Many people have thought about what the future will be like. They ponder whether or not the world will be a technological paradise or a wasteland. In the book Andra, by Louis Lawrence, the setting takes place beneath the Earth's surface two thousand years from now. Within the novel, people's lives are full of boundaries and limitations. People have to live underground because the Earth's atmosphere is too contaminated to live in. Andra is the name of the protagonist who underwent a brain transplant to cure her blindness, but which, unexpectedly, also gave her the memories of a boy who died in 1987. This makes Andra see the difference in freedom between the two periods of time. The novel tells the story of how Andra gains supporters and eventually gains permission from the leaders to move, along with 500 colonists, to a planet just like Earth once was. In the story, Andra, time, place, and customs significantly influence the mood, tone, and overall atmosphere of the book. Although the novel, the author, Louis Lawrence, is trying to convey that there may be better technology in the future, but that doesn't mean that life in general will get better. In Andra, technology has advanced so significantly that anyone with impurities must be “expired.” To be “expired” means to be humanely subjected to euthanasia. Andra was “on the verge of dying” (Lawrence 5) when the doctor who operated on her heard that the reason she would “expire” was clearly due to blindness. Another component that is superior to science today is the length of time people live. In the novel, the oldest man alive is “over three hundred years old. Everyone had heard of Professor Kiroyo” (Lawrence 41). Professor Kiroyo is three hundred years old......middle of paper......rence, it's about a girl who has excelled in a futuristic, underground world. He fought for independence from the harsh restrictions and borders of Earth's leader and won. All Andra needed to make a difference was self-confidence and intellect. She was rewarded for her efforts with the chance to create a new world, on a new planet, above ground, just as Earth was before humans contaminated it and altered its orbit. The spirit of the book is to always look towards the future and face your consequences even if you think you don't deserve them. The tone is that people should always look forward instead of looking back. For these reasons, the overall feeling of the book is one of looking forward, towards the future because you can't alter history, no matter how hard you try. Works Cited Lawrence, Louis. Andra. London: William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd., 1971