50 pages • 1-hour read
A Whale of the Wild
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Themes
Human Influence on Natural Habitats
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of pregnancy loss and animal cruelty and death.
In A Whale of the Wild, Rosanne Parry delivers an urgent message about the influence of human activity on natural habitats. Vega and her family are on the brink of starvation for much of the novel, and the author directly implicates overfishing in the characters’ suffering: “Sometimes net boats come and take from us. Some seasons our salmon run strong, and there is enough for everyone. Sometimes the salmon come late or only a few make it home. No one can say why” (32). At multiple points in the story, the whales remind one another not to succumb to greed, or else they risk making a “wasteland of the sea” (26). This warning is not meant only for the marine mammals but also for the novel’s human audience. Indeed, human activity threatens to make the Salish Sea a wasteland as pollution and overfishing lead to dropping salmon and orca populations. One of the most impactful moments for the theme of human influence on natural habitats is the loss of Vega’s little sister. The “poisons [that] leak out of human things and run off human places” flow into the sea (63), resulting in stillbirths and deaths like Capella’s. In addition, Parry condemns animal cruelty through the battle of Blood Cove. The attack results in the killings of several uncles and the capture of most of the pod’s younglings, who would have gone on to have offspring of their own, further slashing the orca’s population. Many of the struggles faced by Vega and her family are the direct result of human activity, urging readers to reckon with humans’ often destructive influence on natural habitats.
At the same time, Parry’s novel attests to humans’ capacity to foster positive change for the environment. The longboat riders are respectful and responsive toward nature in the story, reflecting Indigenous-led efforts to protect the Salish Sea and the region’s wildlife in the real world. This constructive connection between humanity and nature is essential to the climax and the hopeful resolution; Vega would have been unable to clear the river’s mouth and safeguard the salmon’s migration without the longboat riders’ assistance: “Several humans take hold of the lines and pull. Deneb and I go below and push” (165). The successful collaboration between the people and the whales illustrates that humans can exist harmoniously with the environment and that some damage to ecosystems can be repaired. Parry teaches her young readers that it’s both possible and imperative for humans to protect rather than exploit natural habitats.
The Importance of Familial Bonds
The unwavering bonds between Vega and her loved ones demonstrate the importance of family. This is a prevalent theme in middle-grade fiction, and Parry adds urgency to this familiar message through the whales’ precarious struggle for survival and the calamities that scatter the pod. The author also advances the theme by giving each of the two main characters a mentor figure who imparts significant lessons about family. Togetherness is one of the primary familial values Greatmother teaches her descendants: “Always remember, together is better than apart” (42). These words of wisdom are especially relevant to Vega, who goes off on her own twice before assuming responsibility for her little brother. While Greatmother mentors the future wayfinder, Uncle Rigel offers Deneb a role model as the brother of a leader. Through his words and actions, Rigel exemplifies steadfast love: “‘I am here. I am beside you.’ Steady as the tide” (52). Both Greatmother and Uncle Rigel are involved in the battle of Blood Cove, which advances the theme by offering an important example of the great sacrifices the orcas willingly make for their loved ones: “Uncle Rigel broke a hole in the net, and with the help of his brothers he took Aunt Nova to freedom. He went back for Mother. He was slashed with a boat hook, but he did not give up” (57). The values and family history that Greatmother and Uncle Rigel pass on to Vega and Deneb teach them the importance of familial bonds.
Vega and Deneb’s love for their family members serves as their primary motivation throughout the novel. Even when the protagonist chooses to leave her pod, this care is the driving force behind her decisions. The first time that she goes off alone, she does so because she’s crushed with guilt after leading her relatives into danger and thinks they would be safer without her. The second time, her grief and attachment to her departed sister drive her to find a peaceful resting place for Capella. At the start of the novel, much of Vega’s familial love is directed toward her little sister, but her shared struggles with Deneb bring the siblings close as the story continues: “I love him. Love him like I love the wide sea and the rising sun and my own skin and the sound of my mother’s voice” (149). Vega’s growing appreciation for her brother reinforces the theme by demonstrating the importance of not taking familial bonds for granted. Additionally, Deneb develops the theme through his trust in his sister and his efforts to lighten the burden on the young leader. The scene in which he protects Vega from a shark is a key instance of his love for her: “‘I saved you,’ Deneb says. ‘Like Uncle Rigel would’” (139). This shows how the orcas’ familial bonds motivate them to perform deeds of great courage and selflessness. The theme of family is essential to the novel’s hopeful resolution, in which Vega reaffirms her determination to find her kinship: “Wherever my family has gone, I know one thing for certain; they will never stop looking for me” (100). The characters’ love for one another remains unshakeable despite the dangers they face and strengthens them for the challenges that still lie ahead.
Survival in a Changing Environment
Through the experiences of one family of orca whales, Parry examines survival in a changing environment. This theme is central to the novel’s genre as a piece of survival fiction with an ecological message. The pronounced changes to the Salish Sea examined in the story are caused by a combination of natural and man-made disasters. Even before the tsunami, overfishing and pollution wreak havoc on the ecosystem’s delicate balance and contribute to the sharp decline in the local Chinook salmon population. The whales’ search for food is a major focus of the novel, and salmon serve as a motif of the theme because the orca depend on this specific fish to survive. Although Vega and Deneb attempt to adapt to their changed circumstances by consuming flat fish and even sharks, Parry makes it clear that these other food sources aren’t sufficient to save the whales from starvation: “The sea is full of fish, but none are big enough, meaty enough, rich enough. None are salmon” (8). Humans’ actions harm the Salish Sea, forcing the whales into a desperate struggle for survival.
One of the turning points for this theme and the main plot is the tsunami. The sea shake reshapes the land and sea until the orca’s home is nearly unrecognizable:
Old pillars have tumbled. Tangles of broken trees drift by. Giant kelp float over deep water, ripped from their holdfasts. Huge drifts of mud cover places that were rocky before. Sandy shorelines are scraped down to bare rock. Ravens and eagles and bears, the great eaters of dead things, are thick on the shore (156).
In addition to altering the setting, the sea shake raises the novel’s suspense by preventing Vega from reuniting with her family’s matriarch. Just as the tsunami transforms the whales’ environment, the disaster works a transformation within the protagonist; Vega is forced to hone her survival and leadership skills as she battles to keep herself and her loved ones alive.
To survive the dramatic changes in their environment, the novel’s main character must also change. Vega discovers new reserves of resilience within herself as she perseveres in her search for salmon and the rest of her relatives despite starvation and exhaustion. In another major example of the protagonist’s adaptation and flexibility, Vega guides Deneb to the ocean despite Greatmother’s warning that its waters are full of monsters because they have no other refuge: “Poison is spreading in our home waters and boats are going upside down and whole cliffsides and trees are falling in. We have to go!” (103). As Vega weathers these challenges, her self-doubt gives way to courage and self-belief: “I did not know I had the strength to keep going. But here we are. One right thing in an upside-down world” (160). In a world impacted by human activity and climate change, Vega’s growth models the strength and flexibility needed to survive in a changing environment.
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