Into the Forest

Into the Forest

By Jean Hegland

This books centers on two sisters, Nell and Eva, who are on the brink of adulthood. They have been raised in a slightly untraditional household where they are home schooled by their mother and father. Other than that, they live their lives as many sisters do, playing together, make-believing and then they start to grow apart as their interests change and they begin to grow as individuals. But then something happens, perhaps apocalyptic or maybe only temporary, their world begins to change and the sisters have to rely on a whole different set of skills. They lose electricity, gas, and other conveniences of life such a grocery stores and telephones. This forces them to change their behaviors and the way they view their life, their possessions, and themselves.

In the beginning of the changes, the girls try to maintain normalcy to the best of their abilities. They almost flat out ignore what is going on around them with the hopes that one moment everything will return as it once was. But throughout the book their frame of mind slowly changes and by the end of the book, their way of life is nothing like it once was.

Material possessions take on a new role in this book as the girls slowly lose what they once had. When Nell comes across an old Hershey’s Kiss she has new decisions to make. Save it? Eat it? Share it with her sister? Normally she wouldn’t have given a second thought to popping it in her mouth and chewing the candy within seconds. But when she finally eats the kiss, it is an experience she relishes with a mix of joy and guilt.

This book is also about the relationship that sibling have, especially between two sisters. Nell and Eva go through a separate transformation, but end up reuniting for the sake of survival and basic love. I did however feel that the relationship extended beyond what was normal for two sisters. I don’t know if their shared experiences would have really led to some of the things that happened between them.

I enjoyed reading the book-if anything, it was very interesting. It provoked a lot of personal questions about technology dependence and sibling dynamics. I kept wondering what I would have done at certain crossroads in their story about going across country, destroying their house, or using the gas. Their choices made sense, but were very undesirable. What they were left with in the end did not strike me as natural and more suitable, it wasn’t the ideal “hunter-gatherer” situation that some have described. Instead it seemed like a lonely desperate choice made from fear and limited options. To me, their future equated nothing but death.