Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre

Survival stories are often stories of resilience. This is especially true in the case of Devolution, as Greenloop residents not only face the threat of isolation from the outside world, but also the looming threat of the Bigfoots that endanger their community. Through the character arcs of the novel’s protagonist (Kate), her husband (Dan), and their mentor (Mostar), Brooks shows how resilience can be transformative, allowing people to overcome challenges they thought were impossible to face.

At the start of the novel, Kate is overdependent on others. The journal format of her account is directly linked to the work she’s doing in therapy, as is apparent because her early journal entries frequently address her therapist. Dan is similarly passive, and extreme listlessness initially defines his behavior, as he’s unable to recover from the failure of his career. Kate refers to herself and Dan as “[t]wo betas” in Chapter 4, which puts them at odds with the novel’s lead antagonist, whom Kate names Alpha. Kate and Dan react passively to the events around them, looking to the Durants for an easy fix to their predicament after the Rainier eruption.