55 pages • 1 hour read
Peter BrownThe Wild Robot Escapes
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2018A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Flying
The concept of flight has been important to Roz ever since she became a mother to a bird. Though she could not teach Brightbill to fly, with the help of other geese coupled with Brightbill’s instincts, the young goose learned how to take to the skies, and soon he left on his first migration. As Roz is trapped at Hilltop Farm, she becomes keenly aware of the birds on the farm, and watching them take flight reminds her of Brightbill and how much she misses her son. The robot covets the freedom to travel at will just by spreading its wings and catching the wind: “Roz went back to admiring the hawk. Her eyes followed the bird as he soared through the sky, free to go wherever he pleased” (46).
Flight brings Brightbill back to Roz and allows her to plan her escape. However, once on the run, another type of flying entity haunts Roz’s journey as she lives in constant fear of the ominous white airships that patrol the skies searching for her. Birds symbolize freedom, but the airships represent the Makers’ need to control Roz and the potential loss of her autonomy. In a twist of fate, Dr. Molovo uses her airship to fly Roz and Brightbill home to the island, granting them their freedom forever: “For so long, those white ships had filled the robot with dread. Now one was about to solve all her problems” (259).
When Roz needs to escape, she can jump, leap, and bound across fields or stacks of buildings. She may not be able to float, flutter, and hover like a bird, but her propulsive limbs do allow her to leave the ground long enough to elude danger. When Roz needs help, birds come to her rescue, serving as her closest friends and allies on her quest to return to the island. Flocks of geese spread Roz’s story throughout the countryside and alert Brightbill to his mother’s location. Their communication network reaches animals both on the ground and in the air, and everywhere Roz travels, she finds creatures who know her story and are willing to help. When she reaches the city, legions of pigeons pledge their fealty to her and aid in reuniting her with Brightbill. The pigeons courageously come to Roz’s defense against the airships, some even giving their lives in the fight.
Flying is also a metaphor for home in the novel. Migrating birds instinctively fly to warmer climates during the cold season and fly home again when it is over. Their innate sense of direction helps them find the way home. Brightbill’s ability to find his way home leads Roz back to the island, even though she cannot fly herself.
Camouflage
In the novel, camouflage represents the duality of Roz’s identity. While living on the island, Roz quickly learns that her shiny robot body stands out from the natural hues and textures of the island, and through her animal friends, she learns to blend in with the natural environment by covering her body with mud, grass, and twigs. At Hilltop Farm, Roz uses the camouflage skills she learned on the island to protect the farm without using violence. Covering herself in the grass and hiding in the natural landscape, Roz ambushes the wolves, deterring them from returning to the farm.
When Roz decides to escape the farm, she employs her camouflage skills once again to stealthily move across the land without being spotted by humans or the RECO airship. Disguising her appearance on the island helped her integrate into the ecology of the wilderness, but on her journey, she uses the skill to preserve her safety and maintain her freedom. Ironically, when Roz reaches the city, the place where she was designed to live, she feels out of place, and her camouflage is no longer a practical strategy for blending in. She chooses to hide in plain sight, hoping that by walking in step with other robots she can move through the city unnoticed.
Her arrival in the city brings Roz to a pivotal point in her development. Brown creates tension between the unfettered freedom of living in the wild and the need to adhere to social constraints. For example, while walking through the city, Roz must ignore the impulse to ponder the beauty of art, the gardens, and the architecture of the skyline lest she reveal her autonomy. Once Roz is on the run from the RECOs she can no longer hide, and when she files in behind a robot work crew, they recognize her as an imposter: “the crew immediately halted and turned to face her” (223). Roz’s efforts to blend in bring her to a point of exhaustion, and she surrenders to the RECOs and to what she thinks will be her doom.
The new body Dr. Molovo gives Roz after melting her old one is the final form of camouflage Roz takes before returning to the island. The new body disguises her identity as the rogue robot that the humans feared, and her lack of a power button ensures that she will never have to blend in with other robots again. Once back on her island, Roz uses camouflage once again to prevent the animals from fearing her new body, but Roz does not mind because this type of concealment as it is natural to her, and on the island “she was free to be her true self again” (270).
Roz’s Power Button
ROZZUM 7134 is a fully autonomous robot, powered by the sun with limitless access to information and possessing powerful abilities to complete arduous physical labor as well as solve complex intellectual problems. However, the robot is powerless until someone, or something, activates her power button. Located on the back of her head, Roz cannot reach the button herself, leaving her at the mercy of other living beings to live. When her crate lands on the island, a band of curious otters accidentally clicks her button and brings her to life. After the showdown with the RECOs, Roz is deactivated, and Mr. Shareef is the first person to reanimate her after her refurbishment. The Shareefs must use the button to revive her after she is tossed about by the tornado, and when Jad and Jaya remove her Transmitter, they click the power button repeatedly to assure they have reconstructed Roz properly.
Roz’s button symbolizes her vulnerability and the ease with which she can “live” or “die,” but it also represents the stark reality of Roz’s non-humanity. Though the line between life and death is still just as tenuous for humans or animals, once their life is snuffed out, there is no button to bring them back from the dead. The author does not shy away from broaching the subject of mortality by including the account of Mrs. Shareef’s death and Roz’s discovery that some of her animal friends died while she was away from the island. When Roz is recaptured by the RECOs, Dr. Molovo clicks the button for what seems like the last time, and the ROZZUM unit is destroyed. However, Roz is reborn into a new and improved body absent a unit number and power button symbolizing Roz’s autonomy and one-of-a-kind exceptionalism.
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By Peter Brown
