Ecotopia

Marissa Brightcloud, whom Weston meets while investigating Ecotopian logging practices, is the first Ecotopian woman who responds positively to him. While the women he has encountered previously have had negative reactions for reasons that are unfathomable to Weston, Marissa introduces him to the frank bluntness that is characteristic of Ecotopians, asking plainly, shortly after meeting him, “Do you want to make love with me?” (52), thereby initiating their relationship.

Professionally, Marissa assists Weston in getting the stories he needs, initially introducing him to the atmosphere of the forest camp, and then later taking him to the Ritual War Games that become such a key and contentious aspect of Ecotopian life for him. However, the more important impact Marissa has on Weston is in his personal life. She is arguably the most important catalyst in Weston’s gradual acceptance and later embrace of Ecotopian customs. Still fairly early in their relationship, in his May 23rd journal entry, Weston writes, “Marissa’s got positively hypnotic powers: when she’s here I lose track of time, obligations, my American preconceptions” (68). This last item, especially, makes room for Weston to open up more to the society around him.

Throughout their time together, Marissa also serves as a point of contrast with the American women he is closest to: Francine, his current girlfriend, and his ex-wife, Pat. It is precisely the ways in which Marissa stands apart from them—her independence and bull-headedness—that make her so attractive to Weston, and that in turn make the society that helped form her as a person seem more attractive to him.

While she serves as a corrective force at times, butting heads with Weston when she feels he is out of line, she also knows when to pull back and let him come to his own conclusions. This is most apparent at the end of the novel, at the resort where Weston’s kidnappers have taken him, when it is revealed that she “had come down late the day before, but they had told her they thought I was about to ‘break through,’ as they put it, and she had decided she didn’t want to influence the process by her presence” (165). Her delicate handling of the situation makes it possible for Weston to make the decision on his own, so that it can last. If Weston is the clear protagonist, it is equally clear that Marissa is the second most important character in the novel.

Francine remains largely on the outside of the narrative in Ecotopia, and yet she serves an important purpose, helping to reveal Weston’s character at various moments throughout and allowing the reader to chart Weston’s progression as a character. Because she is not really given a voice, Francine remains static, which helps highlight the dynamic nature of the protagonist. Early on, Weston finds himself missing Francine, primarily as a sexual partner, rather than an emotional one, wishing to “import Francine” like an artifact or tradable good, and even then, “just for a day or two” (16).

Later, she functions as a sort of agent of contrast for Marissa, so that Weston can contextualize what makes Marissa so fascinating to him, comparing the two: “It is as if Francine possesses the signs or signals that are supposed to mean sexuality and vitality; Marissa just has sexuality and vitality” (107). By comparing the two multiple times throughout the novel and reflecting on what Weston gets out of each relationship, Francine actually becomes an important factor in his ultimate decision to stay in Ecotopia.

Bert Luckman is an Ecotopian science and politics writer for the San Francisco Times, and one of the first friends Weston makes in Ecotopia, first appearing in the novel in Weston’s May 8th journal entry. Being a well-travelled and sharp journalist gives Bert an air of familiarity that Weston can relate to, and their initial conversation quickly turns from pleasantries to more personal matters, an important outlet for Weston, who otherwise feels isolated in those initial days.

As the novel progresses, Bert is a key figure in a number of ways. He encourages Weston to move into the Cove, the journalist commune where he lives, which is one of Weston’s first steps in integrating more fully with Ecotopian society. He provides necessary guidance and context for Weston as he struggles to understand Ecotopia, and he is a source of tension and conflict after Weston eschews his advice on the Ritual War Games piece. He prompts the Helicopter War discussion that reveals a hidden aspect of the history of Ecotopian-U.S. relations, and prompts deep reflection on Weston’s journalistic ethics. Finally, after Weston is kidnapped, Bert is the one who speaks to the kidnappers on Weston’s behalf, ultimately deciding it is in Weston’s best interest and reassuring him, without which Weston might have resisted harder and missed his opportunity to “break through” to the epiphany that he wants to stay in Ecotopia. 

The Ecotopian President, Vera Allwen, while only really present in a couple of scenes in Ecotopia, plays an important role in the novel, providing some key insights into Ecotopia’s culture and values early on, and then propelling the narrative forward to its climax late in the novel.

The first time we really meet Allwen as a character is in Weston’s May 10th journal entry, when he sees her on TV. In the dedication of the solar power plant she reveals the characteristic Ecotopian de-emphasis of authority, blending in with the rest of those gathered, as well as highlighting the transparency in government Ecotopia strives to embody.

Later, while still largely absent from the narrative, her presence remains an influence on Weston as a source of anxiety, since he knows he needs to interview her, and as time wears on, the tension of whether or not he will get the interview mounts. It is almost as if there is some test he must pass first, though no one will tell him what it is. After his participation in the War Games, he finally is granted an audience with her, as if she were waiting for him to fully immerse himself in Ecotopian society to maximize the level of receptiveness he would possess. Even so, Weston leaves the interaction feeling like “she was disappointed, had expected more” (147). Ostensibly, it is his failure to get the commitments he wants from this meeting that sends him into the depression that facilitates his breakthrough, though it seems more likely he is displacing his feelings about leaving Marissa onto the interaction, and avoiding his actual feelings.