Zero+Hour

"Zero Hour"

Summary
Mink Morris and her friend Anna are playing a game called Invasion. At dinner, Mink tells her mother about a new kid in the neighborhood called Drill. She says that he is a Martian. He and his kind are invading Earth by posing as children. Mrs. Morris doesn't really believe Mink. She also says that zero hour is five o'clock, so Mink runs off to continue playing Invasion. Mr. Morris then comes home from work, and he and Mrs. Morris begin hearing a strange buzzing noise. A few seconds later, there are explosions. Mr. and Mrs. Morris run and hide in the attic. Mink comes into the house followed by "shadows", melts the lock off the attic, and comes in, saying "peekaboo".


 * Setting:** This story takes place in a neighborhood of an unknown city, full of bustle and enjoyment. The neighborhood is filled with yards full of knives, forks, pokers, stovepipes and can openers. Kids fill the streets while playing their "Invasion" game.
 * Protagonist:** In this story, the protagonist is Mink. She is a young girl who has a very broad imagination and mind. She is extensively "take charge," but she is also notably smart. When she puts Anna in charge of taking notes, Mink shows that she is very advanced for her age. Anna was struggling to spell words such as triangle and beam. Mink, in a way, leads her group of friends and organizes everything that they do.
 * Antagonist:** Drill and the other Martians are the antagonists of the story, because they manipulate Mink and the other children into turning against their parents. However, the main opposing force against Mink herself is Joseph Connors, who is a twelve year old boy that lives in the neighborhood. It could be interpreted that when Mink and her friends are minding their own business and playing with each other, he shows up and tries to ruin their fun. Since he is older than them, he feels that he is more mature and advanced than them. As a result of this, he says he wants to "play" with them, when he really just wants to mock them.
 * Forms of Technology:** One type of technology used in this story is a touch activated butler. When Mink wants hot soup, all Mrs. Morris has to do is press a red button on the butler in the kitchen, then ten seconds after the soup drops down onto the rubber receiver.
 * Main Conflict:** The conflict in this story is between Mr .and Mrs. Morris and the aliens. They want to live a normal domestic lifestyle, but the aliens want to take over the Earth, and Mr. and Mrs. Morris are simply more humans standing in their way.
 * Theme:** One theme of this story is as a person get older, their imagination gets smaller. It shows how imaginative and creative Mink and her friends are to believe in such things as aliens are taking over the world. In a way it is naive, but it is also their imagination for wanting to take part in the game, "Invasion." Then it shows Mrs. Morris, who in a way is entertained by the kids and how naive they are. But perhaps it is just because she doesn't have broad enough of an imagination to believe that the aliens are taking over the world. Another theme is that children are impressionable, and are also more likely to believe their peers than their parents.

Questions for Discussion 1. Do you think that Mink loves her parents? Why or why not? 2. What side do you think that Mink believed that she was on: good or evil? Why or why not? 3. Why do you think it was so easy for Mink to trust Drill?

**Internet Sources**

 * **[|Short Stories Review: Zero Hour by Ray Bradbury]**
 * **[|What Would an Alien Invasoin be Like?]**

Pictures

 * [|Martian]**
 * [|Girl and Alien]**

Created by Katie Hirthler, Jaime Swank, and Lexi Trivelis.