Two Degrees

Part 5 marks a transition for all characters. Owen and George have escaped from the immediate threat of polar bears and Natalie has survived the hurricane. Akira, in contrast, is still being chased by the fire, but her priorities have shifted from protecting herself to reconnecting with her family. Gratz shows this change directly through the relatively short length of this section. While the previous sections dealt with the primary characters using their own knowledge and resolve to overcome dangerous situations, the final two sections will cover how these characters use their newfound strength to help other people/animals. Their Survival and Resilience in Disaster directly affects their development and produces their maturation that illustrates their Coming of Age in a Changing World. In Akira’s case, seeing the burning sequoias and Cal Fire leaving helps her not be swayed by her father’s desire to stay home in the following section; she has now seen that she is entirely right and will do what it takes to get the family to safety. For Owen and George, the bear trap is a plot device that helps them transition fully from escaping Nanuq to helping prevent him from death by human carelessness. They symbolically become polar bears themselves, entirely at the mercy of human efforts to contain them. By bonding with Patience, Natalie begins to realize that she is not alone in her disgust about climate change, and the first signs of leadership that she will display in other chapters begin to emerge.

Part 5 also conveys the reality that while Akira, George, Owen, and Natalie have all survived what has happened to them, many other people, animals, and other living things have not. Akira realizes this when she turns toward the mountain and sees that Morris is one gigantic megafire, rather than a series of small fires started by the dry lightning storm as she previously believed. This parallels Natalie’s realization when she looks at “Lake Miami” from Patience’s balcony. Although they are both alive, they begin to understand the overwhelming devastation around them, and the long-term effects of the short-term disaster they have just encountered.