Ciity Of Ember

City of ember

Readers are given clues to the origin of the City of Ember in the introduction.
The Builders of Ember, fearing an apocalyptic event, built the city to ensure that
humanswould continue to exist. Later we discover that the Builders planned that
future generations would "grow up with no knowledge of a world outside, so that
they (would) feel no sorrow for whatthey have lost." The city was designed to
last no longer than 220 years, at the conclusion of which the citizens of Ember
were to receive instructions contained in a time-locked box held bythe mayor
that described how to leave the city. However, over the course of 241 years, the
box has popped open and been mislaid.
The people of Ember have no knowledge of what lies beyondtheir electric flood
lamps. Most believe that Ember is the only light in a dark world. Many fear that
despite their relentless recycling efforts the city of Ember is slowly dying. When
theantiquated generator begins to plunge the entire city unexpectedly into
blackouts, two young people begin to search for answers to the blackouts, the
food shortages, and the lessoning of thetown’s seemingly inexhaustible
consumer supplies.
Lina obtains a job as messenger and travels the town, learning the true nature of
the city’s shortages and of the people’s fears. In thecourse of her job Lina also
discovers that some powerful people are taking advantage of their positions and
hoarding supplies for themselves. Doon obtains a job working as a pipeworkslaborer and learns that the generator is in a decrepit condition.
When Lina discovers the damaged fragments of the Builder’s document that
contains instructions for leaving Ember, she and Doondecide to work together to
decipher the message. Before they can share their discovery with everyone, the
corrupt Mayor tries to withhold the information and destroy their hard work. Lina