61 pages • 2-hour read
So Far Gone
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Symbols & Motifs
Content Warning: This section of the guide features discussion of substance use, mental illness, and death.
Atlas of Wisdom
The Atlas of Wisdom is a prominent symbol for the impact Rhys hopes to make on the world. The Atlas is a book project that re-envisions all of Western philosophy through the lens of environmentalism and naturalism. Since Rhys is an environmentalist, the project essentially functions as a culmination of his worldview and moral code. The state of the project, however, exposes the emptiness of Rhys’s time in the woods.
Because it is so broad and ambitious, Rhys can never hope to finish working on the book, collecting thousands of pages of notes that summarize his thoughts instead. The all-encompassing scope of this project links Rhys’s character to that of Edward Casaubon in George Eliot’s 19th-century novel Middlemarch: Casaubon is perpetually at work on a Key to All Mythologies—another project so self-defeatingly ambitious that it can never be completed. In So Far Gone, the futility of Rhys’s project symbolizes the futility of his efforts to resist the system of global capitalism, suggesting that he can be a more effective force for good by focusing on those close to him.
When Asher and Leah arrive at his house, they reveal that Rhys’s first book was discarded from their family home because it wasn’t included in their church’s list of recommended reading. This underscores the futility of Rhys’s project, which, even if he finishes it, can be easily set aside and forgotten. It also suggests that Rhys used his project to justify his self-exile, making himself feel as though he has a greater purpose for escaping his family than feeling ashamed of himself. When he reconciles with Bethany in Chapter 5, he declares that it was pointless for him to spend so much time committing philosophers’ words to heart since he never used their ideas to live for others. By the time Shane is killed in Chapter 7, Rhys turns his back on the project entirely, committing himself instead to direct action on behalf of the people he loves.
Intentional Communities
Intentional communities—small communities built on shared values as an alternative to the unspoken values of the societal mainstream—are a prominent motif in the novel, representing The Perils of Escapism as a theme. The novel focuses on three such communities: the Kinnick property, the Rampart, and the Paititi Music Festival. Each of these venues offers its residents the opportunity to escape from the troubles that plague them in everyday society. The Kinnick property does not at first appear to be an intentional community in the usual sense, but it embodies Walter’s critique of the escapism inherent to these communities. In effect, the property becomes an imaginative community shared between Rhys and the dead philosophers whose books line his shelves. For a time, Rhys can live in this imagined community and escape a world that he feels no longer has a place for him. Similarly, the Rampart allows the Church of the Blessed Fire to escape what they see as the godlessness of the secular world, and the Paititi festival allows its attendees a temporary community in which they can use substances to deepen their escape from the world.
What each of these settlements reveals is that despite their best attempts to separate their residents from their problems, the problems of the world continue to fester. Rhys becomes disillusioned with the security his property gives him when he learns that Bethany’s family situation has reached a crisis point. The radical militarism of the Army of the Lord reveals that the biggest threat to the church’s existence lives within the Rampart. At Paititi, Bethany refuses to take drugs when she starts experiencing panic attacks, realizing how substance use is tied to her self-judgment. These limitations drive the idea that no one can ever truly escape their problems by moving away from them.
“X̣est sx̣l̓x̣al̓t”
The Salish phrase “X̣est sx̣l̓x̣al̓t” is a motif for Reckoning with a Broken World through Community. It first appears at the end of Chapter 3 when Brian says it to affirm Rhys for their friendship. Literally, the phrase means “Good day,” but because Brian is still a beginner Salish speaker, he deploys it in a variety of contexts, allowing it to function as shorthand to close out conversations. Rhys has heard Brian use the phrase in the place of other sayings like “See you later” and “It’s a good day to die” (140).
The malleability of the phrase gives it its symbolic meaning. Throughout the novel, Rhys learns that it is pointless to run away from one’s problems. What matters is the intention to live for others, even if one cannot solve every problem. The Salish phrase recurs at the end of Chapter 8 when Rhys and his family have survived the ordeal with Dean. Rhys realizes how close they were to death and weeps to Brian, who can only offer “X̣est sx̣l̓x̣al̓t” as consolation. As a response to the situation, the phrase means that it was a good day because the Kinnicks survived death. It also means that it was a good day because Rhys and his family chose to be their best selves, living for one another instead of running away from their ordeal. The phrase thus affirms Rhys for growing past the fear and shame that stem from the weakness of his character.
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