38 pages • 1 hour read
Becky ChambersA Psalm for the Wild-Built
Fiction | Novella | Adult | Published in 2021A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Sibling Dex
Sibling Dex is a monk of Allalae, the God of Small Comforts, who is symbolized by a summer bear. Dex is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns. The title “Sibling” denotes Dex’s religious profession.
At the start of the story, Dex is a garden monk working in an inner-city monastery. They feel restless despite their comfortable life, and decide to become a tea monk. This profession, undertaken by monks of Allalae, involves giving tea to distressed people, who approach the recognizable wagons of the tea monks to talk about problems or challenges in their lives. The sympathetic tea monk listens and sometimes offers advice, and then provides a cup of tea, which they choose based on the complaints of the person.
Dex’s character journey revolves around The Search for Meaning. Initially, Sibling Dex struggles in their work as a tea monk, feeling underqualified and underprepared. They learn by doing, and eventually, after two years, they become (according to a grateful client) “the best tea monk in Panga” (36). Despite their obvious skill in their chosen trade, Dex’s feeling of restless dissatisfaction returns. They become fixated on the idea of falling asleep listening to crickets. Crickets are extinct in almost all of populated Panga, and therefore come to symbolize wild, untouched spaces.
Following the restlessness of their heart and a desire for Freedom and Adventure, Dex veers off their tea route and decides to travel to an abandoned hermitage in the unsettled Antler Ranges. They feel thrilled and exhilarated by the challenge, and relish being alone as they pursue their goal. Unexpectedly, they encounter the robot Mosscap. Through their journey, the novel will deepen its exploration of freedom to include agency and choice, rather than mere adventure. It will also explore the power of friendship.
Through their bond with Mosscap and their journey to the hermitage, Dex learns that their pursuit of purpose and meaning is misguided; they are allowed to just be. They reach the hermitage and listen to crickets with Mosscap, absorbing the beauty of the hermitage and the mountains.
Splendid Speckled Mosscap
Splendid Speckled Mosscap, or Mosscap, is a robot. As is the practice of the Pangan robots, Mosscap is an aggregate constructed from parts of previous robots which broke down. Mosscap belongs to the 14th generation of robots which have been constructed in the wild by other robots since the Transition. Robots name themselves after the first wild thing they see when they gain consciousness; Mosscap named itself for a grove of mushrooms. Mosscap considers itself an object, and therefore an “it,” but also accepts the use of nonbinary human pronouns by Dex—“they,” “their,” and “themself.”
At a meeting of robots, Mosscap volunteers to travel to the human-occupied half of Panga to pose the question to humanity—“what do humans need?” (59). Through this inquiry, robots help to understand how humanity is fairing since the departure of robots from their factories, which occurred hundreds of years before the events of the novel.
When Mosscap encounters Sibling Dex, their missions become intertwined and each character grows and learns from the other. Dex learns how to simply be, and Mosscap learns how to be a friend. Through their journey, the two bond and learn about each other’s lives, values, and beliefs.
Sister Mara and Sister Fern
Sister Mara is the keeper of the inner-city monastery, which is dedicated to the god Allalae and where Dex works as a garden monk. Sister Fern is a monk of the god Chal and supplies Dex with their new tea monk wagon. Both of these characters appear briefly and serve to illustrate the recurring motif of choice; Sister Mara graciously and lovingly allows Dex to leave the monastery, and Sister Fern and the other disciples of Chal (the God of Hard Labour) construct the wagon to enable Dex to begin their new vocation.
Sister Mara and Sister Fern illustrate that the freedom to choose underpins Pangan life. Societal systems support individuals in their choices, rather than limiting them by rules, obligations, or lack of material wealth. In this way, Panga is further characterized as a utopian society.
Ms. Jules
Ms. Jules, who appears briefly when Dex visits Inkthorn, illustrates the importance of Dex’s work as a tea monk in bringing rest and comfort. Ms. Jules is a water engineer who is constantly stressed by her busy and demanding job. She visits Dex’s wagon as soon as they arrive, telling them about a stressful muck mite infestation in the village’s piping and about her sick dog. Dex prepares a tea for her based on her complaints; it is specially formulated for calming.
Ms. Jules’s interaction with Dex also illustrates the power of human connection. Ms. Jules’s face and body relaxes—“as she took the mug, something in her face started to let go, as if her features were held in place by strings that had been waiting months to loosen” (33). This is not just due to the tea, but to Dex’s warmth and caring. Dex’s role in providing small but vital comforts to people is clear.
Panga is a place where rest and respite is profoundly respected. For example, Dex assures Ms. Jules that she can stay for a second cup if needed—“everyone’s got time for two. Anybody who sees you here will understand” (32). This illustrates the underpinning belief held in Panga that needing an escape and a comforting word is not perceived as weakness, but rather as necessity for all.
Once again, through the Utopian world of Panga, a subtle critique is posed by Chambers. The gentle interaction between Dex and Ms. Jules contrasts with capitalist societies on Earth, where life is hurried and rushed, and people feel the need to feign strength. Unlike Panga, people are discriminated against due to mental illness and mental health breaks are not valued.
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