The Troop

Kent Jenks, one of the 14-year-old scouts in Troop 52, generally serves as the boys’ “leader” whenever Tim is not around. He’s physically larger than the other children and enjoys horseplay, as well as bullying others and exerting his control over them. He is strong, aggressive, decisive, and authoritative, although he lacks the same levels of intelligence, patience, and cunning that the other boys possess. Kent loves taking the lead, but he rarely knows what course of action is best to take, and is liable to lead himself and others into danger. Kent is kind and protective toward others when he feels like they respect, obey, and look up to him. However, when others defy him or stand in his way, he starts to view them as obstacles instead of people, and simply knocks them down or gets rid of them somehow, such as by locking them in a closet.

Like several of the other boys, when confronted with the horrific events on the island, Kent recalls various pieces of advice his father gave him in the past and tries to apply these to the situation at hand. Kent’s father, “Big” Jeff Jenks, is the police chief of North Point; it’s clear that Kent admires his father immensely and wants to be like him. “Big” is also physically large, authoritative, bossy, and businesslike. The core piece of advice that Kent fixates on from his father is that men should choose a course of action and stick to it. As long as they’re steadfast in their convictions, people will follow their lead and everything will turn out okay. Kent’s father thinks the course of action itself is less important—the important thing is the leader’s commitment to that course of action. This mimics the attitude of the military leaders, who also seem to believe that they need to just pick a plan and stick to it, even though their plans involve letting kids die. Ironically, this ability to make decisions quickly is the same quality that Tim envies in surgeons. He senses that several of the boys possess the capacity for “surgeon thinking” and envies them as well as men like Kent’s father. However, ultimately in the novel, making decisions quickly without taking the time to learn the facts does not result in everything being okay, it results in extra unnecessary deaths.

The men who make decisions hastily but authoritatively encounter the limits of their power in the novel, and so does Kent. After he rallies the boys and locks Tim in the closet, he takes a sip of Tim’s whiskey bottle to symbolize how he has taken Tim’s place as the adult leader of the group. Shelley, who has ulterior motives and has already secretly figured out that the illness is inside Tim’s saliva and therefore also on or in the whiskey bottle, encourages Kent to drink the whiskey. Kent takes the bait because he wants to prove how powerful, cool, and mature he is; however, instead, drinking the whiskey passes the illness to Kent, quickly deteriorating his physical strength and size, as well as his mental capacities and his energy level. Soon, he’s not the biggest or strongest in the group anymore, but the weakest, lacking the energy to move around physically or even tell others what to do.

The scouts encounter a deadly virus on the island, so it’s not surprising that some of them die, and it’s certainly not their “fault.” However, the novel also shows how some boys survive longer than others due to traits like being calm and cautious, thinking things through, and also taking swift action at the right times. The novel also shows how some of the characters perish earlier than necessary due to other traits such as the desire to help people coupled with the lack of proper knowledge for how to proceed safely (Tim), or the desire to exert control coupled with recklessness (Kent). However, while contracting the illness does appear to be a death sentence based on what happened to Dr. Edgerton’s animal test subjects, Kent ultimately dies before the illness takes its full course, just like the others, complicating the difference between “monsters” and “humans.”

Newton Thornton is another member of Troop 52. He’s highly intelligent, well-informed, and rational, having a variety of niche interests as well as a strong heart and a “thick skin.” Others bully Newt often because he is a “nerd”—they find his vast knowledge and tendency to “teach” others annoying. They also make fun of his physical appearance: He is heavy and, to the boys, looks like a “nerd” in addition to talking like one. However, the boys also recognize Newt’s unique value: He can do things none of the other children can do, such as build campfires, map trails, identify poisonous and edible plants, and clean and dress wounds. Even Kent is happy to let Newt temporarily take responsibility for doing these tasks, and nobody is surprised that once Tim is gone, Newt starts taking over more of the “adult” tasks. What does surprise the children is how calm and rational Newt is able to remain, while the rest of them struggle with the situation; even Shelley, despite enjoying the situation, still struggles to process it. Newt is a more complex person than any of the other children can recognize yet. Only Max comes close to learning Newt’s true depths.

Max discovers, besides having a rational mind and the ability to perform basic survival skills, Newt possesses another secret trait that aids in his survival. Possibly because Newt is used to being emotionally toyed with constantly, he is better equipped to deal with the emotional ups and downs that the group experiences on the island. Newt is still bothered, to be sure. He cries when they kill the turtle, and he grieves over deaths of people he loved. Nonetheless, or perhaps because of his ability to express and process feelings, his mental capacities seem to remain intact until the very end. He’s able to keep clear goals in mind and does not act recklessly in ways that might sabotage those goals.

Newt’s character also illustrates that people, and other things, are not always as they seem. Having grown tired of being picked on constantly and never having anyone actually listen to what he has to say, Newt maintains a fake online persona using photographs of his deceased, handsome cousin his age and a pretend name (Alex Markson). On the fake social media account, Newt has added various friends and classmates he knows in real life, as well as some strangers who request him. Newt writes in his real voice and posts about his real interests using the account, where he receives positive attention from his real “friends” and strangers. Newt concludes that people interpret his words differently based on what he looks like physically. Only Max gets to a point where he begins listening to Newt the way people online listen to the fake boy. Unfortunately, Max’s change in attitude is too little too late. Everyone else has already died by this point, and Newt himself is sick with the worms, soon to be shot by the military while Max alone is “spared.”

Newt bears some similarities to Simon in The Lord of the Flies. The reader can’t help but wish that someone like Newt, or Simon, could take the lead over the other boys and mitigate the amount of death and destruction that occurs. Newt and Simon are both peaceful, calm, reasonable, and smart, holding steadfast to their moral compasses even amid total chaos and panic on the part of everyone else around them. However, novels like these examine the tragic disintegration of group dynamics and amplification of tensions that can occur under horrific circumstances. The boys are not used to yielding power to peaceful, intellectual types, and they are not willing to adapt quickly enough to what the new circumstances necessitate. Newt is similar to Tim and looks up to him especially, never having met his own father. Newt’s death is also a result of a similar trait to Tim’s: his kindness and desire to help others.

Ephraim Elliot is another member of Troop 52, and Max’s best friend. Ephraim and Max are both in the middle of the group’s pecking order. Ephraim is a loyal and kind friend, but he’s also prone to bursts of anger and impulsive behavior. He enjoys taking risks to get a rush of adrenaline. Physical pain doesn’t seem to bother or scare him as much as it does most others—he’s gotten in plenty of accidents and fights before. Besides Newt, Ephraim is the only other boy who sees a therapist, until the very end when Max is sent to the same therapist the two others had previously seen. Ephraim finds it difficult to control his bursts of anger and fears he will take it too far one day and be sent to prison like his father was. Max is good at calming Ephraim down and helping him avoid certain dangerous situations, although he can’t always accomplish this. However, Ephraim’s emotions are easily fueled by others who taunt him, such as Kent, Shelley, and even Newt (who doesn’t taunt him but gets on his nerves by sharing facts). Ephraim’s thoughts and emotions both spiral quickly and without a calm and rational counterpart like Max around, Ephraim can easily buy into very bad ideas, especially when the worms are introduced and chaos ensues. Because of this, Ephraim is the perfect target for Shelley’s “games.”

Ephraim tries not to catch the parasites, but Shelley tells Ephraim he saw worms moving on his hands, which are bloody because he punched Kent, who is already infected. This leads Ephraim to believe that the worms entered his body through his bloodstream and that he will soon fall ill as well unless he somehow gets the worms out. Shelley first convinces Ephraim to try cutting the (nonexistent) worms out, then later convinces Ephraim to set himself on fire, which leads to his death. By the time Ephraim starts the fire, he may be infected for real because Shelley has been touching him, but either way, Shelley purposely causes Ephraim to die in a series of “games.” The worms may be behind Ephraim’s death, but so is Shelley, further complicating the distinction between “humans” and “monsters.”

Shelley Longpre is an additional member of Troop 52. Shelley is generally quiet and inexpressive, attracting little attention from others and blending into the background. He is actually highly intelligent, but only uses his intelligence for things that interest him, which does not include excelling at school. He earns Cs and Ds, which allows him to evade both the negative attention that the kids with Fs receive, as well as the positive attention the kids with As receive. Although he tortures and kills animals when he knows he won’t get caught, the worst thing he does at school is touch girls’ hair, which annoys everyone but pales in comparison to some of the things more serious troublemakers like Kent do. The author labels Shelley as having “sociopathy” in the novel’s Acknowledgements section, although it doesn’t seem that he has officially received this diagnosis from a doctor within the world of the novel.

Shelley’s character complicates the distinction between humans and animals because he doesn’t view them as fundamentally different, and doesn’t see a moral distinction between harming or loving humans versus harming animals. This is not to say that Shelley is a friend to animals, but rather, that he views most living things as unworthy or as tools to use in his own pursuit of knowledge. For example, when he kills Kent, he expects to learn something profound—this is why he does it. He’s furious when he doesn’t learn anything profound, and feels like Kent is at fault for withholding whatever secret he believes murder is supposed to reveal. Shelley also has no qualms with killing animals just to learn about how their bodies work or how they respond to his torturous actions with different emotions like fear and shock. Although this inability to distinguish harming animals from harming humans is generally viewed as “pathological,” so is the tendency to harm animals for fun, sport, or even knowledge. In this way, Shelley’s actions somewhat echo those of Dr. Edgerton, who abuses, tortures, and kills animal and human test subjects to learn about the worms, seemingly undisturbed by all this even though his colleagues are very unsettled. Shelley views his own parents as unworthy and “stupid,” and he doesn’t really resemble them.

Before the events on Falstaff Island, most people viewed Shelley as vacant—he rarely spoke and drew little attention to himself, so others assumed there couldn’t be much going on inside his head. Like with Newt, other people dismissed Shelley based on their perception of his appearance and mannerisms, oblivious to the depths within him. Once the horrors start to unfold, the other boys assume Shelley is still vacant, but in an evil way, as if he’s evil just because it’s fun and shallow. However, Shelley was never as vacant as anyone thought, especially after he gets infested with the worms and feels new purpose as a “father” who needs to protect his “babies” from the “boys” who, because they’re still children, still want to go back to the “silly” lives they had before this camping trip. Shelley comes of age in a strange way once infected; he doesn’t view what’s coming as death so much as changing form and bringing forth new life, which will be his legacy and immortalize him. Shelley’s character complicates the distinction not only between humans, animals, and monsters, but also between adults and children (and even fetuses and parasites).

Max Kirkwood is the final member of Troop 52, and the only member who makes it home alive after the events on Falstaff Island. Like his best friend, Ephraim, Max is neither the leader of the group, nor is he the constant target of bullying. Max is kind, loyal, and intelligent, although he is not categorized as a “nerd” like Newt is. Max’s inner thoughts reveal that he is often thinking about things he learned in science class, but he doesn’t voice them out loud as often. However, although Max evades negative attention and has never gotten in a fight prior to the events on the camping trip, he is actually always paying attention and negotiating social dynamics to try and influence the outcome for the best. For example, he often says or does the right thing to prevent Ephraim from committing an action that is too reckless or dangerous. He can sometimes also diffuse Kent, and protect Newt to some degree from the other boys’ bullying. However, Max doesn’t typically step too far out of line, because he knows doing so puts himself and others in danger oftentimes. Like Newton, Max is better at staying calm and weighing options than Kent, Ephraim, and Tim. This is one factor that makes him a “core” member of the group, and contributes to his ability to survive the longest.

Max’s father, Reginald, is the coroner of North Point, and sometimes lets Max observe or assist with his work. Because of this experience and his calm demeanor, Scoutmaster Tim selects Max to help him perform surgery on the sick stranger. This event complicates the difference between adults and children because Tim knowingly endangers the child he is supposed to protect (thereby neglecting his responsibilities as an adult) while also expecting that child to perform as an adult surgeon’s assistant. Ironically, Max actually succeeds better than Tim does at fulfilling the unrealistic expectations that are placed on him. He assists in the surgery while also avoiding contracting the illness himself, then passes information about the virus on to the other boys. Despite Max’s ability to perform these impressive feats, the other boys still don’t trust him to lead their group; once Tim is gone, Kent is seen as the only one who has a chance at leading, and after he gets sick, anarchy effectively ensues with Shelley running rampant and unsupervised. Max throws his first punches after Shelley kills Ephraim. This is one way in which Max comes of age; rather than avoiding conflict entirely, like he used to, he learns that conflict and anger are sometimes necessary—although he doesn’t kill Shelley, he demonstrates enough anger and rage to drive him away to a cave.

Max and Newton make a good team once the other boys are gone. Free from the social restraints upheld by the other men and boys, Max and Newton are able to listen to each other and work together without much bullying, shaming, or fighting. Although they get in one fight after the others are gone, they quickly learn the limits of violence for solving problems, and agree to quit fighting when it’s clear nothing is being accomplished besides venting their frustration about losing the boat’s spark plugs (Shelley actually took them). To figure out where the plugs went, they have to calm down, talk it out, and work together. Once the others are gone, Max develops a stronger loyalty toward Newt and tries to ensure the best possible chance for his survival. Even after Newt gets sick, Max risks his own life to retrieve the spark plugs, fixes the boat, and pilots them both home, hoping society will take them back and also produce a cure for Newt’s illness. They shoot Newt but spare Max, suggesting the incident on the island was an intentional experiment after all. Otherwise, the military’s logic for not rescuing the boys and putting them in a clinic, but allowing Max to return so long as he goes through a stint in a clinic, does not make sense.

After his stint in the clinic is over, Max is allowed to return to society, but not fully. He isn’t allowed to physically attend school or even fill out paper assignments. Nobody wants to be around him, talk to him, or touch him—even his mom won’t kiss him goodnight the same as she used to. Having escaped the isolation of the island, Max returns home to discover an even worse breed of isolation—he’s surrounded by people, but lonely and alone nonetheless. Seemingly because he feels alone and adrift already, he takes his uncle’s boat and returns to the island, which has since been treated with chemicals to supposedly kill any remaining life forms. It’s unclear whether or not Max catches the illness by returning to the island, but the final chapter’s ambiguity suggests that, whether or not he literally catches it, the experience from the island will continue to “haunt” Max and he will never be the same. The worms are “inside” him, whether or not they are literally and physically there.

Tom Padgett is the name of the stranger who wanders up to Troop 52’s cabin on Falstaff Island; however, none of them learn his name or identity during their time on the island. They only know that he is sick with something they don’t understand, and that he’s the thinnest man they’ve ever seen. At first, some of them can’t tell if he’s a monster, animal, or human, but realize quickly he’s human with something inhuman growing inside him. Tim is a doctor, and makes the fatal “mistake” that Edgerton (the worms’ creator) assumed humans would make: in his well-intentioned efforts to help or cure the man, Tim contracts the worms himself, and the virus spreads.

Troop 52 doesn’t know Tom Padgett, so they don’t see his death as tragic in the same way as their friends’ deaths are tragic; however, they do find it tragic that he has to die among strangers in an undignified way and without a proper burial. Once the story comes out that the military purposely released Padgett, the journalist seems to think it was immoral for the military to test a biological weapon on children. However, Padgett (and Scoutmaster Tim) isn’t discussed as much as the children, as if adult deaths are less tragic than child deaths. Still, Tom was 35 and Tim was in his early forties, so they both died long before they “should have” if the worms weren’t introduced. The children didn’t know what they were getting into, but neither did Scoutmaster Tim, and, it seems, neither did Tom Padgett. He was intoxicated when Edgerton found him and offered him a large amount of cash to test out a pill. Based on the testimony of Edgerton’s employee, Nathan Erikson, it does not seem like Tom Padgett was in a state to be able to comprehend what he was signing up for. It is not proper medical ethics to trick someone into dying for a study, whether they’re a child or an adult. This is emphasized when Tom Padgett’s mother discusses his death—although he died as an adult, he was still her child and his death was still unnecessary and tragic.

When Tom Padgett arrives at Troop 52’s camp, it’s true that he is “toxic” and a threat to the scouts. However, he’s not the villain of the novel, but himself a victim of the villain. In this way, he resembles the creature created by Victor in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818). Although he was already a human before Edgerton’s intervention, Tom becomes something else after Edgerton injects the worms. Like the creature in Frankenstein, Tom’s perspective is shown in the novel in order to somewhat “humanize” him. He states that he’s not a bad person, but signed up for a bad experiment and escaped the lab, which he feels is understandable because Edgerton was torturing him. He can’t fight the hunger he feels, though. The reader understands that he is a potential danger to the troop, but also that it’s beyond Tom’s control and that his behaviors are a result of something that is not a natural part of him. This increases the complexity of the novel’s terror because the “monster” or villain is not a single entity who can be easily eliminated. Rather, the villain created a hive monster that reproduces quickly and takes over other creatures and people, eating them from the inside. In the Acknowledgements section of the novel, the author says monsters that can get inside of you are scarier than purely external ones.