Richard Powers always gives the reader much to contemplate. In Bewilderment, he forced me to consider human relationships, the cosmos, political activism, the ethics of scientific research, and so much more.
My first level of interest was in Robin, the young boy at the center of the story whose school is eager to diagnose him with a disability. Powers attempts to show that perhaps Robins’s supersensitivity to the world’s issues does not need to be corrected or medicated. The author certainly makes a statement about how incompetent the school people are in teaching relevant information that will prepare students to be world citizens in tomorrow’s world. But he also characterizes the school administrators and social services as bureaucratic nincompoops. On a greater scale, teachers and other municipal workers are stereotypes of a society hellbent on pathology. Everybody knows what’s wrong with everybody else.
Another theme of Bewilderment is the concern for the earth and its creatures. Theo, the father and first-person storyteller, is an astrobiologist. He studies the origins, early evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. He combines some of his research with imagination to make up planet stories, uses them to bond with his son, and encourages him to appreciate life in diverse forms. Robin, named after his late mother’s favorite bird, tries to live out her dream of saving animals and the universe. She had been an attorney who actively defended the rights of all creatures.
The most provocative storyline and theme is related to exploring decoded neurofeedback. Powers describes neural imaging and artificial intelligence ( AI) feedback to flesh out the storyline and provoke powerful emotional reactions from readers. While she was alive, Ally, Robin’s mother, entered prompted emotional states while researchers scanned relevant regions of her brain using fMRI (functional MRIs). Marty Currier, a neuroscientist, examined which parts of the brain handled critical functions and evaluated ways to guide her functioning, healthy brain to inform the treatment of brain disorders. After much consternation, Theo, who has misgivings about Currier and is struggling with single parenting a complex child, agrees to let Currier use his innovative brain techniques with Robin. The procedure showed promise as an alternative to psychoactive drugs. Since Currier had the deceased mother’s neural images on file, he and his associates introduced some of her desired brain functionality to Robin. While undergoing such treatments, Robin’s behavior becomes less troublesome and more typical. Additionally, he takes on much of his mother’s personality. There are so many ethical issues with the science described in this novel, and Powers’ writing skills help the reader realize that the world of science is governed by myriad factors in our society, including a strong political influence.
