Chapter 17: Watching, Screaming – Summary and Analysis

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

The chapter opens with Blythe Roberson driving from Flagstaff to Saguaro National Park outside Tucson. She notes the surprising political diversity of the area, seeing both pro-Bernie and pro-Trump bumper stickers, before arriving at the park. A ranger gives her a “Not So Junior Ranger” booklet, implying that many adults seek the badges. Roberson hikes the Mica View Trail, marveling at the saguaros—cacti that can live two hundred years but face threats from development, climate change, and cactus theft. She learns that saguaros are stolen for the black market (up to $100 per foot) and that the cactus craze endangers rare species. Later, on the Desert Ecology Trail, she discovers how saguaros support woodpeckers, owls, bats, and deer.

Returning to her car, Roberson reflects on her own attraction to Western aesthetics, questioning whether it stems from childhood media like How the West Was Fun or from a deeper appropriation of Native culture. She compares herself to Georgia O’Keeffe, another Midwestern transplant, and wonders if all white settlers in the West are chasing a fantasy of being original inhabitants.

The next day she drives six and a half hours to Guadalupe Mountains National Park in Texas, listening to news of Robert Mueller’s testimony. She feels relief at being disconnected from the constant news cycle. She camps at the park and then visits Carlsbad Caverns, descending into the Big Room. There, surrounded by tourists, she reflects on how the road trip has stripped away her identity markers—clothes, books, hobbies—and that back home the trip itself will become a label. She considers how domestic travel in America feels canonical, unlike international travel, and how the country’s sheer size and diversity make sense when experienced by car.

Returning to Guadalupe Mountains, she hikes to Smith Spring at sunset, finding an unexpected oasis. The chapter concludes with a meditation on patriotism. Roberson argues that feeling shame about America’s injustices does not diminish love for the country; instead, rigorously criticizing failures is itself a patriotic act. She recalls driving through South Dakota and being overwhelmed by the landscape’s beauty, and invokes Joan Didion’s idea that a place belongs to whoever loves it most radically. In the end, she affirms that the United States contains both beauty and deep flaws, and that engaging with that complexity is the truest form of patriotism.

Key Events

Roberson arrives at Saguaro National Park and receives a “Not So Junior Ranger” booklet.
She hikes the Mica View Trail and learns about saguaro ecology and the black-market cactus trade.
She walks the Desert Ecology Trail, discovering animals that depend on saguaros.
Roberson reflects on her own Western-themed possessions and the cultural appropriation behind them.
She drives to Guadalupe Mountains National Park, camps, and then visits Carlsbad Caverns.
At Carlsbad, she descends into the Big Room and contemplates how travel reshapes personal identity.
She hikes to Smith Spring in Guadalupe Mountains at sunset.
The chapter ends with a sustained reflection on what it means to be a critical patriot.

Character Development

The narrator, Blythe Roberson, continues to evolve as a self-aware traveler. In this chapter, she confronts her own complicity in consumer culture (buying cactus-themed items and Western décor) and her possible participation in cultural appropriation. She also undergoes a shift in her relationship to national identity: earlier in the book she felt ashamed of America; here she works toward a more nuanced patriotism that holds both love and critique. The road trip itself becomes a character—it strips away her usual markers of identity, temporarily freeing her from the pressure to perform “who she is” through clothes or books, while also threatening to turn the trip into yet another label once she returns home.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Cactus theft and commodification. The black-market trade in saguaros symbolizes how nature is monetized and how consumer demand—especially from people like Roberson who own cactus tattoos and shirts—can threaten ecosystems.

Settler colonialism and cultural appropriation. Roberson explicitly asks whether white people’s love for Southwestern aesthetics is a fantasy of being the original inhabitants, thereby erasing Native history. The repeated use of “white lady” and references to Georgia O’Keeffe underscore the tension between appreciation and appropriation.

Domestic travel as patriotic ritual. Roberson notes that the National Park Service was founded in part to inspire love of country. Her own journey confirms that seeing America’s diversity of landscape and people can foster a complex patriotism.

Identity and performance. At Carlsbad Caverns, Roberson realizes she has lost her usual methods of signaling identity. Travel forces her to confront who she is without external markers, and she worries that the trip itself will become a Hinge-cliché.

Beauty amid brokenness. The chapter repeatedly juxtaposes breathtaking natural beauty (saguaro forests, cave chambers, desert oases) with the ugly realities of theft, climate change, and historical violence. The concluding reflection holds these contradictions together.

Why This Chapter Matters

“Watching, Screaming” serves as the book’s emotional and intellectual pivot. After months of travel, Roberson directly confronts the tension between loving America and being ashamed of it. She rejects the idea that patriotism belongs only to those who ignore the country’s failures, and instead offers a definition of patriotism rooted in rigorous criticism and active work toward justice. The chapter also deepens the book’s environmental critique by showing how even well-meaning nature lovers (like the narrator) can participate in harmful consumer cycles. Finally, Roberson’s reflections on identity and travel set the stage for the book’s final destinations, where she will have to decide what kind of American she wants to be.

Study Questions and Answers

1. How does Roberson’s experience at Saguaro National Park challenge her earlier assumptions about political division in America?
She is surprised to see both pro-Trump and Bernie bumper stickers in Arizona before it turns blue. This makes her realize that “the country really is more purple than we’re made to believe”—a key insight that complicates the narrative of red vs. blue and reinforces the book’s theme of heterogeneity.

2. What does the “Not So Junior Ranger” program reveal about the park’s visitors?
The program exists because so many adults try to earn Junior Ranger badges. It shows that national parks attract not only children but also adults eager to participate in a ritual of learning and play. Roberson finds it both amusing and slightly offensive, reflecting the awkwardness of adult tourism.

3. How does Roberson redefine patriotism in this chapter?
She argues that criticizing the United States—its racism, sexism, environmental destruction—is not anti-American but patriotic. Loving the country requires a clear-eyed view of its past and present, and working to build a nation that lives up to its democratic ideals. She explicitly rejects the notion that only Trump supporters can celebrate America.

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