Odder

This brief section functions as the epilogue to the narrative. As Otter #209 is released back into the wild and Odder watches, hopeful and proud, this moment symbolizes the conclusion of Odder’s character arc and reflects the resolution of the novel’s core themes of Bravery and Healing After Trauma and The Rewards and Risks of Life in the Wild. The section title, “coda,” connotes an added ending in a musical composition and evokes a gentle, lyrical mood, which complements the hopeful, uplifting tone of the novel’s final poem.

The final poem’s title parallels the title of Part 2’s final poem (Poem 116), “how to say goodbye to an otter.” The additional parenthetical in Poem 164’s title indicates the change in perspective here: Instead of observing the release of an otter pup from a human’s perspective, the narrator instead observes it through an animal perspective in Part 4.