Ann Patchett’s novel State of Wonder raises a variety of ethical questions that concern human relationships, science, and culture. None of these questions have easy answers, which suggests that answers to these ethical quandaries simply do not exist. The enquiry process, however, is extremely meaningful, as demonstrated by the development of the character of Dr. Marina Singh. At the start of the novel, Marina is tormented by her painful early life, but she does not examine her feelings of loss closely until her nightmares force her to do so. When she does interrogate her experiences by asking herself difficult questions about her identity and her past, Marina is able to heal, proving that there is power in asking difficult questions though they may not have easy answers.

Questions of ethics and morality provide the subtext of many of the interactions between different characters in the novel. Marina’s medical school misstep, which results in the blinding of a newborn baby, is the result of a difficult decision; her fear for the mother’s life leads her to defy the orders of her mentor, making her defiance reasonable. Later, while in the Amazon jungle, Marina grapples again with questions of ethics as she seeks to understand the boundaries of her role as a doctor in the rainforest. To Dr. Swenson, Western medical intervention is disruptive to the culture of the tribes who live in the Amazon and to the course of nature; to Marina, her medical training has given her a responsibility to help people and save lives. These interests come into conflict time and time again, giving readers many opportunities to decide for themselves what is right and what is wrong.

Dreams play a significant role in State of Wonder, both literally and symbolically, offering insight into characters’ mindsets as they grapple with emotional and ethical dilemmas. Marina’s nightmares of her father reflect her dreams of a life where her father is a regular and reliable presence. These bad dreams are a side effect of Lariam, the anti-malarial drug Marina must take in preparation for her visits to her father in India; because the drug could save her life, Marina must experience the pain of the nightmares in order to maintain her relationship with her father. Easter, the young Hummoccan boy, also experiences nightmares, and this shared pain bonds him with Marina. They share a room at Dr. Swenson’s research station, and Marina wakes up at night whenever Easter has a terrible nightmare. Because he is deaf and mute, Easter cannot explain his dreams to Marina, but she does not need to understand the content of the dreams to appreciate the depth of his pain. Marina regularly comforts Easter in the night, and they sleep beside each other until morning, providing each other with the human comfort and warmth they did not receive from their parents.

For Marina, love and longing for her father are tied up in heartache and trauma, foreshadowing her adult relationship with Mr. Fox. Mr. Fox is significantly older than Marina, and his attachment to her also appears ambivalent; he cares deeply for Marina, but he sends her away to Brazil, where his last employee lost his life, just as Marina’s father cares for Marina but abandons her for a new life back in his home country of India. By attaching herself to an older man whose attachment to her is complicated by professional expectations, Marina conflates her love for her missing father with her love for Mr. Fox.

Matters become more complicated when Marina becomes aware of Dr. Swenson’s dishonesty and her seemingly unethical misuse of...