West with Giraffes

“If it goes extinct, too, with my old bag of bones, that’d be a crying shame—my shame. Because if ever I could claim to have seen the face of God, it was in the colossal faces of those giraffes. And if ever I should be leaving something behind, it’s this story for them and for you.”

Here, Rutledge takes on the voice of the narrator to present the motivation for writing the book: to protect and promote the value of giraffes. Woodrow characterizes the giraffes as "the face of God," highlighting their sublime qualities. This quote directly asks the reader to consider the preservation of giraffes as a valuable species throughout their reading of the novel.

“Problem was, whenever I locked eyes with an animal I felt something more soulful than I ever felt from the humans I knew, and what I saw in that sprawled giraffe’s eye made me ache to the bone.”

Woodrow was taught to see animals as expendable, particularly in comparison with the supreme value of human life. However, Woodrow has a natural inclination to love animals. This quote highlights Woodrow’s perspective as special and foreshadows the passion with which he will defend the giraffes. This quote characterizes Woodrow as deeply empathetic.

“I stared after the giraffes, knowing the moment I wasn’t thinking about them I’d be forced to face my sudden return to life as a stray-dog boy. Other creatures’ miracles don’t mean a thing when you’re still working on your own. As the trucks got smaller and smaller, my wandering, wretched future got bigger and bigger.”

In this quote, Rutledge symbolizes the giraffes as Woodrow’s hope for the future. He is determined to change his life and rightly identifies that he can’t think of others if he is still trying to survive. By putting the care of the giraffes first, Woodrow can start a new chapter in his own life. He sees the giraffes as the key to a brighter future.