February

     Duke University created an experiment to see how good non-human species are at teamwork and problem solving. Spotted Hyenas aced the test, working together to get the food, and teaching inexperienced Hyenas. The novel, The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes demonstrates the theme, collaboration can often help solve problems.

     When Sloane helps Cassie figure out who is the killer it shows that collaboration can help solve problems. Sloane and Cassie are learning to become part of the FBI. Sloane observes the light switch in two different murders, one murder replicating the other. Cassie remembers entering the room where her mother died, and how she touched the bloody wall and then flipped on the light switch. “‘There's a single smear of blood on the light switch and plate in both photos,’ Sloane said. ‘But in this one the blood is on the top of the switch.’ -she gestured to the photo of the scene today- ‘And in this one, it's on the bottom.’ … You weren’t reliving the kill, I thought, allowing myself to finally give life to the words, because you weren’t the one who killed my mother.“ (Barnes 260-261) Sloane is looking at photos comparing murders, the one that happened that night, staged to look exactly like Cassie’s mother’s death, many years ago. The person who killed this night knew what they wanted to get to. They wanted to pull Cassie’s heart strings and to show Cassie how her mother died. But, since Sloane noticed the mess-up, Cassie knows that they didn’t kill her mother. But the murderer knows the murder case front and back, so they possibly could be in the FBI. Now Cassie has a lead. Sloane and Cassie collaborating led them to solving the problem.


     Additionally, when Sloane and Michael help, Cassie learns about the victims of murder, and that portrays that collaboration can help solve problems.  Sloane steals the files of people being murdered by the same person, as this person always carves a red haired woman’s face out with a knife. She steals these files so Cassie can learn about the people and figure out who is killing them. Unfortunately, an FBI agent finds out and takes the files away. Cassie’s friend Michael thankfully downloaded the files on his computer without anyone knowing.  “‘There was a USB drive [holding files from the cold case],” Sloane admitted finally, ‘in Agent Locke’s briefcase.’ Michael’s eyes lit up. ‘Am I to infer that you have it now?’... [Agent Briggs]  added, holding up the USB drive, ‘[I confiscated this] from Sloane.’ … ‘You copied the files [from the USB] onto your laptop.’” (166, 182, 192) Sloane steals the USB and gives the USB to both herself and Michael, so Cassie, Sloane and Michael can continue to work together to understand who the victims are. When one learns about the victims, they can learn about the patterns or motivation and match those with a person. When Cassie, Sloane, and Michael team joins to work for one goal, they can learn about anything they want. Sloane, Michael and Cassie collaborate to learn about the victims, and therefore they solve problems.

     Ultimately, collaboration can often help solve problems. Remember that collaboration often comes with rewards, the success of the problem and -in the hyenas case- food. They didn’t fail to teach each other and realize, we are all reaching for the same goal. So always help anyone possible, and common goals can be reached, if not exceeded. Collaboration is the best way to learn and grow, as well as triumph in any issues.