Bloom

The cryptogenic invasion that threatens planet Earth in Bloom demonstrates the broader implications of any worldwide catastrophe. Direct effects trigger chain reactions that lead to sweeping, and often unpredictable, disruptions to everyday life and eventually to the erosion of the very foundations of society. Through a trio of teenagers in Canada’s Salt Spring Island, Bloom explores how a global crisis demands personal sacrifices and spurs the emergence of heroism.

Scenes in the supermarket and at a community meeting help paint a picture of how drastically life is disrupted in the midst of a national or global crisis. Fear and paranoia take over as citizens try to make sense of the chaos. This often manifests in conspiracy theories, like Fleetwood’s belief that the Chinese government has a department in charge of weather that can make it rain. Ralph Jenkins’s belief that the government is hiding the truth turns out to be correct, attesting to the fact that transparency is not a given in matters of national security. Shifting blame is another way people attempt to impose order on chaotic circumstances. During the community meeting, Anaya thinks, “[T]hey were almost making it sound like Dad was to blame for what happened!” (59). They’re using anger to cope with their fear. The novel demonstrates how a global catastrophe can erode the foundations of society but also wreak havoc on the inner lives of people. This exterior, global tragedy has implications for people’s interiority in many regards, exposing the parts of the teens’ identities on one hand but causing chaos within individuals on the other.

Problems with overloaded hospitals, supply-chain limitations, and even hoarding of finite resources are depicted in Chapter 6 when Petra visits the supermarket with her mom. People are wearing masks and even “those scary heavy-duty things with the canister filter” (89). Pharmacies are unable to keep the medications people need in stock. Shoppers are stocking up on canned goods in preparation for losing power and water. Illness has devastated the work force, which has dire consequences for emergency services. By Chapter 20, tens of thousands of people are dying daily. The world is reeling, in desperate need of heroes.

The protagonists, too, don’t get through this crisis without sacrifice and loss. Seth loses yet another foster family through the death of Mrs. Antos and the near-death of Mr. Antos. Anaya’s and Petra’s parents are no longer able to make their children feel safe. Anaya’s mom tells her, “Everything’s going to be okay” (178), but it doesn’t make Anaya feel better. Their parents must also sacrifice their role as sole protectors of their children and let them risk their own safety to help save the world. This otherworldly issue causes problems interiorly within the world, within society, within each country, and within each individual. The author suggests an ecological crisis could undo the fabric of society and argues that people’s togetherness, their sense of belonging, should work to fix this global problem, regardless of appearances, national identity, or any other category.

Anaya, Petra, and Seth experience loss, too. They lose part of their identity, for one, but really learn to connect it with other parts. For much of the book, they recognize something strange is happening to them, changing them, but they don’t understand it. When they discover the truth about their connection to the cryptogens, they must rethink everything they knew about themselves. They lose their innocence as well. They witness the death of peers and loved ones, even hardened soldiers. They come to realize no one else can keep them safe and the world will never be the same. They learn that the only thing that will help them and their world is their sense of belonging, of fitting in with others and mutually helping one another.

After saving Tereza, Fleetwood, and Jen from pit plants on the school field, Anaya, Petra, and Seth are portrayed in news reports as heroes. They don’t feel like heroes, though. Even after Anaya mom tells her, “I am so proud of you. You helped so many people” (139), Anaya doesn’t feel like a hero. Petra saves her mom from the pit plant that swallows their car. On Cordova Island, the three teens bravely fight off aggressive vines and vicious lilies to protect Brock, Jolie, and Dr. Weber. They risk their lives to rescue Mr. Riggs and to collect the only weapon the world has against the cryptogens. Each of them overcomes fear and uses their unique capabilities to help others. Through their heroism, they give the world a fighting chance against the greatest threat the planet has ever faced. They achieve this heroism precisely through their sense of belonging, through their togetherness with each other and the other people around the world who are like them. The heroism comes directly by way of togetherness, and the author suggests in times of global catastrophe people need to join together and forget their differences to defeat threats. The teens previously saw their bodies as a source of alienation, but they learn their feelings of difference are precisely the source of their bond. This is a lesson the author hopes to extend to the whole world, especially as the threat of an eco-crisis becomes more tangible in the modern world.