Pax, Journey Home

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death and animal death.

Pax is one of the two protagonists in Pax, Journey Home and offers one of the two perspectives used to tell the story. He has changed a lot in the year since he last saw Peter, with the biggest change being that he becomes a parent. As soon as the kits are born, he puts his own needs aside and swears to do anything possible to keep his babies safe. Throughout the novel, Pax is faced with the challenge of protecting his daughter, developing the theme of Parental Love and Sacrifice. He is protective, gentle, loving, and instructive, teaching his daughter how to make her way in the world.

Pax’s journey also involves reconnecting with humanity in general and Peter in particular. One potential danger to the foxes is humans. The war caused a great deal of damage and loss for them and the other animals in the woods. However, Pax has a unique perspective and is “not afraid of humans. He had lived with a boy, and he had loved that boy and had learned the humans’ ways, and their ways had been his ways for most of his life” (46).