The Wild Robot

Roz herself is a symbol of the fusion of natural and artificial life. She begins as a symbol of the world outside the island, of the technology and mechanization that humans have introduced into the world of living things. Roz does not need to eat, sleep, or reproduce, unlike the animals and plants of the island. However, she is a castaway on a “deserted” island, meaning an island with no human inhabitants, which is not her intended habitat. Her efforts to transcend her original programming to survive enables her hybridization into a creature that is part of both civilization and wilderness.

Roz becomes a more multi-dimensional character as she adopts more “wildness,” meaning she becomes more like a living being as she takes on the traits of her animal friends. She is less “robotic” and more “feeling.” As Roz sheds her artificial traits and takes on those of the animals around her, her neighbors like her better, which is highly desirable to Roz. Her evolution symbolizes the goodness of nature in comparison with the dispassionate RECOS robots, which symbolize civilization that has not adapted to the wild and is devoid of caring for living creatures that they have not been commanded to serve.