Greenwild

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes descriptions of xenophobia and animal death.

“The city’s frosty streets were teeming with glamorous green birds. It made Daisy feel as if anything was possible: as if all manner of unexpected and extraordinary things might be just around the corner.”

Daisy’s observation that the London birds herald adventure is an element of foreshadowing in the novel, as she soon finds herself in the midst of magic. Daisy’s sense of wonder at the natural world in the Grayside establishes the novel’s connection between magic in the Greenwild and in the real world.

“Ma was a political correspondent—but more and more these days her articles focused on the climate too, which meant that Daisy knew more than most eleven-year-olds about floods in India and bushfires in Australia.”

Daisy’s references to climate change serve as a real-world reminder about some of the highest stakes of environmental conservation efforts—creating an immediate focus on climate activism. Leila’s shift from being a political correspondent to someone who covers climate change also indicates the way the novel presents climate change and environmental efforts as a political issue.

“[Matron Daggler] disapproved of people being different, and anyone suspected of this crime was hauled into her office for a stern talking-to. Daisy, with her ‘foreign’ mother and ‘exotic’ eyes and home-schooled background, was more different than most.”

In this passage, Thomson’s depiction of Matron Daggler’s xenophobic mindset uses language that parallels specific racist aggressions. The narrative suggests that Matron Daggler feels emboldened and entitled to make racist and xenophobic comments to students, and her biases render her an early protagonist and foreshadow the later revelation of her association with the Grim Reapers, who chase money at the expense of the environment.