Connection with Land

Throughout the novel, the author uses Silvie's deep connection with her surroundings as a means of exploring the human capability for empathy. The setting in which the narrative takes place offers the reader an immediate entry into Silvie's sensitivies towards all living beings. While in the woods, Silvie's attention frequently rests outside of her herself, her thoughts and meditations settling on the ground beneath her feet, the lives of the trees surrounding her, the roots she digs, the animals the group eventually kills for food. Rather than simply acknowledging these creatures' existence, Silvie seems to enter and embody their points of view, imagining their interiors, their impossible histories, and the disturbance she and the group might be causing them. Because the experimental archeological project is meant as a reenactment, Silvie's ability to attune herself to the voices of the land seems fitting. Yet her...