“The Trade” by Cody Blattner is a deep, entrancing tale of life, loss, hope, and despair. A young boy, a runner, loses his grandmother and tries to run from the pain. He is offered a trade: his life for his grandmother’s. He doesn’t realize what a grave mistake he’s made until it’s too late. This story investigates humanity, our fear of grief, and our willingness, our selflessness, that enables us to be prepared to do anything to save those we love. It also shows that this willingness could lead us to ruin, if we run into things without thinking.
Cody weaves this tale from a young boy’s perspective, giving it a strange feeling, as though it brings the reader back to the time when he or she was that age. We, the readers, watch as Dash loses his grandmother and then agrees to give his life to save her. He makes the trade with a man of many faces and voices. This man may symbolize death, or perhaps loss, or maybe he just represents trades. Whatever he is, he hardly has to talk to Dash before Dash offers his own life for his grandmother’s. He displayed the rash actions of a child, the “forging ahead without thinking” kind of plan that many children often come up with. This complete lack of forethought, along with his idea that he wouldn’t be much of a hero if he didn’t offer his life for his grandmother’s, pulls us even deeper into our childhoods. We can imagine ourselves doing what Dash does to save our own loved ones. This story has been woven with great skill and gives the illusion of pulling as back in time as well as into Dash’s world.