Ben’s story is one of survival – at first on the run from police with his parents, but later his story becomes one of actual life-or-death survival in the wilderness. Having grown up in the suburbs, being confronted with the wilderness and nature is one of Ben’s greatest fears. Yet in forcing him to face his fears Nature also becomes his saviour, helping him to see beyond his emotions and panicked state to the truth, to accept his situation and to embrace quiet and stillness. In the survival chapters in particular (pp. 183–226) we see Ben confront his fears and his attitudes changing from worry to ‘flatlining’ (p. 218) to an acceptance that: ‘Things could not rattle him so easily. Maybe not even death.’ (p. 228).
‘He had never spent time in the bush, had never left the suburbs. He did not want to go to the creek. The wilderness was his enemy.’ (p. 64)
‘Ben felt the force of the wild all around them. In the cawing of crows high in a dead tree and the relentless chirping of insects and the silence of the big blue sky. He was not sure if the force was for or against them. But it was there.’ (p. 194)
‘Ben looked around and breathed it all in. He had missed this place . . . He cupped his hands, dipped them in the water, splashed his face. It felt crisp and good, waking something inside him . . . [H]e should have felt bad about the place, but he didn’t. He knew now that everything bad would pass, and everything good. The creek flowed on. He splashed his face again and sat back on a rock, closing his eyes. He sat there for a long time, becoming so still he felt as though he had disappeared or had turned into one of the boulders he was surrounded by. Rocks that had been here forever.’ (pp. 261–262)
‘Nature was real and true and terrible.’ (p. 67)
‘He knew that he would have no chance out here alone. Ben’s survival skills included hunting for leftovers in the fridge, lowering bread into the toaster and switching on the heater when it was cold. None of these talents would be useful here.’ (p. 69)
‘He had nothing. Just him, wilderness, Olive, fear. Fear was his fire, keeping him alert and alive. Growing up in a house in the suburbs, right next to a highway, had not prepared him for this. Playing thousands of hours of video games, watching hundreds of movies, playing soccer, helping out in the wrecking yard, watching game shows with Nan – none of it was useful to him now. Someone had pressed “reset” on his life. He had no pantry, no fridge, no shops, no cars, no lights, no bed, no blankets, no roof.’
(p. 199)
QUESTIONS
Write a story or poem drawing on your own experience of fear or of being in the wilderness.
Research ways to survive if you were lost in the bush and present your findings to the class. What could you eat? Where could you find water? How would you find your way home? How would you alert searchers to your location?
What is it about horror stories that draws people to watch them? What is the scariest thing you have read or seen? What made it so scary? How much of the fear was in your imagination and how much was real?
Tristan Bancks says: ‘Nature is a power that transcends Society, Time, Family and Self.’ Discuss this statement in relation to Two Wolves and how this idea is explored in the novel.
Consider the ways Ben is helped or hindered by Nature. How does Ben’s changing attitude towards Nature reflect his internal changes, the different way he begins to look at the world?