one of two species in the genus Rosmarinus...
. This is evidently meant to represent the beginnings of vampire legends involving garlic as protection.
The parasite is further explained in The Last Days
The Last Days (novel)
The Last Days, a horror novel by Scott Westerfeld, is a companion book to Peeps. It takes place in New York, during the end of civilization hinted upon in Peeps.- Plot summary :...
, adding another dimension to the parasite. It is revealed that in ancient times, there were certain "singers" that could call up giant worms from within the Earth so that they could be more easily killed. This allowed the army of fighters against the giant worms to attract the worms under their preferred conditions, such as time and location, with sufficient preparation. The singers were able to attract the worms by singing words that were guided by the parasite living within them, sounding meaningless to the average human, but captivating nonetheless. Dr. Prolix ("The Shrink"), an age old carrier of the parasite has vague memories of seeing one of these singers calling a giant worm up to be killed, and Minerva, a prominent character in The Last Days, has inherited this ability from the parasite positives of centuries ago. She experiences receiving these songs from underground in her home, where old burial grounds are located, giving a possible origin to this ability.
Other parasites
Many other parasites are discussed within the story, each one adding to the plausibility of the story. One of these is ToxoplasmosisToxoplasmosis
Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic disease caused by the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii. The parasite infects most genera of warm-blooded animals, including humans, but the primary host is the felid family. Animals are infected by eating infected meat, by ingestion of feces of a cat that has itself...
, a parasitic disease
Parasitic disease
A parasitic disease is an infectious disease caused or transmitted by a parasite. Many parasites do not cause diseases. Parasitic diseases can affect practically all living organisms, including plants and mammals...
caused by the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii
Toxoplasma gondii
Toxoplasma gondii is a species of parasitic protozoa in the genus Toxoplasma. The definitive host of T. gondii is the cat, but the parasite can be carried by many warm-blooded animals . Toxoplasmosis, the disease of which T...
. Another is Trematoda
Trematoda
Trematoda is a class within the phylum Platyhelminthes that contains two groups of parasitic flatworms, commonly referred to as "flukes".-Taxonomy and biodiversity:...
a parasitic worm commonly referred to as a fluke. Wolbachia
Wolbachia
Wolbachia is a genus of bacteria which infects arthropod species, including a high proportion of insects , as well as some nematodes. It is one of the world's most common parasitic microbes and is possibly the most common reproductive parasite in the biosphere...
, a bacterium, was also mentioned.
Awards and nominations
Peeps was nominated for the 2006 Andre Norton AwardAndre Norton Award
The Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy, named to honor prolific science fiction and fantasy author Andre Norton , is a yearly juried award presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America to the author of an outstanding young adult science fiction or...
, bestowed in May 2007. It was listed as one of the 2006 ALA Best Books YA Awards and selected as one of the "Best Books of the Year" in 2005 by School Library Journal
School Library Journal
The School Library Journal is a monthly magazine with articles and reviews for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, with a focus on technology and multimedia. Reviews are included for preschool to 4th grade,...
.