The Wild Robot Protects

Roz is a robot, formerly named “ROZZUM unit 7134.” She lives on a wild island where she cares for her adopted goose son Brightbill and serves as the leader of their community. In book two, Roz’s maternal instincts drive her action as she works to escape Hilltop Farm, reunite with Brightbill, and return to their home on the island. At the end of her journey away from the farm, Roz’s creator, Dr. Molovo, gives her a new, more substantial body, one unique to her alone, and she is no longer just another model number but a singularity. In book three, Roz’s idyllic island is under attack from a mysterious poison tide, and she must spring into action to defend her family and the island creatures from disaster. The challenge forces Roz to look beyond her devotion to her family and community and expand her care and compassion to the wider world. The narrator describes her emotional reaction: “The robot didn’t need water or food to survive, so she didn’t feel the same fear felt by the animals. Instead, she felt something like sadness about the changes happening to the island” (32). Roz’s sentience and capacity to feel something like emotions challenges the stereotypical depiction of robots and embodies the philosophical questions surrounding the development of artificial intelligence.