A Psalm for the Wild-Built

“‘I’m going to change my vocation,’ Sibling Dex said. ‘I’m going to the villages to do tea service.’ ‘Okay,’ Sister Mara said, for her duties as Keeper were simply to oversee, not to dictate.”

Choice is a recurring motif. Throughout the novel, characters maintain their freedom and autonomy. Panga is depicted as a utopian space for many reasons, including the fact that societal structures and religions support individuals toward their desired paths, such as when Sister Mara gently accepts Dex’s choice.

“It was, as commissioned, an ox-bike wagon: double decked, chunky-wheeled, ready for adventure. An object of both practicality and inviting aesthetics.”

Dex’s tea wagon is a symbol which functions on a number of levels. The portability of Dex’s new home alludes to the novel’s emphasis on Freedom and Adventure. The practicality of the wagon and its many thoughtful additions, such as its solar panels, wind turbine, and water filtration system, are geared toward sustainability. This alludes to The Importance of Ecological Sustainability, which underpins all of Panga’s architectural elements.

“‘My cat died last night,’ she said, right before bursting into tears. Dex realized with a stomach-souring thud that they were standing on the wrong side of the vast gulf between having read about doing a thing and doing the thing.”

Dex feels overwhelmed and intimidated when they begin their work as a tea monk. They’re not accustomed to the level of emotional intimacy which the job necessitates. Their early struggles illustrate the difference between knowing how to do something in theory and doing it in practice. Their initial fumbling also highlights their mastery of the job two years later.

“The infrastructural delineation between human space and everything else space was stark. Road and signage were the only synthetic alterations to the landscape there, and the villages they led to were as neatly corralled as the City itself.”

The desire of Pangan citizens to minimize their impact on natural spaces is evident in the careful corralling of urbanized spaces from wild spaces. Urban sprawl, which would destroy natural wildlife, is avoided through borders which are strictly adhered to. The Importance of Ecological Sustainability is signaled by this infrastructure.

“A forest floor, the Woodland villagers knew, is a living thing.”

Chambers again signifies The Importance of Ecological Sustainability as a key theme in the text. The Woodland villagers live in aerial homes in the trees in order to avoid disrupting and damaging nature. The forest floor is not just a floor; it is a complex biosphere, something “living.”

“The wood was all gathered from unsuitable structures no longer in use, or harvested from trees that had needed nothing more than mud and gravity to bring them down.”

Inkthorn’s preoccupation with ecological sustainability is further illustrated by the materials which they use to build their homes and structures; Inkthorn’s inhabitants recycle wood from other structures or utilize wood from trees which are dead. This minimizes the environmental impact of the settlement on the forest, as no living trees are destroyed.

“Her shoulders visibly slumped. She’d always had the ability to relax them; she’d just needed permission to do so.”

Ms. Jules is able to relax after talking to Dex and drinking a calming tea, as is illustrated by her body language. This illustrates the importance of Dex’s role as a tea monk and how they empower people to unburden themselves and rest.

“They believed in that work; they truly did. They believed the things they said, the sacred words they quoted. They believed they were doing good. Why wasn’t it enough?”

Dex feels an untraceable and inexplicable feeling of restlessness and existential angst. They feel that their purposeful and important work should be enough, and yet something feels lacking. This motivates their decision to journey into the wild; the odyssey to the hermitage provides Dex with a new and exciting purpose and a sense of much-needed challenge. The above quote repeats the refrain “They believed” to create emphasis and rhythm.

“I was sent here to answer the following question—what do humans need?”

Mosscap explains its mission to Dex: It has been sent to ascertain the wellbeing of the human race via the question “what do humans need?” Through Dex, Mosscap learns that humans crave Freedom and Adventure, as well as a sense of purpose. Through Mosscap, Dex learns that it is okay to simply be and to exist.

“A huge bramble bear stepped out of the shadows and into the firelight, sniffing the ground with its fat, wet nose. It looked up, straight at Dex.”

The “huge” size of the bear serves as a key plot device, as it forces Dex to reconsider Mosscap’s offer of accompanying them to the hermitage. Dex was originally reluctant, wanting to undertake the journey alone, but the huge bear reminds Dex of the substantial dangers in the wild.

“I am made of metal and numbers; you are made of water and genes. But we are each something more than that. And we can’t define what that something more is by our raw components.”

Dex is surprised by Mosscap’s fluid and creative thoughts, having expected the robot to be more computational and logical in its manner and way of thinking. Mosscap challenges Dex’s preconceptions by pointing out that conscious individuals are more than the sum of their parts. More broadly, Chambers subverts expectations by avoiding character tropes. Instead of creating a celibate monk, her monk is nonbinary and sexually active. In a similar vein, she creates a robot who isn’t robotic, but who hates math and loves wild spaces.

“They hunched a bit, lowered their gaze. ‘It’s not a very productive way to be.’ ‘I can think of a bunch of monks who’d disagree with you on that,’ Dex said. ‘You study Bosh’s domain, it sounds like. In a very big, top-down kind of way. You’re a generalist. That’s a focus.’ Mosscap’s eyes widened. ‘Thanks you, Sibling Dex,’ it said after a moment. ‘I hadn’t thought of it that way.’”

Dex and Mosscap exchange ideas about life, purpose, and the practices of robots and humans. Their exchanges are mutually beneficial, and a mutual respect and friendship starts to develop between the two. This is illustrated by Dex’s respectful reinterpretation of Mosscap’s focus. They allow each other to view their own lives through novel and helpful lenses.

“‘You’re—you’re not supposed to do my work for me. It doesn’t feel right.’ ‘But why?’ The robot blinked. ‘Oh. Because of the factories?’ Dex looked awkwardly at the ground, ashamed of a past they’d never seen.”

Dex struggles with the ethics of allowing Mosscap to help by refilling their water tank. Dex’s awkward manner denotes their shame about humans’ historical subjugation of robots in industrialized factories of the past. Dex and Mosscap must navigate each of their feelings about this history.

“If you don’t want to infringe upon my agency, let me have agency. I want to carry the tank.”

Chambers explores choice and autonomy. Dex’s well-intentioned refusal of Mosscap’s help negates Mosscap’s ability to make its own decision to help its friend. Dex accepts this and relents. This also alludes to the growing friendship between the two characters.

“I can’t walk off the trail.”

Dex’s reluctance to walk off the trail illustrates Panga’s carefully formulated and deeply enshrined laws about reducing environmental damage. This alludes to the historical event of the Transition, where ecological sustainability became a core value. “I” is emphasized, alluding to Dex’s belief that Mosscap is entitled to walk through the wild, even though they are not.

“Hulking towers of boxes, bolts, and tubes. Brutal. Utilitarian. Visually at odds with the thriving flora now laying claim to the rusted corpse.”

Factory-age, or pre-Transition, Panga, is rendered as harsh, unpleasant, and in direct contrast with natural elements. It is compared with post-Transition Panga, which is warm, thoughtful, and exists to compliment and protect natural spaces. Through this juxtaposition, Chambers emphasizes the importance of moving toward sustainable living practices, and away from mass industrialization. Chambers uses one-word sentences to emphasize the toxic nature of the pre-Transition world: “Brutal. Utilitarian.”

“The paradox is that the ecosystem as a whole needs its participants to act with restraint in order to avoid collapse, but that the participants themselves have no unbuilt mechanism to encourage such behavior.”

Mosscap and Dex discuss Winn’s Paradox, which offers an explanation for why it is so hard for ecosystems to remain in check when one species, like humans, have more power. Dex explains that humans learned restraint on Panga during the Transition. Once again, Chambers offers a critique of Earth. Specifically, she critiques our lack of restraint, which has led to mass destruction of natural spaces and extinction of many plants and animals.

“Human constructs are carved out and over-laid, that these are the places that are the in-between, not the other way around.”

When Dex enters the vast wilderness, they are forced to confront their cognitive bias: They conceive of human-constructed and manicured spaces as the norm, and wild spaces as other. It occurs to them that wilderness is the natural and proper state of things, and that human settlements are blips interrupting this norm, rather than the other way around.

“They wanted to climb the fucking mountain, because they had decided they would, and then, when they got to the hermitage, then…then…Dex gritted their teeth and hauled themself over a boulder, ignoring the gaping hole at the end of that statement.”

Dex hopes that the answer to their feelings of emptiness and dissatisfaction in life will be answered by reaching the hermitage. However, some part of them doubts that this will be the panacea to solve all of their problems, as illustrated by their reluctance to confront what they will do after reaching the hermitage.

“Dex began to understand why the concept of inside had been invented in the first place.”

Dex’s struggles through the dense forest and up the rocky mountain through the rain help them to feel sympathy and appreciation, rather than just shame and condemnation, for their ancestors, who sought to tame wild spaces for their own comfort, thereby destroyed them. Through these reflections, Dex continues to find empathy, making peace with their ancestors’ past mistakes.

“They staggered to the cave entrance, and the sight beyond rendered them silent. They didn’t know where they were, but the world outside was magnificent.”

Dex feels awestruck by the scenery. Dex yearned for Freedom and Adventure, to see unpeopled spaces. The Antler Ranges are the epitome of this in their magnificent, imposing beauty. This foreshadows Mosscap’s advice that it is enough for one to simply wonder at the world.

“If you want to do things that are meaningful to others, fine! Good! So do I! But if I wanted to crawl into a cave and watch stalagmites with Frostfrog for the remainder of my days, that would also be both fine and good.”

Through Mosscap and Dex’s discussions at the hermitage, Chambers explores The Search for Meaning. Mosscap articulates that humans and robots don’t need to prove, achieve, or do anything in particular. Instead, they are inherently worthy and can choose to spend their time in whichever way appeals most. This helps Dex to come to terms with their feelings of existential anxiety and restlessness.

“‘I think we should stop in Stump first,’ Dex said. ‘They’ve got a nice bathhouse, and I could really, really use a soak.’ Dex did not look at Mosscap as they said it, but out of the corner of their eye, they could see Mosscap slowly turn its head towards them, its gaze glowing brighter and brighter.”

Dex uses “we,” referring to the journey they will undertake with Mosscap into Panga’s inhabited settlements. This portrays Dex’s acceptance of taking Mosscap into Panga, and their growing friendship. Mosscap is elated that Dex has chosen to accept its request, illustrated in its brightening gaze.