I Am Still Alive

Bo is the wolf-dog companion who becomes essential to helping Jess survive and not feel alone amongst the vast, isolating wilderness. Because Bo is half-wild, he can take care of himself to some extent, but he is still reliant on human shelter and food. When Jess first meets Bo, he growls at her and bares his teeth, and Jess worries that he will attack her and injure her further. Before long, though, Jess is feeding Bo scraps of her meal and forming a bond with him. By the time that her father is killed, Jess and Bo have developed a friendship and an understanding, and Jess depends on him. Bo is loyal and intelligent, and he is willing to work with Jess to help them both survive. He helps Jess haul gear and logs and keeps her warm at night. Jess anthropomorphizes Bo because he is the only living company she has and because she feels that she can understand what he is thinking and feeling. When Bo defends Jess against the wolf-dog and the men, he is injured badly and can no longer walk, and his breathing is labored. Jess attempts to rescue him, but when she realizes that he is beyond saving, she shoots Bo to prevent his further suffering.

Jess’s father is a central figure in her life even though they only know each other for a short time. He remains a static character because he is murdered quite early in the novel, and an idealized image of him is frozen in Jess’s memory. Years earlier, Jess’s father unwittingly became involved in criminal activities when he made friends with the wrong group of people, and he has been mixed up in their affairs ever since. He lives out in the wilderness of Canada in the hopes of avoiding the FBI, and he hides valuable goods that belong to people who are blackmailing him. He only partially explains this situation to Jess, leaving her suspicious of him and wary of getting close to him. Jess also mistrusts her father because he left when she was young and never made contact again.

Jess’s father has built two cabins on a lake, and he has a wolf-dog named Bo for companionship. He welcomes Jess openly and tries to keep the mood light, but Jess resents him and insists on fighting him at every turn. Jess’s father is a survivalist and an outdoorsman, and he believes that the longer Jess lives in the wilderness, the more she will learn to love it. He teaches her how to fish and build a fire, and he keeps a positive attitude despite Jess’s negativity. Occasionally, Jess and her father argue, particularly when Jess’s mother is brought into the conversation. Jess remembers how deeply she loved her father when she was little, and after he dies, she adopts that feeling again. Jess ultimately takes revenge on the men who killed her father because although she did not know him for long, she never stopped loving him.

Griff is the best friend of Jess’s father. He is a static character who exhibits deadpan humor and loyalty. Griff picks Jess up at the airport, which is the first signal to Jess that something isn’t quite right. Griff is a kind and warm person and puts Jess somewhat at ease with his humor and openness about himself. This leads Jess to form an immediate dependence on him. She becomes deeply upset when he leaves her with her father on the island, because it is a sign that she is as alone as she feared. Griff gifts Jess a backpack, notebook, and a set of pens which seem useless to her at first, but which prove essential as she keeps a diary to maintain her own clarity of mind amidst harrowing circumstances. Jess uses the backpack to collect wood for her fires, and she uses the notebook to tell her story and process her grief and trauma. Griff never comes back for Jess, but Jess does go to visit him in the Epilogue and tells him that none of what happened was his fault.