The Vaster Wilds

Content Warning: This section of the guide references rape, extreme classism, and the death of children, which feature in the source text. This section of the guide also discusses developmental disabilities, which are described in the novel using outdated and offensive language, and the violent nature of colonialism and imperialism.

The girl is the protagonist of the story, and because her thoughts and decisions are the primary focus for the story’s plotline, all other characters are seen only through the lens of her experience. Before her escape from the fort, her early life is defined by a marked lack of agency. Having been “the pet of the liberal and artistic household” (24) in London, she does not even have a name at the moment her flight through the wilderness begins. Each name that she has been given has been a dehumanizing insult of one kind or another, for in her first years, being called Lamentations implies that her very existence is something to be regretted. Likewise, being rechristened with the same name as her mistress’s dead monkey is no improvement, for she is forced to fulfill the role of a diminutive “pet” for the balance of her tenure as a servant.