Essay Questions

What is the significance of the title?

The opening scene of the novel pits a young daughter against her father in a test of socio-political astuteness. A wildfire is heading toward their home and Akira, the daughter, identifies it as a clear and present and very serious danger. Her father, however, dismisses what is admittedly just smoke in the distance at this point as nothing to worry about. In fact, he even reassures her that it is a good thing, casually remarking that “a little fire is good for a forest.” While that it is true enough, the key point here is not fire, but little, and what is heading their way is not little. Akira’s socio-political astuteness has to do with accepting what her father refuses: scientific evidence that climate change is undeniable and already impacting the planet. At this casual dismissal combined with the willingly oblivious decision to apply a very specific scientific fact to a broader range of possibilities—even the little fires that are good for the forest are not necessarily good for those living near the forest—her thoughts reveal the meaning of the title. “Not since the temperature of the earth had risen nearly two degrees” had there been any such thing as “little fires anymore.” If the global average temperature rises just 2°C above what the average global temperature in the pre-industrial era were, the result would be catastrophic. Among the prognostications which would be the consequence of this tipping point are longer and more frequent heatwaves, as much as a 10% increase in the intensity of rainfall, sea levels rising, and crop production falling. This gloomy forecast is the significance of the title of the novel.

How is the story of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” represented and subtly retold in this novel?

Every Floridian knows that The Big One is eventually going to hit no matter where in the state they reside, they just don’t if it is going to hit during their lifetime. The same holds true for most Californians with the exception that The Big One that inevitably hits refers to a devastating earthquake. And, of course, the truth is that it really does not matter where one lives in these states when that cataclysm arrives because when it does everyone in the state is going to be impacted in one way or another. The result of this not knowing when this devastating natural disaster is coming has already led to another natural disaster: adopting the attitude of Akira’s dad right up until a day or two—in some cases only hours—before the big one really does hit. The hidden suggestion in Natalie’s hurricane narrative story is that it is difficult to take climate change seriously on a personal level when the threat one faces is an annual ritual. Or, in the case of California’s earthquakes, literally a daily possibility. Natalie’s, on a grand scale, is basically “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.” In this allegorical circumstance, the wolf is every single Category 1 or 2 hurricane that many Floridians experience multiple times during their residency and which do absolutely nothing to prepare anyone for the experience of attempting to “ride out” a Category 5 hurricane.

What ugly truth about climate change does the storyline of George and Owen introduce into the overall narrative of destruction?

In the midst of devastating floods in lowland areas, melting glaciers, more powerful cyclonic storms, and excessive heat dragging later and later into the year, it can be easy to overlook that there will be some incredible opportunities for profiting from climate change as well. When George ponders rhetorically—or maybe not—over bad to feel “when you’re hoping global warming will save your dad’s life” it is the author’s intention to interject a positive into the gloomy forecast. It is unfortunate, of course, that some people are already scheming to reap as much profit as possible from the cataclysmic changes wrought by climate change, but it should not come as a shock. Capitalism is an economic system that allows a certain small segment of the population to thrive on the misery of a certain larger segment. This is why the stock price of a company seems to paradoxically spike on the announcement of massive layoffs. The story of George’s father is one which illustrates the unvarnished reality an economic system dependent upon supply and demand and the plain, unvarnished truth is that climate change is going to destroy the lives of millions at the very same time it enriches the lives of hundreds or thousands. Those whose homes are destroyed by hurricanes and wildfires and increased flooding caused by rising sea levels will need to move elsewhere. The result will be an economic dissolution for one area and a boomtown for another. It is essentially the story of America.