Endangered

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2012

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Parts 1-2

Part 3

Part 4

Parts 5-7

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

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Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

The Sanctuary

Florence’s bonobo sanctuary is one of the most prevalent symbols in the novel, for it symbolizes protection and security for both the bonobos and the humans who reside there. For the bonobos, the sanctuary is a place of peace and comfort where they can heal and recover from any harm that humans have caused. For example, Anastasia comes to the sanctuary when she becomes too large to live in a house. Otto comes to the sanctuary to recover from malnutrition and the many sores and scabs he acquired while in the hands of the animal trafficker. All the bonobos at the sanctuary are loved, respected, and given the best medical care possible. The apes are also allowed to grow into competent adults who can then be released back into the wild at Florence’s preserve on the Congo River. Once the rebels attack the sanctuary, the bonobo enclosure becomes another form of protection for the apes and for Sophie as well. She knows the rebels will not risk entering the enclosure while the electric fence is running and this buys her enough time to make a plan. She gets to know the adult bonobos and establishes a relationship with them during that time. This relationship benefits both Sophie and the apes, showing how the sanctuary protects the bonobos and allows them to bond with a human who will devote herself to their safety.

The sanctuary also provides protection and security for those who work there and live in the surrounding community. For Florence, the sanctuary is a lifelong mission to protect and support an endangered species. She feels so strongly about her work with the bonobos that she is willing to sacrifice time with her family to pursue her work. Likewise, when Florence gets the opportunity to release several adult bonobos into the wild, she chooses to go with the team instead of staying with Sophie at the sanctuary. The sanctuary staff also loves the bonobos they work with. When Sophie recovers some of the bonobos she left behind after the massacre, Mama Marie-France weeps when those bonobos return, showing how much she cares for these animals and their welfare. Furthermore, the sanctuary employs a range of people and is the strongest part of the Kinshasa economy. By the novel’s end, the sanctuary employs over 100 people and acts as a model for other Congolese to follow in escaping poverty and bettering their lives. Thus, the sanctuary protects both apes and humans and benefits the people running it and the surrounding community.

Survival

One motif present in the novel is survival. The most compelling example of survival is Sophie’s ability to survive numerous situations and dangers as she journeys to reunite with her mother. She uses what she knows about bonobos to survive the sanctuary’s bonobo enclosure, and she employs solid logic and uses her instincts to escape the rebels. She also demonstrates good sense in knowing what direction to go and who to trust, and her knowledge of her environment helps her to find food and water for herself and Otto. As Sophie moves from one perilous situation to another, she finds new ways to survive and learns to adapt and overcome the challenges that face her. Likewise, Sophie finds ways to keep Otto and the other bonobos safe as she navigates the jungle. She even acknowledges that fighting for Otto’s survival will ensure her own, giving her strength and determination to overcome incredible odds. Once Sophie reaches Florence and safety, her body finally releases all of the stress it has been holding onto, and she becomes sick. Sophie reflects, “It’s like I’d been staving it all off for survival’s sake, and now that things looked better, I allowed myself to be sick” (225). Sophie’s release at the novel’s end demonstrates how hard she has fought to survive and how much trauma her body endured before it was finally able to rest.

Otto’s survival is also a testament to Sophie’s determination and dedication. She saves him from harm numerous times, including when he is caught by hunters outside Mbandaka and transferred to Bouain in the city’s dangerous center. Throughout these ordeals, Sophie is always more concerned about Otto’s survival than her own, placing herself in harm’s way to ensure that Otto makes it safely through these dangerous situations. Because of Sophie’s work to help Otto survive, her perspective on survival in Congo changes. She knows that suffering—both human and animal—is a central part of her country’s culture, yet she realizes that “[w]hen a country was as primed for civil war as Congo was, when it came apart, the pieces weren’t as heavy” (141). This observation shows how Sophie’s fight for her own and Otto’s survival has helped her to better understand her nation, and she realizes that a country so used to suffering can survive more easily than a country that lacks such survival skills.

The Twin Bonobos

A final symbol in the novel is found in the recurring encounters with the twin bonobos that the animal trafficker brings to the sanctuary for Sophie to buy.

Eliot Schrefer bases these twins on a real bonobo that he read about during his research: an infant bonobo named Kinsuke who arrived at a sanctuary too weak to survive. When she died, Kinsuke held a rope to her cheek—the same rope that her captors tied around her. Schrefer pays homage to this image by describing one of the twin bonobos clutching the rope tied around her waist when Sophie finds her dead in the jungle.

The twin bonobos thus symbolize Sophie’s guilt, which drives many of her actions in the novel. When Sophie buys Otto from the trafficker and realizes her mistake in doing so, Sophie feels a strong sense of guilt because the trafficker then arrives with the twin bonobos, hoping the teen will buy them, as well. Sophie knows that she indirectly caused the deaths of the twins’ family, as the trafficker would have killed any adult apes near the twins. Sophie also feels intense guilt about her role, for by trying to save Otto from the animal trafficker, she inadvertently creates a demand for more infant bonobos, including the twins. When the trafficker becomes desperate and takes the twins to Hector, Hector seizes them and releases them into the wild, believing that he is doing them a favor. Because they were with the trafficker for so long, the twins do not know how to forage for themselves, and they die alone in the jungle with only their rope to comfort them. By conjuring this poignant image, the author intends to highlight both Sophie’s emotional burden, as well as the larger issue of animal trafficking. By the novel’s end, Sophie learns to forgive herself for the ignorance that fueled her mistake and moves forward despite the knowledge that she caused the bonobos’ deaths.