110 pages • 3 hours read
Peter BrownThe Wild Robot
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2016A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 68-80Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 68 Summary: “The Recos”
The airship contains three identical robots, bulkier and bigger than Roz. They are etched with their numbers, RECO 1, RECO 2, and RECO 3.
They fly around the island and see the smoking tower of ash, the wooden lodges, and the dead robots. The ship lands in a small meadow. The RECOS disembark and face a figure at the forest edge. The creature is Roz, who introduces herself.
Chapter 69 Summary: “The Defective Robot”
The RECOS greet Roz, calling her ROZZUM unit 7134. They say that they are there to retrieve all the ROZZUM units. Roz replies that the other units are dead. RECO 1 says that they will collect those units later and he commands Roz to follow them into the airship.
Roz asks where the RECOS came from, but is told not to ask questions. She continues to ask questions, saying that she will not go anywhere without answers. RECO 1 pauses, then tells Roz that a year ago, 500 ROZZUM units were on a ship that sank. 495 units were retrieved from the ocean floor, so the RECOS were sent to recover the last five. They will return Roz to a factory where she can be refurbished and sold.
Roz protests that she lives on the island. RECO 1 says that her resistance will be proof of defectiveness. Roz continues to ask questions, so RECO 1 pronounces her defective. The RECOS step toward Roz, ready to shut her down. They are stopped by Brightbill, who demands that they leave his mother alone.
The RECOS do not understand Brightbill. Roz tells Brightbill that the robots want to take her away and that he must escape. Nearby, animals gather, calling out to each other that Roz needs help.
The flock of geese attacks the robots. Brightbill tells his mother to run.
Chapter 70 Summary: “The Hunt Begins”
Brightbill flies around the RECOS, looking for buttons to deactivate them, but there are no buttons. The RECOS fling the geese away from them. A scan shows them that Roz has fled, so they gather silvery rifles from their airship.
The RECOS fan out in a search pattern, towards the beach, up the mountainside, and into the forest.
Chapter 71 Summary: “The Forest Assault”
RECOS 3 stomps through the forest, scanning for Roz. His scans are distracted by the constant shrieking of animals. At every turn, animals fly in front of his eyes, dash between his legs, and leap on him from the treetops.
The animal army leads the robot into soft mud, where he is trapped. Swooper orders swarms of birds to bombard the robot with droppings. RECOS 3 drops his rifle to wipe his eyes and the Fuzzy Bandits snatch it up and run away. Crownpoint lowers his head and the raccoons place the rifle on his antlers.
In the final stage of the plan, Broadfoot stands in the path of the blinded robot and kicks back with his hind legs. After many kicks, RECOS 3’s head breaks loose and the robot comes to a halt.
Chapter 72 Summary: “The Mountain Rumble”
RECOS 2 calls for Roz at the mouth of a cave. He detects movement inside, so he enters. A deafening roar fills the cave. Mother Bear charges and slams the robot against a wall. Nettle and Thorn jump in, tearing at the robot.
RECOS 2 fires his rifle into the cave wall and causes an avalanche. Nettle grabs Thorn, but Mother Bear is trapped in the rubble. The young bears pull her out and discover she has broken bones. She tells them to kill the robot, who is damaged but still hunting for Roz.
The young bears follow RECOS 2 along the mountainside, to a waterfall. The bears rush out and throw themselves at the robot. RECOS 2 falls into the rushing water, dragging Nettle with him. She desperately grabs a rock and hangs on. Nettle yells to Thorn to use the logs that are wedged between the rocks of the rapids.
Thorn pries the logs free and they crash into the robot, who is carried away by the current. RECOS 2 grabs Nettle as he rushes past her and she loses hold of her rock. As he heads over the falls, RECOS 2 releases Nettle, who braces herself for death.
Hundreds of fish tighten themselves around Nettle and save her from going over the falls. They push her upriver, where Thorn pulls her out of the water. Nettle roars her thanks, promising to never eat fish again. The bears look over the edge of the cliff and see the dead robot smashed on the rocks below.
Chapter 73 Summary: “The Chase”
RECOS 1 stands in the Great Meadow. He cannot make sense of the remains of the bonfire, with animal and robot prints around it.
RECOS 1 loses communication with RECOS 2 and RECOS 3, so he knows that he must hunt down his target alone. He searches by the pond, looking in the wooden domes. He senses Roz in the forest canopy.
RECOS 1 watches Roz drop down from the trees and run through the forest. Following her electronic signal, RECOS 1 sprints after her. The beavers cut down trees to crash into him. The groundhogs dig tunnels to make him crash into pits. More animals try to impede his pursuit with traps. RECOS 1 is damaged but continues his hunt.
Roz continues running around the island, but she cannot escape RECOS 1, even with the animals’ help. Her wooden foot splinters apart by the sea cliffs.
RECOS 1 detects Roz by the robot gravesite. He senses her signal but cannot see her in the clumps of seaweed. As he looks for signs of Roz, a clump of seaweed reaches up and grabs his rifle.
Chapter 74 Summary: “The Click”
RECOS 1 and Roz both hang onto the rifle, trying to wrench it away from the other. Roz is not as strong as RECOS 1 and she feels herself being pulled apart. The rifle is also being pulled apart and it explodes, throwing the robots in opposite directions.
Shards of rifle are everywhere. RECOS 1 is full of holes and one arm is charred. Roz’s arms and legs have been blown off, so she is just a head and torso. RECOS 1 rises to his feet.
Roz cannot run away, so she begs RECOS 1 to not deactivate her. He ignores her and pushes her button with a click.
Chapter 75 Summary: “The Last Rifle”
RECOS 1 begins collecting the pieces of dead robots, piling them around Roz’s body. Brightbill watches as his mother’s motionless body is buried under robot parts. Determined to bring his mother back to life, Brightbill moves towards the pile.
When RECOS 1 is turned away, Brightbill squeezes into the pile and presses Roz’s button. The animals hear her characteristic activation greeting. Roz reboots, then tells Brightbill that it was too dangerous to try and help her.
RECOS 1 grabs Brightbill. Roz pleads with RECOS 1 not to hurt her son. As RECOS 1 is about to crush Brightbill to death, vultures flying overhead drop a rifle onto the shore. Geese and otters fumble with the gun. RECOS 1 wonders where the animals have gotten a rifle.
The geese instruct the otters in how to pull the trigger. A beam of light turns RECOS 1’s chest into a gaping hole. He lets Brightbill go and collapses beside Roz. RECOS 1 says in a garbled voice that more RECOS will come for Roz. He says that she can still be fixed, so she should take the airship and the robot parts. The ship will know what to do. His eyes go dark.
Chapter 76 Summary: “The Broken Robot”
The geese and otters rush to help Roz. They pull arms and legs from the robot parts, hoping they will reattach to Roz, but she is too badly damaged. Brightbill says he is sorry. Roz replies that she is thankful that she can still speak and think.
Roz wants to reassure her son and friends that everything will be fine, but she knows her situation is hopeless. She asks the animals to help her home.
Chapter 77 Summary: “The Meeting”
The animals carry Roz back to the Nest. Roz tells Brightbill that they have some difficult decisions to make, so she asks him to call a meeting of their closest friends.
Loudwing, Mr. Beaver, Fink, Swooper, Tawny, Nettle (since Mother Bear is too injured), Chitchat, and Crag arrive. They talk all night, discussing the RECOS, how to help Roz, and how to keep the island safe.
The Dawn Truce is held in the small meadow by the airship. Roz addresses the animals, thanking them for fighting bravely. She tells them that the RECOS told her that more RECOS would come to the island and would not stop until all the robots were retrieved, including her. Roz says that she cares too much about the island to put anyone in further danger, so she must leave.
The animals cry out for her to stay. Roz tells them that her body is ruined and that the RECOS had said that only her Makers could repair her. Roz says that her only chance is to return to her Makers. The animals know she is right.
Chapter 78 Summary: “The Farewell”
The animals collect every piece of the robots and rifles and load them into the airship. They gather the tiniest scraps so the RECOS will not return. They load Roz into the airship.
Roz says goodbye to all the animals on the island. The wild animals roar, chirp, howl, and grunt their goodbyes. Brightbill lands on his mother’s shoulder, asking if they will see each other again. Roz tells him that she will try her best to return. Brightbill hugs Roz’s worn face and they affirm their love for one another.
Brightbill flutters out and the airship door closes.
Chapter 79 Summary: “The Departure”
The airship automatically activates, rises above the island, and flies south.
Chapter 80 Summary: “The Sky”
The story ends with Roz flying away, not knowing what awaits her. She thinks back on her past.
The narrator reflects on how much Roz has changed, saying that Roz was defective and had accidentally become a wild robot through faulty programming. Roz had been designed to think and learn, so that caused her changes.
Roz feels grateful for all the wonderful things that have happened in her life, particularly Brightbill. Roz knows that to live the wild life with her friends and family that she desires, she must get repaired so that she can return home.
Chapters 68-80 Analysis
In these final chapters of the novel, the outside world intrudes on Roz’s happy life on the island. When the three RECOS robots arrive, Roz tries to engage the robots as she would any other being, but they refuse to talk to her or answer her questions. When she persists in asking to be treated like a sentient creature, with thoughts and rights of her own, the RECOS pronounce her defective: “ROZZUM unit 7134, you are the property of TechLab Industries. We will return you to the factory, where the Makers will refurbish you and sell you to a work site” (227). Roz thinks of herself as an individual, with a life and a home, but it becomes clear to her that her Makers, and the RECOS soldiers they have sent, consider her a piece of machinery that they own. The wild robot that Roz has become is outside of the RECOS’ experience and programming, so the only explanation for her behavior is that she is damaged and functioning imperfectly.
The RECOS have no way of knowing that Roz is not a mindless tool, but a member of the island community, loved by her friends and neighbors. When the animals learn that these new robots plan to forcibly take Roz away, they come to her rescue: “The geese furiously flapped and pecked and wrapped their wings around the robot faces, clinging to the RECOS like feathery masks, distracting them, blinding them” (229). The RECOS do not understand that Roz can communicate with the animals and that they have declared that they will protect her.
The RECOS’ single-minded pursuit of Roz sets them for challenges. They do not consider the best course of action in hunting for Roz while the animals work to thwart them. RECOS 3 continues to stomp through the forest looking for Roz, not realizing that he is being led to his doom: “The forest was seething with an army of wild animals, distracting the robot, luring the terrible thing deeper into their trap” (232). Nettle and Thorn battle RECOS 2 and Nettle is saved by a surprising act of solidarity by her former prey: “You see, the river didn’t fall away beneath Nettle; it tightened around her! Hundreds of fish surrounded the bear!” (240). This is another example of how Roz has changed the animals on the island through her examples of kindness and willingness to help others.
RECOS 1 seems to be the leader of the RECOS trio, as he is the robot who does all the talking for the group. He is left to capture Roz on his own, though he does not seem upset that his team members have been attacked and made inoperative. RECOS 1 fits the image of the typical, emotionless robot far more than Roz. He turns his attention to locating Roz, who is much better acclimated to moving through the forest: “Then she bounded away through the thickly tangled underbrush without stirring a leaf, without snapping a twig, and vanished into the green” (244). RECOS 1 stomps his way in pursuit, moving through the underbrush by brute force.
The narrator refers to the RECOS robots, which are all bigger and bulkier than Roz and her fellow ROZZUM robots, as “he.” These robots are meant for fighting and hardship; Roz finds out how different the RECOS design is from her own as she and RECOS 1 grapple for his rifle: “Clearly, Roz was not designed for combat. But the RECOS was” (251). Roz can feel herself coming apart physically and if the rifle had not exploded, RECOS 1 would have dismembered her. His body survives the explosion far better than Roz and he silently continues his mission by deactivating Roz. Describing the masculine robots as warriors and the feminine robot as an adaptable caretaker who nurtures a tribe imprints stereotypical gender roles on young readers.
Despite his physical advantages, RECOS 1 cannot match Roz’s army of animal friends. Just before he goes dark after having been shot by the animals, RECOS 1 manages to offer Roz some parting words of advice: “The Mmmakers will not rrrest until all missing robots have b-b-been rrretrieved” (256). He encourages Roz to take the airship and all the robot parts back to the Makers. Whether RECOS 1 does this because he was programmed to ensure that outcome, or whether he wants to help Roz make the best decision for herself and her animal friends, is left unanswered.
Roz recognizes the truth of RECOS 1’s words. Rather than deciding on her own, she defers to the wisdom of her group of special friends. It is a testament to how much these animals care for Roz that they put their heads and hearts into the matter: “There were stark differences of opinion, and tempers flared, but by daybreak the group had agreed to a plan of action” (260). Roz again shows in this instance that she feels very human-like emotions towards the animals of the island. She feels respect, love, and admiration.
The other animals are upset when they hear that Roz plans to leave the island: “We risked our lives so you could stay!” (262). As she explains the reasoning behind her decision, the animals come to understand the inevitability of her departure: “Animals, you taught me to be wild. I want to be wild again! And so I must try to get the repairs I need” (263). The animals also respect and accept Roz’s conclusion that they will not be safe until the robots, including Roz, are returned to the humans.
Every animal on the island comes to give Roz a proper send-off: “The chorus of wild voices grew louder and louder, shaking the robot’s body, rattling the ship, booming across the island and up into the clouds, and then their voices gradually died down to silence” (264). At one point, this cacophony would have disturbed Roz and made her fear for her safety, but now she understands its meaning and knows the powerful emotions behind the animals’ voices.
The story concludes with a cliffhanger, as the reader is left to wonder what happens to Roz after she flies off in the airship. The narrator also ends the story by musing about Roz’s evolution during her life on the island “Maybe Roz really was defective, and some glitch in her programming had caused her to accidentally become a wild robot. Or maybe Roz was designed to think and learn and change; she had simply done those things better than anyone could have imagined” (268). These thoughts are left unfinished. The reader does know that Roz is determined become a wild robot again: “So, as Roz raced through the sky, she began computing a plan” (269). Roz plans to secure her repairs, then escape from her human Makers and return to the island and her friends and family.
Related Titles
By Peter Brown
