A History Of Wild Places

This section concludes the novel’s discussion of the association between identity and place. While Calla and Theo have achieved their goal of escaping Pastoral, they do not feel at home in the outside world. Although Colette’s identity as an actress is revealed, she decides to name her daughter something that would’ve been considered good in Pastoral. Altogether, the characters’ identities are still connected to the community. Calla in particular struggles with the shift back to her identity as Maggie when her parents visit. She and Theo both realize that despite its flaws, they found their true selves in Pastoral, and they want to go back.

This section of the novel includes a third plot twist about Maggie’s family, which her mother reveals to her. She recalls how stories that she used to tell Maggie are ones she remembered from Pastoral, “fairy tales about a forest and a girl who vanished inside it” (340). She also suggests that she thinks that’s why Maggie wrote the foxtail books: “You were writing about the forests of Pastoral, you just didn’t know it” (340). Ernshaw emphasizes the circularity of fairy tales and their influence emphasizing the novel’s theme of The Power and Darkness of Fairy Tales. This also suggests the deep and intrinsic importance of Maggie’s Pastoral identity, rooted in a real connection to the place rather than simply manufactured by Levi.

The most significant thematic aspect of Part 5 is Calla and Theo’s choice to return to Pastoral. First, it suggests Theo’s growth as a character; he has moved from being unable to form meaningful connections to being in love with Calla, willing to be wherever she is. Second, it evidences Ernshaw’s nuanced treatment of off-grid living and the Pastoral community. While Levi’s leadership created dire problems in the community, the characters ultimately feel that an improved version of it is where they want to be. With the removal of a cult leader and the fear of the ”rot,” the community is able to exemplify the benefits rather than harms of pastoral life. Overall, Ernshaw presents a complex and balanced treatment of The Ideal Versus Reality of Off-Grid Existence.

The section includes Theo’s climactic moment as a character: His realization that Pastoral has had a positive effect on him and that he wants to go back with Calla. Remembering his sister, he thinks, “Maybe we only believed Levi’s lies so completely because we wanted to, because we needed to forget the pains of our past. We all have something we’d like to forget […] and living in Pastoral allowed us this small gesture” (344). Theo therefore acknowledges that he has experienced positive change in Pastoral despite Levi’s deceit. In its final chapters, Ernshaw alludes to the idea of the pastoral elegy in using nature to mourn the loss of something—in this instance, the pain of the past.