Introduction

Set in Yorkshire, this novel Emergency (2022) is a foray into life beyond the realms of what we think nature is capable of. It follows the story of an unnamed female protagonist who seeks shelter in nature amidst the chaos of village life in a lockdown. This literary masterpiece features themes of identity and the tension between nature and man. In an interview with Daisy Hildyard, she noted that she called the story ‘Emergency’ out of homage to the protagonist whose turbulent journey we follow through as she is “an emerging being”. Having grown up in Yorkshire myself, I took pride in a novel that made me feel conscious of my northern Yorkshire roots once again. Contextually, she is trapped in the mundane reality of lockdown amidst a virus. 

Character Development 

The novel establishes the protagonist’s attachment to nature even in her daily life. For instance, she notices the liveliness of the forest noting that “it was one of those warm still nights during which the leaves on the trees appear to pick themselves up a little, like raised ears, flowers are swollen with shadow, the spaces between the petals turned into sponges for darkness…own organism” (Hildyard, p. 118). The natural imagery deployed by Hildyard demonstrates the protagonist’s consciousness of the awakening environment and the anthropomorphic elements show the dissolving barrier between the nature and man dichotomy. Additionally, the utilisation of sibilance combined with the visual imagery provides a comforting and yet sinister atmosphere, ultimately foreshadowing the erosion of the forest at the hands of fire. Her friend, Rebecca who is a few years her senior watches and harms a bird and although she disagrees at first, she is fascinated by the bird’s wings, “the starling’s small and manipulable body was it a machine, responding to the press of the button, or were we in the presence of agony?” (Hildyard, p. 89). This metaphorical description of the bird as mechanical displays an arrogance that ceases to consider the bird as a living being. Alternatively, this quotation demonstrates the power dynamics between humans and animals. Clare, her friend is a role-model to the protagonist and following her cancer diagnosis, she feels it challenging to cope with her friend’s fading presence, “I think we have all stopped expecting it, and we live in the knowledge of the inevitability of her death but no real expectation of it. Her illness and fragility was a feature of her character” (Hildyard, p. 197).  This quotation suggests that Clare is depersonalised because her characterisation is framed by her illness that transforms her into an emaciated being. When she hides kittens in a tree, she helps Clare to care for them independently and feels a growing attachment to some other animals such as a vole demonstrating a maternal protective instinct. 

Animals 

Linking with character development, this section will discover the interrelation of human and animal lives. Her encounter with Mr Gray, a farmer, establishes to the reader her wider fascination with the animals on the farm. She meets Ivy, a strong-willed lamb who bullies other lambs and one day is at odds with one of the males. The female protagonist shows that Ivy is captivated by the world beyond the enclosure, “she was interested in what lay outside” (Hildyard, p. 105). An incident occurs in which Ivy is stuck in sinking mud and it is due to the protagonist’s maternal instinct that she acts rapidly to allow the firefighters to save Ivy. As a mother, Ivy escalates in maturity reducing her hyperactive and conflicting nature to a caring and protective mother. Another instance, that proves the protagonist’s desire to be embedded in the wider ubiquitous tranquillity of nature, is when she spots a vole being pursued by a kestrel and aims to save him. Through the camera lens of the protagonist, she illustrates the magnificence of the bird’s wings noting the extravagant and inescapable presence of nature. 

From local to global 

A key theme of the novel is the transition from local impact on the environment to a global impact. Emergency (2022) contains an international dimension and illustrates the wider implications of the virus and the necessity of nature in our hectic technology-dependent lives in this globalised world. Similarly, to the Netflix series Toxic Town, the gravel from the quarry affects lives beyond one particular region. For instance, the gravel is transported to China and pesticides impact on Nicaragua demonstrating the interconnectedness of plant, human and animal life in the ecosystem. Like a hawk, the protagonist closely observes the workers in the quarry and considers their daily toiling and grafting. She further makes the comment that although the village in which she resides is small, she promotes tolerance and acceptance of other children instead of discriminating against her friend. 

How is this a novel of the Anthropocene? 

How is this novel an example of Anthropocene literature? The collective personal pronoun of ‘we’ that is littered across the novel exhibits the interdependent nature of the ecosystem whereby human actions generate often irreversible consequences. Furthermore, this pronoun also elicits harmony with nature promoting a non-anthropocentric viewpoint, avoiding the notion that humans are superior to animals and other non—human beings. Additionally, the continuous prose and uninterrupted flow of one coherent chapter exhibits to the reader that human life is influenced by the life cycle of nature and animals and also expresses the freedom of nature that the protagonist perceives is a source of solace. 

Finally, the woods provide access to deer who consume human food as she notes dumbfounded, “after the cake there was a saucepan with a thick layer of porridge crusted on the sides and base, flapjack pieces that had crumbled, and a warm broken scone” (Hildyard, p. 31). This sensory and visual imagery invites us to imagine the deer consuming these deconstructed dishes. The fields arguably function as a “heterotopia” (Foucault) (applying Foucault’s term), in which hares compete for space, “the female toppled right over backwards, somersaulted and rolled up still fighting, but she punched the air – he was just beyond her reach…mid-flight she turned and started to chase him, and he who had been pursuing her, ran away” (Hildyard, p. 215). This passage provides an illuminating insight into the protagonist’s fascination with the female hare’s striking resilience to defend herself and to erode the pride of the male hare. The constant usage of verbs here exhibit to the reader an atmosphere of relentless tension as though we follow the hares through the camera-like lens of the protagonist. Overall, in conclusion, this multifaceted novel encourages us to reconfigure our relationship to the natural world around us through philosophical self-introspection and fostering the enjoyment and appreciation of nature as opposed to its commodification and uses for man. 

Sara Karim is an alumna of the MA in Literary Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London. She is an avid reader of world literature, eco-fiction and science fiction. In June 2022, she performed at the Heidelberg Literature Festival. Her literary interests include the works of Samanta Schweblin, Pola Oloixarac, Clarice Lispector, Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Rabindranath Tagore and Daisy Hildyard.