Bewilderment by Richard Powers
“Bewilderment” by Richard Powers is the story of Dad and his nineyear-old son Robin. Robin’s looking through a telescope at the stars and wonders if they could sleep outside this night. Dad had taken him out of school for a week for a time out. Robin seems happy, and they fall asleep under four hundred billion stars. Dad believes science is everything—almost everything. Robin is an unusual kid; he sketches animals and plants, memorizes scenes from movies, and will start a book he’s just finished from the beginning again. Why is he disturbed? Is he disturbed?
His mother was crushed to death in an auto accident as she swerved to avoid hitting a possum, and his dog died a few months later. Dad says everyone is an experiment, and we don’t know what it’s testing. Driving to Vegas, Robin sees a fox, gets excited, and then sees a long-legged bird.
The next day is Robin’s birthday, and Dad’s present to him is a digital microscope that attaches to Dad’s tablet. He stares at pond scum and cells from his cheek. They talk about his mom and how she loved watching birds and how the robin was her favorite. The whole third-grade class teases him about his name. The next day they go into the woods, each carrying their supplies. They’ll be alone this night with the stars. Robin sets up his tent alone then they go for a swim, crawling on the rocks and down the small rapids. Robin guesses this is where his mom and dad honeymooned.
His mom said the Buddhist prayer every night. She wanted everyone to be released from suffering. Dad had been a terrified parent, making mistakes, but kids survive, and Robin has. Mom knew Robin best, and Dad asked Alyssa what to do when they returned home. They come upon an accident, and drivers are ogling the bears along the way. Robin is ashamed as the strangers stare at them. When they get home, they listen to “Flowers for Algernon,” a science—fiction novel about a mouse that Robin loves. Dad had become a scientist because scientists found life where other scientists said it was impossible. That was when a huge telescope was launched that could find anything and did. Then Dad found Alyssa, who laughed at his jokes and taught him optimism and appetite, and they became a couple. She worked for animal rights and rose to Midwest Coordinator.
This night Robin wants to watch a video of Alyssa testifying for a bill to outlaw killing contests. Dad says it’s too violent, and they watch a farm video instead to protect pigs from abuse. Alyssa sounds like a radio announcer, and Robin watches, hypnotized. But the day before, Dad gets a call from the school/ Robin smashed his best friend in the face, and Robin waits for Dad in the principal’s office. Robin admits it was all his fault. He’d tried to breathe, but his hands got confused. The next day Robin has an idea to paint every endangered specie and sell the paintings at Farmer’s Market, and give the money to one of Mom’s favorite groups. He goes to the art store and buys colored pencils and good paper. He works for hours and, at the library, checks out books on those animals that are endangered. After he works for hours, he puts it in a portfolio carefully. He’s a happy boy now. The animals all shout loudly, “Save Me” in vibrant colors.
The next day Robin has a meltdown when
Dad says he must go to school. He throws furniture around, smashes the window in his room, and screams. Dad goes to see a friend who knows about behavior modification programs that could help Robin. It’ll be fun, he says. Robin starts on the program where he’s inside a tube, looking at dots and moving them around just by thinking about it. Slowly he modifies his behavior where he can visit his mom’s crazy family with gentle feelings. He and Dad visit on holidays. They call Robin “Brain Boy,” the same as his mom. Dad wonders if the Neurofeedback has made Robin too calm.
A program shows a young girl from Zurich who is like Robin, and he falls in love with her. He draws a new slogan when
he learns that only 70% of his collected money will go to help the creatures. He goes to the capital to protest and stands by himself. His Mom Aly had also demanded that senators pass bills to stop killing animals. Robin wants to be homeschooled and talks his dad into it.
Dad explores other planets with the Kepler scope, but Dad wants to know if life is there. Scientists have been asking this for years. Robin goes to train in the tube. Meanwhile, the President sends troops to combat illegal immigration. Robin returns from training speechless and baffled. He shows a group of teenagers where a horned owl lives and stays patient with them. He’s doing better now, homeschooling with math, reading, science, and social studies, and still has time for planet exploration. The government wants to cancel the science projects because of the expense of billions of dollars.
Robin can’t handle the news his dad listens to: cows are dying from brain disorders, habitats are being destroyed by cairns. Robin wades into an icy river to wreck the offenders on another trip to the woods. Dad finds him there and carries him home. What happens to the two of them, Dad and Robin? Science explains everything,
Dad thinks, or does it? Is Robin all right with this experiment to talk about his mom’s brain? Find out in this stunning book (awarded the Pulitzer Prize) on the new fiction shelf of your community library.