Boulder

Boulder is the main character and first person narrator of the novel. Her true given name is never mentioned on the page. However, almost immediately after meeting and having sex with Samsa for the first time in Chapter 1, Boulder says that Samsa “doesn’t like my name, and gives me a new one” (19). Because she reminds Samsa of “those large, solitary rocks in southern Patagonia,” she begins calling her Boulder (19). This nickname captures otherwise implicit aspects of Boulder’s character. Although she is desperate for freedom and independence throughout the novel, like the rocks, Boulder is often moored in one place, unable to make concerted changes in order to exact the life that she wants.

After Boulder is fired from her restaurant job in the undisclosed city where she lives, she gives up her life in this location. She leaves the city and takes “a three-month contract on...