Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands

Katie is the narrator and protagonist of Ducks. Since this is a graphic memoir, she represents the author, Kate Beaton. She is 21 at the start of the book and ages and matures as it progresses. Initially motivated by financial need, Katie grows from naive and innocent to a more jaded and cynical young woman through her experiences in the oil sands. While she loves her hometown and is very attached to it, she is aware that finding her way in the world necessitates leaving, even if she doesn’t truly understand what that means. She is idealistic, studying the humanities and pursuing a cartooning career out of interest rather than pragmatism. She is also inquisitive and continuously questions aspects of the world that others take for granted, like why men in the oil sands behave the way they do.

She is also very dependent on social relationships to survive, emphasizing The Value of Home and Camaraderie. She is most connected to women, especially Lindsay and Becky, though she does grow to understand and empathize with the complex, multifaceted masculinity she encounters in the oil sands. Even if she doesn’t forgive or forget her rapists or agree with absent fathers, she can empathize with the ways gender roles and the remote location alienate these men.