Endangered

One of the novel’s core themes is the coming-of-age journey or bildungsroman. The novel’s status as a bildungsroman encompasses more than one character, for it includes both Sophie’s experience of trying to reunite with her mother and Otto’s experience of becoming an independent bonobo. Thus, despite being different species, both adolescents transition from child to adult by overcoming the same experiences during their journey. At the novel’s beginning, both Sophie and Otto depend on the adults around them to make decisions. Sophie initially feels like an adult when video-chatting with her father, as if being on the other side of the world from him makes her independent. However, her impulsive decision to buy Otto demonstrates her immaturity and lack of understanding about how the world works. Sophie later reflects, “It was my buying Otto that encouraged the man to come here with these two more bonobos. I sat down right where I was. My legs refused to hold me up” (35). Her residual childishness is further demonstrated in the fact that, despite knowing that she made the wrong decision, Sophie only assumes responsibility for Otto’s care when Florence insists upon it. As Sophie navigates her new role as Otto’s mother, the young ape has his own struggles to overcome as he tries to adapt to his new surroundings and regain his health. When Otto meets the other young bonobos in the sanctuary nursery, he is afraid of them and stays close to Sophie. This fear and uncertainty highlight the loss of Otto’s original family and the upbringing that he should have had with his own kind. Thus, Sophie and Otto begin the novel as immature youths, yet the rebels’ massacre at the sanctuary requires them to develop quickly in order to survive.

The bildungsroman continues as Sophie and Otto strengthen their bond through sacrifice and dedication. Sophie’s love and care help Otto to regain his health, and the two spend the summer months playing around the sanctuary in constant contact. Once the rebels overtake Kinshasa, this relationship experiences stress, tension, and conflict. Sophie must make very difficult decisions—such as which direction to go after the massacre or who to trust and who to avoid—without any input from an adult. Sophie makes these decisions based on logic, intuition, and instinct. Because of her upbringing in Congo and her experiences at the sanctuary, Sophie’s decisions often turn out to be correct, demonstrating her ability to think clearly and logically in times of stress and fear. Similarly, Otto also experiences moments of growth and independence. Though afraid of the other bonobos at the novel’s beginning, Otto’s time in the adult enclosure helps him to become more comfortable with the other apes. However, he soon learns his place in the pecking order, a fact that is dramatically demonstrated when he accidentally pushes Songololo too hard, and Anastasia throws him from the tree as punishment. Like Sophie, Otto is learning to navigate his new surroundings and find his place among the others of his species.

By the novel’s end, Sophie and Otto both become well-rounded and independent adults in their own respective communities. Sophie successfully reunites with her mother without harming herself or Otto, and all of her experiences allow her to better appreciate why her mother chose to stay at the sanctuary and prioritize her work with bonobos. Sophie also overcomes her prejudice against Congo itself and comes to see it as a beautiful nation despite its struggles and conflict. Sophie’s desire to stay in Congo after the war demonstrates how much her mindset has changed, and her decision to return to Congo after college further shows how profoundly she now embraces her heritage. She even willingly returns to Mbandaka because she wants “to see the city again for [herself] and come to terms with the site of [her] personal horror” (243). Otto likewise grows into a successful adult and establishes a family of his own. He learns to embrace a full life as an ape, not a human, thriving even after being separated from Sophie.