Serpent Character Analysis

Think of something you strongly believe in; something that strongly influences the way you think about yourself and the way you act. Now imagine someone finding extremely important evidence that completely disproves or destroys that belief. Would you work to hide what was found in order to preserve your way of being or fight to let the world know of the important discovery? Nina Kirov and Kurt Austin decide to do the latter and choose to inform the world in Serpent by Clive Cussler. After a series of organized massacres and multiple other murders, Nina and Kurt make it their mission to bring the organization responsible to justice. They uncover many artifacts and secrets but the three most important objects are the wreck of the Andria Doria,

The Doria was struck in 1956 by the Stockholm, another passenger vessel with a much harder hull, and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean. What makes the ship important, however, are the events that take place in its hull: “They lifted the bleeding bodies out of the rising water, dragged them one by one around to the back of the truck. Then they stuffed them inside, slammed the door, and bolted it shut” (Cussler 30). An armored truck in the belly of the ship contained many valuables, however, the men carrying out the truculent massacres have different plans for the truck. After murdering multiple people, they hide the bodies in the truck, steal nothing, and close the doors. The one man who witnessed the massacre was too afraid to tell anyone and it was not till later that Kurt and Joe have the idea of diving down and opening the truck. The truck contained jewels of value, the bodies, and a bigger piece to the puzzle; the “Talking Stone”. The events that took place on the Doria, the precious cargo it holds, and the pieces to the puzzle that Kurt finds are the main contributing factors that make the ship one of the most important objects throughout the

It is a statue that was found in Mayan territory but created by a different group of people before the existence of Columbus. This artifact is what prompts Halcon’s men to attack Nina and her expedition. Everyone is killed and the statue is destroyed: “‘They kill everyone, try to kill me. Then, instead of running off, they go through the trouble of blowing up an artifact. Why?’” (Cussler 89). The statue Nina finds is like the “Talking Stone”; it is an important artifact in proving Halcon’s company to be non legitimate. Nina does not know this at first, but she is the cause for the attack. Her photos of the statue brought upon the deaths of many people. Halcon sees Nina as an intelligent and resourceful woman and sees great pleasure in having his men hunt her down. If Nina had not found the statute, none of her expedition members would have gotten hurt. But, if she had not found the statue, she would never have met Kurt, and Halcon would never have been brought to justice. The statue is a double edged blade, and this is why it is important to the