Pax

Pax is the story’s secondary protagonist: a fox with incredible loyalty to Peter who doesn’t see humans as the enemy. His very existence helps forge a peace between humans and animals. His role is especially significant, as the name Pax means peace.

Pax also undergoes a transformation in the novel that mirrors Peter’s. Initially, Pax is unable to fend for himself in the wild and relies on other foxes to feed and protect him. He gradually leaves his “tameness” behind and becomes the leader of his small pack, as he acquires food and offers protection. His understanding of human nature changes as well. First, he believes that humans are good, but he later realizes that Peter’s abandonment of him was “false-acting,” and most humans are only concerned for themselves.

The war has traumatized Vola. She feels deep regret for her actions during wartime and struggles to remember who she is. After the war, Vola went back to her grandparents’ old property to live in isolation as a wood-carver. Vola also makes a point of feeding and taking care of Peter, which puts her in the role of caretaker and temporary mother. More than that, she is Peter’s mentor who helps him heal, transform, and gain wisdom.

Vola’s character develops through Peter, as evidenced when she leaves behind her hermit-like existence to put on puppet shows in the library. While she acts as Peter’s mentor, she also learns a lot from Peter—a fact she implies when she asks Peter who is the master, the wood or the carver, and Peter replies that the wood can be the master as well as the craftsman.

Peter’s father is a 36-year-old man whose sense of duty entices him to go to war. In many ways, forcing Peter to leave Pax on the side of the road makes him the story’s antagonist. That said, we see another side of Peter’s dad at the beginning of the story, when Peter finds an old photograph of his father with a young beagle. His grandfather says Peter’s father and that beagle were inseparable. He of all people should understand Peter’s deep love and devotion to Pax, but in the end, he is responsible for their separation. This paradox implies a deep, conflict within him, as he ignores his core self and creates great sorrow for his son.

The novel never names Peter’s father, setting him up to play the role of an archetypical, one-dimensional character. At least in Peter’s eyes, his father comes to represent the negative aspects of humanity, but the scene at the end where the father hugs Peter implies that he is not so one-dimensional and may be redeemable. As he represents humanity, the author’s choice here may be that humanity is redeemable as well.

Bristle is the vixen with a tragic past. Bristle watched both her parents die at the hands of humans, and she has lost all ability to trust them. She only has one living relative, Runt. At the end of the story, the author implies that Pax will become her mate. Bristle is the genuinely wild entity in the story, and when Pax chooses to go with her instead of Peter, he is choosing wildness over tameness and nature over humanity.

Runt genuinely loves Pax. “Runt danced his excitement at seeing Pax, but Bristle curled a lip and hissed” (84). Runt and Bristle are foils in that Runt is outwardly expressive and trusting, while Bristle finds it harder to trust and open up. Runt isn’t cautious and believes himself invincible, which ultimately has tragic consequences. He functions as the sympathetic character in the novel, and it is likely his vulnerability that sways Pax to leave his tame life and protect Runt.