Wildfire

“I want to cry like a baby, I really do, but the heat of the fire has dried the tears right out of me.”

Sam’s fear and despair are intense, but his situation leaves no time for tears. He knows that he must keep going or risk being burned to death by the fire. Still, Sam carries a great deal of emotion because of his father’s death and his mother’s health. As a character, Sam is forced to be much stronger than the average 12-year-old child at summer camp. Though he holds his tears back out of a desire to keep going, he is an emotionally burdened character who has faced more than his share of personal hardship.

“Stick to the plan. Be on the lookout for a brook or a stream. Which normally wouldn’t be hard to find, but this is the year of the drought. No rain for months. Heat-wave hot for weeks. All but the biggest rivers have shriveled to nothing.”

Sam’s father taught him Survival and Resilience Through Crisis, but the drought that has been affecting the area for weeks makes it harder for him to implement a solid plan. However, it is Sam’s knowledge of survival that makes him aware of the lack of water to begin with, which makes his need to locate water even more urgent. Nature’s Simultaneous Power and Fragility are apparent and make Sam’s survival all the more difficult: The heat demonstrates nature’s brutal power, but the lack of water also presents an imbalance that affects the terrain itself, not just those who navigate it.

“Money intended for my college fund, and to save for a bigger house, so I’m at least partly to blame for why he took the job in the first place.”

Sam feels some guilt and responsibility for his father’s death in Afghanistan, believing that his dad never would have taken the job if not for his desire to provide a better future for Sam. That guilt stays with him throughout the book, as he carries his father close to him and believes he would have been disappointed to find him lost in the first place. As this quote demonstrates, Sam’s father is never far from his mind, but the fire itself forces Sam to meditate on his father in a way that is perhaps more active and even healing than it had previously been: Sam’s guilt transforms throughout the book as he persists against the odds, ultimately surviving through a life-threatening series of events.

“A safe place to sleep seems like a treasure I couldn’t imagine when the flames were chasing me from tree to tree.”

The logging cabin offers Sam a reprieve from the terror of running from the fire. This reprieve allows him to plan ahead and make a more solid plan for what to do next. Additionally, this first sentence uses alliteration through the repeated “s” sounds to create a rhythm that is almost like a lullaby, thus signaling the comfort of safety. Describing a place to sleep as being “like a treasure” also utilizes simile and demonstrates the great value Sam places on shelter. Safety is something that Sam has not felt for a long time in that he is worried about his mother and longing for his late father; a safe place to sleep is needed both physically and emotionally.

“Maybe you think all drug addicts are losers. Not my mother. A loser would give up when her husband dies in some stupid road accident on the other side of the world.”

Sam does not see his mother as weak because of her addiction. He sees her strength and resilience and admires her for not completely giving up when his dad died. Sam knows how challenging it has been to move forward without his father, and he does not blame his mother for her addiction. He knows the weight of this loss and has found it difficult to survive too, even before the fire came. Moreover, Sam’s defense of his mother demonstrates the love and pride he feels for her. Sam is a mature and conscientious person who prizes his loved ones, especially his mother and father.

“Opioids. I hate that word. Sounds like some horrible kind of mind spider that takes over your brain.”

Sam’s mom’s addiction to prescription drugs distresses Sam greatly, and he worries a lot about her. The comparison to a mind spider shows that Sam knows that the prescription drugs and subsequent substance abuse have a hold over his mom that she has to fight to overcome. This perspective is powerful given Sam’s young age, as it demonstrates his awareness and intelligence. Additionally, acknowledging the fact that addiction “takes over your brain” shows that Sam knows that his mother is something separate from her addiction, as she has a substance abuse disorder. However, Sam’s “hate” of the word opioids demonstrates his frustration, and he wrestles with his mother’s addiction, as it has brought significant change to his life following the loss of his father.

“I mean, they’ll be searching for me, right? Sending out helicopters and planes and search parties, whatever they do when a kid goes missing in the woods. Unless they think I burned up in the fire.”

Cut off from the world, Sam has no idea what is happening or if anyone is looking for him in the confusion of the fire. He wants to believe that people will be looking for him, but he knows that he will most likely have to rely on his own sense of Survival and Resilience Through Crisis. Through this thought process, Sam’s rationality is evident. He is someone who is able to anticipate the possible course of events for others but still move forward, as Sam knows that only he can save himself.

“Last is a young deer with a rack of mossy antlers. He enters the clearing in one mighty leap, freezing for a split second, as if posing for an amazing nature picture, and then vanishes into a stand of pines on the opposite side of the camp.

The message couldn’t be clearer. Run. If you want to live, run.”

Throughout Sam’s adventure, many things in nature seem to give him important messages. When he sees animals fleeing the fire, he feels like they are warning him of what is coming and what he must do to survive. In the case of the young deer, perhaps Sam sees it as a reflection of himself, as it is also young and alone.

“Every now and then we hit a root or rock that makes the steering wheel shudder, and the Jeep groans, like it feels pain.”

The Jeep is one of the many objects that Sam personifies on his journey. To him, the Jeep is more of a sentient creature than a car. Sam is perhaps able to process many of his own feelings by personifying the car; it is challenging to hold space for a full range of emotions in a crisis situation. By ascribing some of that pain to the Jeep, Sam processes his feelings without becoming overloaded with fear.

“No second chances once the flames catch up. I can’t imagine a worse way to die, but I can’t help thinking about it, even though I’m pretty sure we’re way ahead of the fire. Anyhow, if Delphy wants to shed a few tears, I’m not going to say a word about it, no way.”

Sam knows what a bad situation he and Delphy are in and does not shy away from thinking about what will happen to them if the fire catches up. Despite the fact that they are currently far ahead of the fire, Sam understands what Delphy is so afraid of, demonstrating The Essentiality of Friendship and Connection. Sam allows Delphy to cry without judgment or comment, which is a core part of true friendship.

“We sit there in the dark for a while, not saying anything. At first it feels awkward, and then I kind of relax into the silence. People don’t have to talk every second. They can just be quiet together.”

Sam and Delphy’s friendship and connection are vital to their survival. As they get more comfortable with each other, they become a better team and are better able to understand one another. They find a comfort in the naturalness of silence, and they do not feel the need to fill every moment with chatter, which is perhaps the result of the crisis situation that they find themselves in. In such a situation, any awkwardness is soon shed for the sake of survival and focus.

“I never thought of a fire as being alive, but it sure looks like it’s living and breathing, except it’s breathing flames instead of air.”

Phat Freddy Bell personifies the fire in this passage, imagining it as a huge living creature bent on destruction. Nature’s Simultaneous Power and Fragility are evident in the destructive force of this forest fire that seems to be alive. Despite its power, the fire is simultaneously destroying the forest, which is in a fragile state as a result of high temperatures that relate to shifting climates. Nature absorbs damage just as it creates damage.

“Whatever, I need to let Mom know I’m alive. Because I can’t imagine what she’ll do if she thinks both me and Dad are gone forever. Go back on the pills, or worse. And worse I can’t bear thinking about, even though I do think about it all the time, of course I do.”

Sam worries greatly about what will happen to his mom if he does not make it out of the fire alive. The thought of getting back to her is one of the major driving forces that keeps him going as he tries to outrun the forest fire. Sam has already lost one parent to tragedy, and he fears the loss of his mother in the event that she comes to believe that he is harmed or dead. Sam is aware of his mother’s substance abuse disorder, and because he loves his mother deeply, he prioritizes contacting her. It could be said that Sam even inadvertently values his mother’s well-being over his own, as he misses the evacuation from camp because he goes searching for his phone. However, his main focus is to survive and return safely home.

“A terrible thing happened, and no matter how much you ache to have him back, it can’t be changed. That first year was the worst, with some days worse than others, like his birthday and every holiday and Sunday nights and especially Christmas. Me and Mom went to grief counseling, and that helped a little, but it never goes away.”

Sam reflects that grief never really goes away, and it is something that he has had to learn to live with. He demonstrates an emotional resilience that allows him to carry on in the face of something terrible. Sam also demonstrates a deep maturity that is likely the result of all he has faced as a young person. He understands the unfair nature of loss, and though he misses his father very much, he accepts the reality of his death. Still, Sam struggles to speak with others about his father’s death for much of the book, and his father’s presence in his mind shows the lasting effect of grief.

“Because I know for a fact there’s no counselor named Jason Dean at Camp Wabanaski. Whatever rotten person pranked Delphy, he was too cowardly to use his own name.”

Although Sam has not known Delphy for very long, he cares about her and does not want her to get hurt. He chooses not to tell her the truth about the person or people who got her lost in the woods in the first place, believing that doing so would only make a bad situation worse. Further, Sam recognizes that whoever tricked Delphy is a “rotten person.” Sam has high ethical standards, and he also shows his restraint in withholding what he knows in order to protect Delphy.

“Okay, I’m aware it’s only a hunk of steel, and it doesn’t have a mind of its own, and it can’t be ‘waiting patiently.’ But I feel like we’re connected somehow, me and that machine. From the very first, when we sped away from the flames at the logging camp and I barely knew how to steer, it’s like the machine was taking care of me. Like it had been waiting for a chance to save my life.”

Sam knows that it is really his own aptitude for Survival and Resilience Through Crisis that have allowed him to drive the Jeep, but he still feels connected to the machine as though it is a person. It has guided him through the fire just like his father might have done. Additionally, his personification of the Jeep allows him to work through the heavy emotions that come with a crisis situation. The Jeep, both as symbol and machine, is essential to Sam’s morale.

“She’s sick and in pain and her whole body aches for the medicine. She says the medicine is like a giant magnet and she’s an iron filing. And she says most addicts don’t make it the first time they quit.”

Sam extends compassion and understanding to his mother as he considers her opioid addiction. He knows that she loves him and that she wants to recover, but he readily acknowledges that the process is not easy, demonstrating his maturity. Sam is also aware that not everyone who experiences addiction is able to survive it, thus deepening his desire to get home safely to his mother. He already feels guilt over his father’s death, and he does not want any harm to come to his mother either.

“It’s so hard not to worry about things you can’t possibly control.”

Sam and Delphy’s essential friendship and connection are forged out of the urgent need to survive. The two help each other get through these difficult days by focusing on what they can change and control in the present moment rather than worrying about factors outside of their control. Still, balancing these worries is an ongoing struggle, as it is challenging to avoid outside worry altogether.

“Not sure, but I think it means they hate out-of-staters. People from away. People with money who come here and buy up the best land and build expensive places like this.”

The bikers have a political agenda for their arson. They are willing to destroy Maine’s forests in a major way in the hopes that people from other places will not buy property there, even though they inflict extreme levels of damage on the land itself. This quote demonstrates a level of comprehension with regard to the bikers’ motivations, however unjust.

“The trees look like they’ll be there forever, reaching to the sky. But soon the fire will change everything, reducing the landscape to ash. Do they know it, these mighty trees? Do they have any sense of what’s coming?”

This book is about the real, measurable impacts of climate change. Although forests might seem powerful and permanent, they can be destroyed by fire in a matter of seconds. This quote personifies the trees, positioning them as possibly sentient beings that may be aware of their impending doom.

“Me and Delphy, we’ve been running on hope, but now that tank is empty, and it’s like the black clouds of the fire have entered our brains. We sit in the field of skinny birches and old stumps without speaking for a long time. Trying not to think, because there’s nothing good to think about.”

For a while, Sam and Delphy feel completely hopeless as they have run out of road, and the fire is fast approaching. It takes energy and effort to maintain the hope needed for Survival and Resilience Through Crisis, and that energy can run out under bad circumstances. Though they build each other back up through friendship and connection, this vulnerable moment demonstrates the lows that accompany a survival situation.

“Maybe you think it’s brave, what we did. But courage had nothing to do with it. We were terrified and we kept going because we had no choice.”

Sam does not feel brave, though anyone hearing about his experiences would likely think he was very courageous. He understands that sometimes, Survival and Resilience Through Crisis goes beyond conscious choice because of necessity. Sam is propelled forward by the sense of survival that he learned from his father, as well as the love that he feels for his mother. These driving forces may operate as subconscious feelings for Sam.

“I wasn’t ready for heaven. None of us were. We wanted to live, and it was the Jeep that helped us, never hesitating as that seventy-year-old engine hit RPMs that under normal circumstances would make it seize up.”

Sam, Delphy, and Phat Freddy Bell escape the fire at the last possible second. Their intense determination finally pays off through the power of good luck, a great deal of effort and resilience, and The Essentiality of Friendship and Connection.