Subtlety is the new literary boldness. For four chapters, Vandermeer takes his readers on a journey through his fictional land of Area X. Through wild boars and immense forests, Vandermeer hints at nature’s dominion. However, it isn’t until the last chapter does he truly reveal his point. Though his message is not obvious at first, Vandermeer uniquely discusses the current climate issues by utilizing humans’ natural terror of untouched nature, the ever-expanding power of Earth when taking back human-tainted areas, and confusion at the unknown; thus, by employing terror, Annihilation influences its readers to take a greater role in planet protection.

Annihilation takes authority away from the protagonists and instead puts them at the mercy of Area X, effectively flipping the script of a human-controlled enviornment. Vandeermeer illustrates the reasons why humans fear wilderness through his characters by showing their interactions with their surroundings. This time, it is the planet who conquers the humans. Area X destroys the mind and devours the spirit. Moments before her death, the psychologist is being consumed by substances from Area X (Vandermeer 133). This is an allegory to the human’s ever-growing control of the planet. The mutated beings from Area X also serve to strike fear into the readers. The mysterious moaning creatures that sheds a human face, the dolphin with a human eye, and the Crawler with the face of the man from the lighthouse all possess some kind of human quality(Vandermeer 140, 97, 186). Yet that is the exact reason which makes them so terrifying. They are all reminders to the biologist that she may become one of them, that she may lose her own free-will and succumb to Area X. With every step that the biologist takes, and every turn of a page, both the biologist and reader fears the appearance of another unexpected animal with unknown powers.

With their overconfidence at survival and some support from a willing Earth, humans effectuate their own downfall. Through the writing from the Crawler, the biologist reads, “Where lies the strangling fruit that came from the hand of the sinner I shall bring forth the seeds of the dead to share with the worms that…” (Vandermeer 46). Taken from nature’s perspective, the hand of the sinner belongs to human beings..Though usually connected with positive connotations, the fruit serves as a parallel to the apples from the Garden of Eden and may suggest too much of a good thing. The fruit represents human evolution and technological advancements. By crossing an invisible boundary with nature by draining the Earth’s resources, humans have effectively picked the apple. The “seeds of the dead” originate from the fruit, which signifies that humans bring about their own destruction. The repetition of the Crawler’s words continuously warns the reader that they will bring about their own destruction. While humanity paves their way to their doom, nature is surely and gladly reclaiming its territory. Through the biologist’s journey across the abandoned villages she sees houses covered in vegetation. Venturing into them, she discovers human-like figures covered in the same foliage (Vandermeer 97). Her sighting sends the message that humans and their way of life can be easily, almost carelessly, overpowered by nature. Even with modern technology, humans will not escape the grasp of nature if they intend to work against it. 

Being at the top of the food chain for as long as they have, humans have a innate desire to conquer the world around them. However, Area X purposefully works against the researchers and prevents them from doing so. Inexplicable phenomenons occur all around the expedition members. As reported by the journal written by the biologist’s husband, doppelgangers of his teammates appeared to be walking into the tower (Vandermeer 165). According to the psychologist, the biologists appeared to be glowing when she approached the lighthouse (Vandermeer 125). Judging from the samples that the anthropologists took from the Crawler, it was composed of human brain cells(Vandermeer 72). None of these occurrences could be explained satisfactorily with the rules of the real world. This confuses and stuns the explorers, who are all experienced experts in their respective fields. Throughout the book, all of the characters grapple with th fact that there is always more to Area X than they know. 

Vandermeer skillfully crafts his story and embeds his message within the storyline by using a fear of the unknown, a strange and powerful environment with free will, and unfamiliar world laws. Annihilation serves as a telescope into a terrifying, though admittedly exaggerated, future that may occur if not enough action is taken to restore the relationship between humans and the Earth. Vandermeer’s call to action is subtly yet effective, reaching into the human psyche and activating the ultimate motivator: fear. 

Work Cited

Vandermeer, Jeff. Annihilation. (Southern Reach Trilogy, Book 1.). New York, Farrar, Straus 

And Giroux, 2014.