The Antidote

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains references to death, child abuse, and racism.

The eponymous protagonist, the Antidote, whose real name is Antonina “Toni” Rossi, is a prairie witch. Though the people of Uz consider her an outsider because of her abilities, this does not prevent them from utilizing her services. Indeed, the people of Uz come to depend on the certainty that they can rid themselves of unpleasant memories with a simple visit to the Antidote. In this role, she symbolizes the habit among white settlers in the American West of forgetting the violence they committed against Indigenous people. Throughout the early parts of the novel, she is guarded and closed off as a narrator, unwilling to reveal much emotion to the reader. Gradually, it becomes apparent that she is marked by the trauma she experienced at an early age, first from the death of her grandmother and then from the abuse meted out at the Milford Home for Unwed Mothers. Antonina’s adult life is defined by her grief over the loss of her newborn son, taken by the Milford Home, and her sole purpose is to be reunited with him.

The Antidote’s resistance to revealing her true, given name indicates a guardedness and a hesitation to open up to or trust others.