Skink—No Surrender

Clues emerge as Richard nears the start of his journey. As with any story that fits the hero’s journey, the protagonist must learn more information about the quest before it begins. In Skink—No Surrender, Richard refuses his quest by allowing the adults in his family and the police to search for Malley without him. However, as Richard receives more information, it becomes clearer that he is best suited for the journey.

Readers learn information about Malley’s disappearance as Richard does. When he views video surveillance from the airport and sees “Malley hurrying through the exit doors and sliding into a white two-door Toyota” (31), he knows what vehicle to look for. Later, when Malley calls him, he “hear[s] a male voice say something about a drawbridge […] I also picked out the cries of terns and gulls” (43). This narrows his locations to search. Without all of this information, Richard cannot begin his quest in earnest.

In the context of Richard’s journey, Skink fulfills the role of mentor. A mentor is significant in a hero’s journey because they provide vital information or tools and are often responsible for inviting the protagonist on their journey. In earlier chapters, Skink learns that Talbo Chock is a stolen identity—necessary information for Richard. Later, he literally invites Richard to join him on the search for Malley: “I intend to go find your cousin. Want to come?” (58).

Skink’s eccentricities grow in number, adding depth to the character. Though he is an animal lover, Skink eats the meat of roadkill that he finds. Richard doesn’t join him: “I helped him build a small fire, but I wouldn’t eat any of his roadkill stew” (65). There are vast differences between Richard and Skink, illustrated mostly by Skink’s quirks. Richard and Skink aren’t antagonistic to one another after their initial meeting, but differences like these complicate their relationship.

Despite eating roadkill, Skink continues his role as an animal defender and environmentalist. Richard is reunited with Skink after Skink injures Olney for his crimes. Again, Hiaasen gives the story higher stakes by approaching heavy themes head-on. In this case, Olney’s injuries are severe: “He was unconscious and heavily bandaged” (52). Skink is not a classically moral character, and his influence will impact Richard later in their journey.

Deception plays a vital role in Richard’s journey. At this point, readers don’t know his biggest secret—which Malley threatened to blackmail him over—but Richard confesses to “[taking] advantage of my stepfather’s […] intellectual limitations” (59). The first major obstacle on Richard’s journey is how to leave town with Skink. Richard uses a lie to overcome this obstacle when he tells Trent that a friend “and his dad are going camping in Ocala for a couple days. They asked me to come” (60). This is a complete fabrication, and Richard’s willingness to lie becomes one of his greatest tools. Again, this underlines Hiaasen’s interest in morally ambiguous characters. Richard is not a completely innocent young man; Hiaasen explores this idea with Skink and Malley, as well. Deceit is paramount in a mystery tale, and dishonesty is often necessary to solve the central problem. Even though Hiaasen is writing for a young adult audience, he does not shy away from this trope. In this way, Hiaasen presents readers with characters that reflect reality.

There are hints that the Talbo imposter is violent toward Malley. While she’s talking to Richard on the phone, she yells at her companion, “Hey, stop it! […] Don’t ever do that again” (46). This worries Richard, especially when Malley hangs up shortly after. The stakes continue to increase: Malley might have run away with a dangerous person. The mystery of Talbo’s identity and intentions becomes more important as Richard’s quest begins.

On the first leg of their journey, Richard and Skink hit a dead end. Skink’s idea about Malley’s location—based off Richard’s information that she was near a drawbridge—proves false. When a protagonist leaves the normal world for their journey, they run into a series of trials that they must overcome. In this case, the information that motivated Richard to leave his home is inaccurate. He has chosen to leave his normal world but finds himself with a lack of direction.

One of the novel’s central symbols provides Richard with his next clue. Overcoming an obstacle earns rewards for the protagonist, usually information or tools for their quest. In this case, Malley mentions to Richard in a voicemail that she saw a species of woodpecker that Richard knows is extinct—the ivory-billed woodpecker. This tells Richard that Malley is communicating in code. She worked on a science project with Richard about the bird and knows that it is no longer living. However, Richard requires information from his mentor to step forward in his journey. In this case, Skink believes he knows where the woodpeckers once lived—or, according to him, where they live currently.

The ivory-billed woodpecker also stands as a metaphor for the people in Richard’s life. Namely, the bird has commonalities with Malley and Richard’s deceased father. Like the ivory-billed woodpecker, Malley has disappeared. This threatens something beautiful in his life: his friendship with Malley. Whether that friendship will be saved or meet a fate similar to the bird species is unknown to Richard. Further, the bird’s extinction parallels Richard’s loss of his father. As with the woodpecker, Richard will not see his father again. He refuses to assume that will change. His father and the ivory-billed woodpecker are gone forever. Later, Richard will have to reframe his ideas of death and extinction.

Richard’s boat also symbolizes his relationship with his father. When his father died, Richard “inherited his fourteen-foot skiff […] Now a week didn’t go by when I wasn’t out on the river” (42). The vessel is a reminder of his father, and he uses it to fish, one of his favorite hobbies. This characterizes his relationship with his father as a positive one that he misses.

Music plays a similar role. Richard’s father “loved […] lots of old bands, and […] the day after Dad died, I’d downloaded his whole playlist to my iPod” (71). Again, this shows that Richard’s father greatly impacted his identity. There are parts of his personality dictated by the memories of his father.

This presents an opportunity for Richard to bond with Skink. At first, Skink refuses to allow Richard to play his own music in the car. As their relationship grows friendlier, Skink becomes more sympathetic to Richard through their shared music tastes, which is only possible because of Richard’s father’s influence on him. Although Richard’s father doesn’t play an active role in the novel’s plot, he has gifted tools to Richard that help him on his quest.