Journey to the River Sea

“A clever child and a brave one, who had fought hard to overcome the devastating blow of her parents’ death in a train crash in Egypt two years earlier. The staff knew how Maia had wept night after night under her pillow, trying not to wake her friends. If good fortune was to come her way, there was no one who deserved it more.”

At the opening of the novel, Maia is a victim of tragic circumstance but is nonetheless characterized as “clever” and “brave.” As Maia travels to the Amazon and faces the Carters, her inherent traits help her to overcome the obstacles in her path and become a hero rather than a villain, unlike the Carters, who marinate in their fears and prejudices and behave in a decidedly malicious matter. In this moment, the omniscient narrator uses Maia’s actions to create the sense that she is an empathic and sensitive person who fully deserves the family and life of adventure with which she will eventually be rewarded.

“She read about the great broad-leaved trees of the rainforest pierced by sudden rays of sun. She read about the travelers who had explored the maze of rivers and found a thousand plants and animals that had never been seen before. She read about brilliantly colored birds flashing between the laden branches—macaws and hummingbirds and parakeets—and butterflies the size of saucers, and curtains of sweetly scented orchids trailing from the trees.”

The novel uses the motif of books and learning to reveal the characters’ approaches to exploration, people, and places. The repetition of the phrase “she read” builds the image of Maia as a person who reads avidly and takes in multiple perspectives and pieces of information, indicating her open-mindedness. The natural imagery of the Amazon is juxtaposed with the frightening facts of her classmates, revealing their Fear of the Unknown.

“When she was small, her parents had taken her along when they went to dig up ancient ruins in Greece and Egypt; she remembered the happiness of being warm even at night and the freedom of the camp. And the closer she got to her destination, the more certain she became that what she had felt there on the ladder in the library was true and that this new country was for her.”

Maia’s experiences as a young child with her parents prime her to take in the beauty and excitement of her adventure in the Amazon. Her parents are characterized as vibrant and open-minded people with a love of history and culture, indicated through their work as archaeologists. This memory of her youth with her parents emboldens Maia to open her heart and mind to the new country she is moving to.

“She was becoming more and more excited. The colour, the friendly waving [people], the flashing birds, all delighted her, and she was not troubled by the heat. But at the centre of all her thoughts were the twins. She saw them in white dresses with coloured sashes like pictures in a book, laughing and welcoming and friendly. She imagined them getting ready for bed, brushing each other’s hair, and lying in a hammock with a basket full of kittens on their laps, or picking flowers for the house.”

Maia’s excitement about her new life with the twins mingles with her imaginings of the Amazon. Because she has lost her family, Maia is full of longing to move from the loneliness of orphanhood and seek healing in new relationships. However, the novel uses this overly idealized image of the twins to foreshadow the possibility that the twins’ true nature will be far less kind than she hopes. The shock of discovering the Carters’ many flaws as human beings is one of Maia’s first obstacles on her hero’s journey.

“‘Couldn’t it be washed?’ asked Maia, remembering the lovely fruit and vegetables she had seen in the market, but Mrs. Carter said washing was not enough.

‘We disinfect everything in any case, but it doesn’t help. The [local people] are filthy. And if one is to survive out here, the jungle must be kept at bay.’”

In this passage, the Carters’ Fear of the Unknown is satirized and symbolized through their attitude toward food and obsession with the idea of contamination. Despite their poor economic circumstances, the Carters spend money importing food from England instead of eating more delicious local foods. Their xenophobia is an exaggeration of their isolation from the environment they inhabit.

“Out there in the forest were the huts of the [Indigenous people] who worked for the Carters—not cool, native huts with thatched roofs, but wooden shacks built to house servants. She lifted a corner of the mosquito net and saw fireflies—a hundred points of dancing light—and heard the croaking of frogs. How alive it was out there, and how dead inside the house!”

The juxtaposition of the vibrancy of the Amazon landscape and the drab world of the Carters is repeated throughout the novel. Maia is drawn to the natural world, including its insects, which Mrs. Carter spends her time trying to eradicate. By contrast, Indigenous society is romanticized as being in complete harmony with the natural world.

“And certainly a lot of people had made their fortunes. There were people in Manaus who lived like princes. But not the Carters. Because to get the juice from the rubber trees you need [local people] who know the forest and understand the trees. And [they] are proud people who have their own lives. […] [If badly treated], they don’t revolt or go on strike; they simply melt back into the forest, join their tribes and disappear.”

This third-person commentary and use of direct address is a didactic technique used as a teaching moment of the consequences of immoral or inhumane behavior. The novel is intended as a children’s story, and so it is meant to guide young readers to increase their awareness of historical events and concepts. The Carters are villainized in the story for their mistreatment of workers, acting as avatars for the theme of Human Greed and Exploitation.

“She learnt about the explorers who had braved incredible hardship to map the rivers and mountains of Brazil, she copied the drawings made by the early naturalists: drawings of marmosets and tapirs and anacondas…and of the great trees which supplied the world with precious woods and rare medicines, and it was as though Miss Minton’s books gave her back the mysterious country she had longed to see, and which the Carters had shut out. She was told to write stories about whatever interested her; she learnt poetry by heart, and she wrote it.”

Books and learning play an important role in Maia’s transformation and healing. Her connection to nature and value of exploration and natural discovery is supported through the individualized curriculum created by Miss Minton. Miss Minton’s mentorship steers her away from the corrupt mindset of the Carters and allows her to focus on creative and empathetic pursuits.

“Then she told Miss Minton about the boy who had taken her into Manaus. ‘He didn’t speak English, but he had such a listening face; I couldn’t believe he didn’t understand everything I said. Oh, Minty, it was such a wonderful journey, like floating through a drowned forest. You can’t believe it’s the same world as the Carters live in.’ ‘It isn’t,’ said Miss Minton. ‘People make their own worlds.’”

Maia relies on Miss Minton as a moral compass and a guide on her journey. Maia’s recollections of her first meeting with Finn establishes their instinctive connection and shared love of adventure. Miss Minton’s statement that “people make their own worlds” also conveys one of the key ideas in the book that outlook determines experience, as demonstrated through the Carters’ experience of the Amazon versus Maia’s.

“They knew and understood far more English than they admitted to the Carters—and they spoke with their hands, their eyes. Maia met the little white dog; the parrot sat on her shoulder; they had a tame gecko who lived on a potted palm in the window—and every time her cup was empty, or her plate, it was filled again. She had never met such friendliness. These [Indigenous people] lived the kind of life she had imagined for the twins before she came.”

In contrast to the cold and dreary Carter house, Maia finds comfort and connection with the servants who live in the huts behind the Carters. Maia’s development from isolation to connection is demonstrated through her open-minded willingness to engage with her new environment and its people. The novel portrays a romanticized vision of poverty which matches Maia’s fantasies of the animals and the Amazon jungle before she arrives.

“A boy like Bernard had never happened in his family before. He sent him away to the toughest school he could find, but though the teachers caned him even more than his father had done, and the boys did interesting things to him like squeezing lemon juice into his eyes and piercing the soles of his feet with compass needles, it seemed to make no difference. Bernard went on being quiet, and he went on being terrified of his family, and he went on saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ to the maids.”

Although Bernard was not an orphan, he was ostracized by his family for not sharing their exploitative behavior. He is not loud or demanding, but polite and considerate. For this, the aristocratic boys torture him at boarding school. Bernard’s empathy and affinity for nature set him apart from his family, and he parallels Finn and Maia’s choice to live apart from European society.

“There were Chinese lanterns strung between the trees; the air smelled of orange blossom; music streamed from the windows. Maia had never been in such a sumptuous house. The walls were hung with rich tapestries and paintings of Russian saints framed in gold. Tubs of white lilies and crimson poinsettias were massed on the sides of the staircase; hundreds of wax candles glittered in the crystal chandeliers.”

Through her talent for music and dancing, Maia connects with Sergei Keminsky, a boy who is part of one of the richest families in Manaus. The description of the Keminsky mansion reflects the opulence of the historical setting of Manaus during the rubber boom. Maia’s experience of different ways of life is a part of her development into a more worldly young woman.

“So this was the heir to Westwood—a savage, babbling away in an unearthly tongue! No wonder he had been afraid to take up his rightful place in England! He probably lived in a tree.”

The inspectors’ fear of the unfamiliar is repeatedly emphasized throughout the novel, indicating their limited perspective and fearful experience of their time in the Amazon. This highlights the importance of outlook on experiences, and Trapwood and Low have a very unpleasant time in the Amazon because of their limited perspective.

“‘I remembered what Bernard had said—that I should go away and get an education. He said there were colleges where you could study at night and earn your keep during the day. So I went to London and I did just that. It took me six years to get a degree, but I did it.’ Miss Minton looked away and permitted herself a smile—for she had got not just a degree but a First, which no one had done in that college before.”

Miss Minton and Bernard’s friendship is valuable because they both had a positive influence on the trajectory of each other’s lives. Miss Minton’s loyalty to Bernard and her care for his son Finn lead her into the Amazon in pursuit of a new life, and her intelligence and fortitude also serve as a solid guide to aid Maia’s own transformation.

“Up in the bungalow, the twins thought of nothing but the reward. When would it come, what would they do with it, how could they stop their parents from trying to get a share? Maia heard them still whispering about it when they went to bed. Sometimes their voices rose and they seemed to be on the edge of a quarrel, but then they made it up again because they saw themselves as standing alone against the world.”

The twins’ hubris is apparent in their greed and obsession with the reward money for Finns’ whereabouts, which leads them to be tricked by Maia and ultimately to burn down the bungalow. The twins are depicted as corrupted by greed because of their perspective of alienation instead of connection.

“Though Finn had made it clear that he would not take Maia with him, she could not stop dreaming. It seemed to her that there could be nothing better than to travel on the Arabella on and on and on…To wake at dawn and cook breakfast over a Primus and watch the herons and cormorants dive for fish…to feed logs into the firebox and smell the wood smoke as they caught…And then to chug up the still, dark rivers with the trees leaning over to give shade, or across the sudden white-water lagoons where the water was milky in the sunlight. This was what she had imagined that evening in the school library, sitting on top of the ladder and reading about the treasures that the Amazon would pour into the lap of those who were not afraid.”

Maia imagines her romanticized vision of her life with Finn on the Amazon, revealing her desire to live in connection with people and nature. The series of natural images emphasize the novel’s portrayal of human relationships with nature as key to personal growth and actualization. Maia’s affinity for seeking adventure in the wilderness allows her to overcome her Fear of the Unknown.

“There were girls at school who wanted to ride, and others who wanted to go on the stage, and there was a girl who had made a terrible fuss till she was allowed to learn the oboe—not the flute, not the clarinet, it had to be the oboe. They knew that these things were for them; and Maia knew that boats were for her. Boats, and going on and on and not arriving unless one wanted to.”

Maia is enamored with the popular and romanticized vision of exploration that characterized the early 1900s. The interest in voyages of natural discovery drives many of the characters’ adventures, such as Finn and Maia’s trip on the Rio Negro. Finn’s boat is the place that Maia feels happiness and a sense of belonging.

“Miss Minton saw that lessons went on, but though Maia worked as hard as she had done before, she did so without joy. She didn’t want to read about plants and animals any longer, she wanted to find them. She wanted to be out there in the forest starting a real life, and much as Miss Minton loved books, she understood her.”

Maia’s dissatisfaction with her lessons, which she used to love, signifies her transformation from childhood to adulthood. With Miss Minton’s mentorship, Maia has grown and changed from a dreamer into a worldly young adult who is ready to move into the world independently. At this point in the story, she is ready for a “real life.”

“It was a beautiful river. They travelled between small islands where clumps of white egrets roosted, or clouds of tiny pearl-grey bats flew up from fallen logs. What amazed Maia was how varied the landscape was. Sometimes they sailed through dark, silent jungle where all the animals were out of sight in the topmost branches; sometimes the river wound through gentle countryside, almost like England, where swamp deer grazed in grassy clearings. Once they passed into a patch of scrubland and saw a range of bare, brown hills in the distance before they plunged into the rainforest again.

‘If this is the “Green Hell” of the Amazon, then hell is where I belong,’ said Maia.”

The rich natural imagery of the Amazon is filtered through Maia’s perspective. Her ability to overcome her fear of the Amazon’s dangers and unfamiliarity allows her to immerse herself in its beauty, fully appreciating its varied terrain and animals. Thus, she adapts to her new environment and finds peace in a place that others have found to be downright hellish.

“The jobs she found for them were endless. They had to match her embroidery wool, bring up her breakfast tray and feed Kiki on steak cut exactly into half inch cubes. They were sent to the shops in all weathers, mostly to the chemists, to fetch medicines for whatever she thought might be wrong with her. They had to tidy her underclothes drawer and hook up her bust bodice, and Mrs. Carter had to darn Lady Parsons’ stockings, and take up her hems and trim her hats.

At night the Carters were so tired that when a black beetle walked across the floor of their basement sitting room, Mrs. Carter did not even trouble to get the spray from the pantry.”

In this passage, Mrs. Carter and her daughters end up in Lady Parson’s service, and the listing of their many tasks highlights the drudgery of their new existence. This is ironic because they are forced into servitude as a result of their poor treatment of their own servants and workers in the Amazon. Poetic justice comes full circle when Mrs. Carter finds herself to be too tired from working to waste her remaining energy killing insects, which used to be her only domestic activity.

“The part of the country in which they were last seen is still inhabited by savage tribes, some of them cannibals, not to mention jaguars, pit vipers, caymans and other dangerous predators. It is feared that some serious harm may have befallen the party.

‘So she did survive the fire,’ said Mrs. Carter. They had left Manaus when Maia was still missing.”

Mrs. Carter and the twins are flat characters and never repent or change because of their lived experiences. The twins’ cruel and vindictive nature and poor opinion of Maia are not altered even after their ordeal with the fire and their father’s disgrace. The news clipping’s fearful tone of the dangers of the Amazon reinforces the twins’ attitude of protection and distance from Maia, whose easy friendship with others stirs jealousy and rage in the twins because of the pain of their isolation.

“In the afternoons there was usually an expedition into the forest to collect plants and berries. Maia could never get over how quiet the Xanti were, how careful of the land. They treated every clump of trees or trickle of water as though they were old friends. They could walk barefoot over thorns and through swamps and piles of leaves which might easily have concealed a snake, but somehow they knew that it didn’t.

‘They have wise feet,’ the professor said.”

The Xanti tribe is stereotyped as having a unique and harmonious relationship with the land. This portrayal reflects the colonialist perspectives of the historical period in which the novel is set. Maia’s reflection on the Xanti’s intimate relationship with nature as “old friends” demonstrates her longing for connection that is in part healed through her interactions with plants and animals.

“She realized that adventures, once they were over, were things that had to stay inside one—that no one else could quite understand.”

Maia returns to England and boarding school forever changed by her experiences in the Amazon but unable to connect with her old school friends. The isolation of boarding school is shown to limit its students’ ways of thinking and ability to connect with other people’s unfamiliar experiences. Maia’s sense of isolation at boarding school in contrast with her sense of belonging in the jungle highlights the importance of the human connection with nature for personal growth.