Abel's Island

Abel talks to Amanda through his thoughts—or what he calls “mind messages” (51)—and believes that she receives them. Attempting to harness more of this magic, Abel makes a glider and jumps from the birch limb hoping to glide to the other side. Instead, he lands hard on the ground, both his backside and pride badly bruised. Abel feels a kinship with the tree and the sky that helps to ease his loneliness. Filled with the joy of nature’s freedom, Abel dances and chants around the island.

Slowly Abel notices signs that fall is coming, and he prepares by storing extra seeds for food and insulating the log for warmth. Inspired by nature’s creativity, Abel desires to create art and makes statues of his family from clay and wood. He includes Amanda, his mother (from whom he inherited his money), and his father. Abel continues to send Amanda messages informing her of all his activities on the island. November arrives, and Abel explores the island further. He finds a discarded pocket watch and a book titled Sons and Daughters. Though the book is weather-beaten, Abel opens it and decides to read a chapter each day. He drags the large pocket watch back to his log. Seeing the items fills Abel with hope because it means someone has come to the island before and might return. 

Abel returns to the book, which is about a bear who attends a masquerade ball. After completing his one chapter, he covers the book with leaves so no one takes it. Using the baked clay, Abel creates signs bearing his name, “Abelard Hassam Di Chirico Flint” (59), and places them in several locations around the island to mark his territory. Winter approaches, and Abel notices ice forming along the banks of the water. He wonders if he might be able to cross once it freezes. Though Abel does not need to keep time, he enjoys the rhythmic ticking of the watch, as it reminds him of his orderly life at home. He keeps himself busy each day as he writes notes to send down the river, keeps the signal fire going, reads, and works on his art, but he finds these types of activities restful.

One night, an owl swoops in and snatches Abel up in its claws. Abel uses his knife to cut the owl’s feet so it will drop him. He scrambles to his log and barricades himself inside. The incident is so terrifying to Abel that he doesn’t leave the log for a full day and is careful to come out only during the day.

The tension in the book Abel is reading heightens as the bears begin a war with bears from another country though both want peace. As winter sets in, the environment turns harsh and cold, and Abel no longer feels a fondness for it. The change in the weather, along with the ever-present danger of the owl, gives Abel a constant feeling of dread and unease. He finds a feather and assumes it belongs to the owl. Abel believes that because he has a piece of the owl and it has nothing of him, it cannot hurt him. This gives Abel a sense of power; as the narration describes, “He felt he was casting a spell on the detested bird of prey that would paralyze its evil force” (67). Abel busies himself with making an insulated coat and stockpiling food in the log to prepare for winter. The owl appears again, though this time it is sleeping in a tree. Abel rushes home and worries about how to deal with the threat. He considers ways he can kill the owl and then wonders why God created predatory animals at all.

December brings snow and a new level of loneliness for Abel as he begins talking to himself out loud. He even argues with himself. Abel hasn’t given up hope for rescue and still “talks” to Amanda. Having reached Chapter XIX of his book, Abel begins to identify with the protagonist, who is at war away from home and sends letters to his sweetheart.

Abel fashions a spear with his knife and carries it with him everywhere in case of an owl attack. One day, the owl begins hunting Abel, and the two engage in a fierce battle as Abel uses his spear against the owl's attacks. Abel is just fast enough to avoid capture, and the owl gives up and sits in the tree. Abel continues hurling his spear and insults at the confounded owl. Abel has three owl feathers and continues to cast curses upon them, wishing for the owl’s utter destruction. The winter wind blows strongly, and Abel must sacrifice pages from the book to patch the holes in his shelter.

The months of January, February, and March are painful as Abel, unable to leave his hovel due to the weather, hunkers down in his log. Abel loses his sense of time and channels all his energy into finding food and staying warm. Occasionally the snow melts long enough for him to gaze outside at the blanketed landscape, and Abel exclaims to himself, “How beautiful everything looked after the prolonged darkness. How unspeakably beautiful […] How vividly actual and therefore marvelous!” (76) Though the winter has been harsh and dark, Abel recognizes nature’s beauty. He speaks to Amanda’s statue and reads his book, where the lead character is injured in battle but is healing and hopeful for the coming spring.

Abel becomes ill and spends many days in bed struggling to stay warm. Another snowstorm rages outside, and Abel becomes despondent. Unable to enjoy his nightly ritual of staring at his favorite star, he imagines that it is still in the sky. He feels bitter about Amanda’s scarf and wishes she hadn’t lost it since it led to this misery. Thinking of Amanda makes Abel long for the comforts of home. Abel feels disconnected from his family and friends; he feels he can’t survive on their memories alone and must see them. Abel, sinking into a depression, loses all sense of beauty and hope in the face of a relentless and seemingly unending winter.