Into the Wild

The structure of the Clans’ society is integral to the setting of Into the Wild and communicates some of the novel’s core themes. Each Clan is governed by a hierarchy of positions, wherein each cat has responsibilities befitting their designated role, and all of which centralize the same principle: community. Each role in the Clan contributes to the whole: The warriors hunt for and protect the Clan and train the upcoming warriors; the medicine cat cares for the Clan’s health and interprets messages from StarClan; the she-cats in the nursery all participate in communal kitten rearing. Cats too old to continue in their duties are honored as elders (retired warriors) and cared for by the entire Clan. The Clans’ community-focused way of life is a vehicle for the fellowship that both defines and drives the warriors’ world.

Ceremonies are another important part of Clan life. Although these ceremonies mirror human ones, the Clan cats’ ceremonies are grounded in cat body language. This prompts the reader to consider complex systems of social communication different from their own. For example, the cats strengthen their social bonds in a ritual known as “sharing tongues,” in which all the cats gather and groom each other while swapping news; the reader might consider what kinds of rituals they engage in to strengthen their social bonds. The cats also have a ritual for processing grief: They all gather around the departed warrior’s body and press together for comfort as they share tongues for a final time. This mimics the way in which humans process grief by gathering for memorials and funerals to honor the deceased. The Clan rituals signify the cats as fully rounded, anthropomorphized creatures capable of complex thought and humanlike emotions, prompting the reader to examine the experiences signified by each ceremony from an outside perspective and consider parallels in their own life.

Equally important are the ceremonies that promote cats within the Clan. With almost every advancement in rank comes a change in the suffix of the cat’s name; for example, all apprentices’ names end with “paw,” while all leaders’ names end with “star.” While the prefix of a cat’s name does not change, it is not until they are granted full status as a warrior that they receive a unique suffix that signals some key characteristic. For example, Firepaw’s warrior name is Fireheart, symbolizing both the color of his fur and the strength of his personal honor. The ceremonies and name changes indicate how the cats perceive each other socially; they also signify the importance of Clan role in both personal and communal identity, reflecting the novel’s theme on fellowship.

Altogether, the complexities of the Clan society reinforce the novel’s thematic statement on the importance of loyalty and fellowship. The intent of the Clans’ social structure is to foster intimate bonds of kinship and loyalty; without this structure, the Clans would simply be a band of rogues fighting each other for survival. Understanding how the hierarchy of the Clans provides a framework for community reinforces the thematic significance of fellowship in the narrative.