Deep Allegory In Challenger Deep By Neal Schusterman

In the novel Challenger Deep, Neal Schusterman brought up many forms of deep allegory with the intention of conveying a message, distancing difficult topics, and expressing important events in a lighter manner. Schusterman conveyed a fascinating message with his use of allegory, by introducing the audience to the main character, Caden’s, mind. Caden imagines himself aboard a ship that's heading for The Marianas Trench. While aboard, he meets many people including the Captain and his parrot, Calliope, Carlyle, and many more. This connects to allegory because really, the ship symbolizes a hospital. The characters on board could be portrayed as doctors, nurses, or psychologists, which explains why the characters on board are only seen on the ship. It also determines why Caden’s friends

By using allegory, Schusterman teaches the importance and severity of schizophrenia through an Abyssal Serpent which represents the illness, as well as Caden’s thoughts. This Abyssal Serpent stalks both Caden and the Captain. It is described by the captain as a formidable adversary and is said to never give up looking for Caden. “Through the raging walls of the whirlpool, I can see the Abyssal Serpent spiraling down with me, matching the pace of my descent, the same way it matched the pace of the ship.I wait for it to leap through the water to devour me, but still, it does not.” (288). This quotation is mentioned as Caden attempts to reach the bottom of Challenger Deep, which also symbolizes the worst parts of his illness. It describes how as Caden begins his journey down, he sees the Abyssal Serpent next to him, thinking it's going to take over him, however, it does not. This explains how Caden feels like his schizophrenia is taking total control over him, but he ends up gaining some of that control back, which relates to how the author expressed this important event more