Bookclub-in-a-Box Discusses State of Wonder, by Ann Patchett by Marilyn Herbert

Author:Marilyn Herbert
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bookclub-in-a-Box

Intervention

• Intervention in the natural order of events is a theme at the very heart of State of Wonder. Again, the isolated jungle setting is perfect for outlining the effects of both negative and positive intervention. In addition, intervention lies at the base of world progress in every area: science, medicine, economics, sociology, and more.

Consider the idea of intervention as Patchett outlines it. Does her view differ from or complement your personal perception of the topic?

• Dr. Swenson fears a global catastrophe waiting to happen to the Lakashi on the day her malaria drug is developed and publicized. In addition, Anders warns Maria not to give the Martins to the Hummocca because they too would destroy the Lakashi. Devastation is not something that only comes from the outside.

• Patchett makes the point that much has changed in the jungle already. Annick talks nostalgically about her days with Dr. Rapp when the Lakashi had more traditional skills and when land was not burned for clear-cutting purposes.

“Things were very different then. You didn’t turn a corner and find a square mile of forest burned into a field. You didn’t see the constant smoke the way you do now. And the Lakashi, even they’re different. They lose their skills as fast as the basin loses forest. They used to make their own ropes, they wove cloth. Now even they manage to buy things.” (p.168)

• Following the approach of Dr. Rapp, Swenson tells Marina that one should respect indigenous people by accepting the natural order of things and not interfering in their lives. Her greatest mistake, she says, was sewing up the wound of a young girl hit with a machete, resulting in a stream of sick and wounded seeking her care. But amongst them was Easter, whose life Swenson changed in many ways.

• Dr. Swenson tries to keep her location secret from Vogel, saying that she wants to protect the Lakashi and their environment from outside interlopers, but the question remains as to whether it is the Lakashi people or her work she wishes to protect. There is some irony in the fact that if the scientists are successful in developing a successful vaccine for malaria, it would likely mark the end of the Lakashi and their way of life.

• Dr. Swenson fails to shoulder any of the blame for her and Dr. Rapp’s intrusion into the Lakashi habitat. Swenson calls on Marina to perform an emergency cesarean on a Lakashi woman under very crude conditions, although perhaps this has as much to do with preparing Marina to deliver the child that she herself is carrying.

• State of Wonder makes the point that Western society can be guilty of seeing everything from within their own frame of reference. Worried about Easter’s injuries after being squeezed by the snake, Marina wishes they were home so she could take the boy for a CT scan. Dr. Swenson points out that if Easter was in the States, he could more likely be hit by an SUV

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