Authority: A Novel

“‘Never do something for just one reason,’ his grandpa had told him more than once, and that, at least, Control had taken to heart.”

The repeated use of advice from Control’s family deepens his character and gives readers a sense of his backstory. In turning to his grandfather’s memory for advice, the reader learns that Control lives his life according to the example and expectations set by his highly successful grandfather and mother.

“Or ‘an intruder’ as Grace put it, still unable to say anything to him remotely like the word alien. If anything, Ghost Bird was healthier now than before she’d left; the toxins present in most people today existed in her and the others at much lower levels than normal.”

In the first chapter, readers already experience bizarre, unknowable occurrences, such as Ghost Bird having no toxins in her body. This important detail, as well as the intentional use of words like “alien” and “intruder,” plant curiosity, spurring questions like how Ghost Bird can be free of toxins and if Area X is alien. There are many profound questions of why and how to push the narrative forward.

“One day, he believed, she [Jackie] would take him with her, and he would become the streak of light, have secrets no one else could ever know.”

Control’s backstory with his mother Jackie creates a believable depth for him, as he is always reaching up to gain her respect. He wants to be on his mother’s level, so the metaphor of Jackie being a streak of light in the sky is apt to him attempting to rise and reach her status. Also, light and brightness are repeated about Area X too, making the light metaphors a repeated homage to trying to see clearly when all is secretive or unknowable.

“‘We have been here a long time…Control. A very long time. Living with this. Unable to do very much about this.’ A surprising amount of pain had entered [Grace’s] voice. ‘You don’t go home at night with it in your stomach, in your bones. In a few weeks, when you have seen everything, you will have been living with it for a long time, too. You will be just like us—only more so because it is getting worse. Fewer and fewer journals recovered, and more zombies, as if they have been mind-wiped. And no one in charge has time for us.’”

Grace is revealed as a caring, concerned, and realistic character in this monologue. Though she is usually antagonistic to Control, she offers him meaningful advice, and her words reveal the seriousness of the situation to try to control and understand Area X.

“The Voice was, as ever, gruff and disguised by a filter. Disguised purely for security or because Control might recognize it? ‘You’ll likely never know the identity of the Voice,’ his mother had said. ‘You need to put that question out of your head. Concentrate on what’s in front of you.’”

The fact he is not privy to The Voice’s identity is another point of secrecy and the unknown, two major themes in the novel. Jackie’s advice is also one of many moments of guidance to try to focus and manipulate her son. Notably, the theme of the unknown is not applied much to The Voice, since Control concentrates his energy on Area X and the Southern Reach instead, moving the plot toward more pertinent discoveries.

“The fact was, the Southern Reach knew so little about Area X, even after three decades, that an irrational precaution might not be unreasonable.”

The theme of the unknown adds conflict and danger to Area X. This essential backstory and straightforward admission from Control shows that they still cannot define Area X and thus have armed guards at the border and other precautions just in case the phenomenon causes a problem, all of which increase tension.

“‘What did you do there?’ he’d asked, and the only word back had been a wall: ‘Classified.’”

In contrast to the loving relationship with his father, Control has a strained relationship with Jackie, his mom. She cannot even tell him what she did at the Southern Reach when stationed there, showing themes of secrecy, power imbalance, and family dysfunction. The symbol of borders is often repeated with similar word choices like “wall” and “boundary” too, so here the blockade is between mother and son unable to share secrets to grow closer.

“‘If someone seems to have changed from one session to another, make sure you haven’t changed instead.’ A warning from his mother, once upon a time.”

The theme of advice is used to show Control struggling to find control in his life; he relies on direction and advice from his family. When he is interviewing Ghost Bird and noticing her differences, he must block himself from getting too attached to her and look internally to ensure he has not changed. This section also relates to the main themes of transformation and identity, highlighting that he needs to remain unchanged, and unflappable and that following orders is part of Control’s identity.

“‘Did you know,’ [Ghost Bird] replied, ‘that the phorus snail attaches the empty shells of other snails onto its own shell. As a result, the saltwater phorus snail is very clumsy. It staggers and tumbles about because of these empty shells, which offer camouflage, but at a price.’”

Ghost Bird’s dialogue is not only a deflection from answering a question but also a significant clue to her being a copy. This snail is a metaphor for how she is camouflaged as the biologist, a foreshadowing for close readers to identify.

“The real core of the message, the meaning, would be conveyed by the combinations of living matter that composed the words, as if the ‘ink’ itself was the message.

‘And if a message is half-physical, if a kind of coding is half-physical, then words on a wall don’t mean that much at all, really, in my opinion. I could analyze those words for years—which is, incidentally, what I understand the director may have done—and it wouldn’t help me to understand anything. The type of conduit helps decide how fast the message arrives, and perhaps some context.’”

As the linguist Hsyu explains, the scientific pathways needed for humans to communicate—and more importantly to understand communication—are more important than the words themselves. If Area X is trying to speak with them, they need to have a shared language of channels they can interpret cleanly, not with the sermon speech of multiple interpretations. As a science fiction book, passages like this validate the real scientific ideas behind the story’s premise.

“Because our minds process information almost solely through analogy and categorization, we are often defeated when presented with something that fits no category and lies outside of the realm of our analogies.”

Again, Hsyu articulates the main reason why no one can define Area X: It is so unique and unlike anything else, they do not have the language to describe it. Showing the themes of the unknown and the beyond, humans may not even be able to fully interpret Area X (and its effects) because they have nothing to compare it to.

“Analysis by Southern Reach scientists of the most recent samples, taken six years ago and brought back by expedition X.11.D, showed no trace of human-created toxicity remained in Area X. Not a single trace. No heavy metals. No industrial runoff or agricultural runoff. No plastics. Which was impossible.”

The evidence and data-driven work of Control and others gives them proof that Area X is beyond explanation. With word choice like “impossible,” the characters are in disbelief that Area X can be such a pure, untainted wilderness despite the contamination of the landscape surrounding it. The questions and impossibilities continue.

“It means the specific characteristics of a place—the geography, geology, and climate […] Terroir’s direct translation is ‘a sense of place,’ and what it means is the sum of the effects of a localized environment, inasmuch as they impact the qualities of a particular product […] [What] if you applied these criteria to thinking about Area X?’ [Whitby said.] […] ‘So you mean […] you just might—find an answer in that confluence?’ Next to the idea of terroir, the theories that had been presented to Control seemed garish and blunt. ‘Exactly. The point of terroir is that no two areas are the same. […] I feel there is an overemphasis on the lighthouse, the tower, base camp—those discrete elements that could be said to jut out of the landscape—while the landscape itself is largely ignored. As is the idea that Area X could have formed nowhere else…’”

Terroir is a major component of the novel, as Control enjoys Whitby’s deductions the most of any other theory. Seeing Area X as a whole, rather than as separate pieces, leads him to a new way of tackling the problem and viewing Area X as one cohesive world, rather than getting too wrapped up in the pieces. Control becomes so immersed in Whitby’s idea that he keeps the scientist’s manuscript with him even through his search for Ghost Bird in the wilderness later.

“‘The Ghost Bird has a usual daily range of ten to twenty square miles, not a cramped space for pacing of, say, forty feet.’ He winced, nodded in recognition, changed the subject. ‘I thought maybe today we’d talk about your husband and also the director.’

‘We won’t talk about my husband. And you’re the director.’

‘Sorry. I meant the psychologist. I misspoke.’ Cursing and forgiving himself at the same time. She swiveled enough to give him a raised eyebrow.”

Ghost Bird’s information about a bird needing space shows she sees herself as a creature who is meant to be free and given much more space, an apt metaphor that makes Control feel guilty for confining her. The continued sparse lines of dialogue between Control and Ghost Bird pack strong emotional resonance in tight spaces since she is often terse with him, but their connection and familiarity are growing. Right after this, they bond over sharing their hobbies.

“The woman on the left of the screen then stopped shouting and stared into the camera. The woman on the right also stopped shouting, stared into the camera. An identical fear and pleading and confusion radiated from the masks of their faces toward him, from so far away, from so many years away. He could not distinguish between the two manifestations.”

This monumental reveal of two identical expedition leaders proves that Area X somehow creates copies of the people who enter it. The expeditioners cannot explain how it happens or why, and watching this footage disturbs Control, though he cannot deny its truth. This also shows the theme of transformation, since a clone transformed from receiving the leader’s DNA.

“‘I am not the biologist.’ That brought Control out of himself, forced him to consider what [Ghost Bird] meant. ‘You are not the biologist,’ he echoed. ‘You want the biologist. I’m not the biologist. Go talk to her, not me.’ Was this some kind of identity crisis or just metaphorical? Either way, he realized that this session had been a mistake. ‘We can try again in the afternoon,’ he said. ‘Try what?’ she snapped. ‘Do you think this is therapy? Who for?’”

This scene works on multiple levels. It highlights the theme of transformation and mutation within Ghost Bird, who swears she is not the biologist, while also creating conflict and discomfort for Control. The intense dialogue also highlights questions about Ghost Bird’s mental stability, plays to the role of trying to understand, and hints that Control cares for her based on his reactions not to push her.

“Over the past four days, he had realized there were many things he didn’t know.”

This declarative sentence speaks to the theme of the unknown again. It implies that all of Control’s experiences at the Southern Reach so far have humbled him, making him re-evaluate his ideals of trying to crack the code of Area X—and even reevaluate everything he had confidently thought he knew before he came there.

“Which implied a deeper significance to it all, even though Control knew that might be a false thought, and a dangerous one.”

Control’s raw thought is a microcosm for the entire book; they are trying to find a “deeper significance” to all of Area X, but what if there isn’t one? Questions and tension arise from these lines, including if Area X has a higher meaning or if it just exists. The theme of the unknown, as well as Control’s internal struggle to grasp Area X, is apparent too.

“Then: ‘Lowry. God’s honest truth, John. Lowry was the Voice.’ Not thirty years distant at all. But breathing in Control’s ear. ‘Son of a bitch.’ Banished and yet returned via the videos that would play forever in his head. Haunting him still. Lowry.”

Control’s mother, Jackie, offers the truth about the ambiguous Voice. Amid questions, theories, and very few objective facts, Jackie finally provides a source of reliable knowledge to Control. She drops Central’s secrecy to be honest with her son, showing she cares about him more than previously believed while building animosity between Control and Lowry.

“An attempt to regain…control.”

This fragmented sentence, like other lines, is an amusing play on Control’s name. After he argues with The Voice, Control needs to gain composure, but the author describes his struggle with a play on his name, a nod to Control’s characterization.

“‘Makes you see things that aren’t there. Makes the things you do see look like other things. A bird can be a bat. A bat can be a piece of floating plastic bag. Way of the world. To see things as other things. Bird-leafs. Bat-birds. Shadows made of lights. Sounds that are incidental but seem more significant. Never going to seem any different wherever you go.’ A bird can be a bat. A bat can be a piece of floating plastic bag. But could it?”

Cheney said the lines about bats and birds two times in the book, showing the search for truth, transformation, and the unknown. If a bat can be a bird, then where is the truth? Control must grapple with these profound ideas and overcome the theme of the unknown, showing his resilience and resistance to the subjective versus objective truth.

“And you are my weapon, John. You’re the one I chose to know everything.”

Jackie saying she chose him to know “everything” is laughable in the face of the ongoing theme of the unknown and Area X remaining largely a mystery. It is also ironic because Jackie has been so secretive, that readers wonder if she is revealing all her information. Control does not know everything, so her dialogue indicates this division between knowing and accepting the limits of comprehension. Like Control, readers do not know everything, or much at all, about Area X by the ending.

“He wondered what he would do if he couldn’t find her. Would he go back, or would he melt into this landscape, become part of what he found here, try to forget what had happened before and become no more or less than the spray against the bow, the foam against the shore, the wind against his face? There was a comfort to this idea almost as strong as the urge to find her, a comfort he had not known for a very long time, and many things receded into the distance behind him, seemed ridiculous or fantastical, or both. Were, at their core, unimportant.”

This description is key to the theme of transformation, as Control considers melting into the landscape just like the real biologist did in book one. His authentic ponderings foreshadow his decision to jump into Area X with Ghost Bird, as he could become part of the environment and leave behind the “unimportant” life he had before, a meaningful epiphany for him.