Purpose

Throughout the series, most of the characters struggle with finding a sense of purpose for their occupational, emotional, and spiritual being. Cynthia realizes that the Southern Reach facility is just a big cover up because the government has realized that it is no match for the overwhelming superiority of Area X. When she understands this, she wonders what her purpose is at all.

Saul questions his own purpose as well, and in the end, his answer is that mankind is to carry and share the brightness of understanding and awareness, much like a lighthouse does. In the end, Control, Ghost Bird, and Grace realize that their purpose is to exist, to not only survive, but merge with the natural world that has always been around them.

In stark contrast is the fact that none of the animals surrounding Southern Reach, or the transformed animals in Area...