Stung

Fiona’s characterization parallels the gradual revelation of backstory in Stung. Suffering from amnesia after four years in a comatose state, Fiona is initially an unreliable narrator with regard to her own character traits. Fiona experiences an increasing desire to find firm footing in her strange new circumstances, but upsetting revelations foreshadow how the foundations of her identity are unstable. The reader initially shares in Fiona’s lack of groundedness; even Fo’s name is a mystery until Chapter 2, which contributes to the novel’s mood of confusion and chaos. The reader is left to wonder if Fiona knew her own name before being recognized, or if she needed to hear it aloud as a reassuring mark of identity.

As the novel’s protagonist, Fiona struggles to reestablish her sense of self. Even details of her appearance are presented as circumstantial: She has long blond hair, but Arrin saws it off with a knife; she is “fat” to Arrin, who is starving, but Fiona comments several time on her “concave” stomach. She identifies as female and struggles to feel at home in her suddenly post-pubescent body, but she must pretend to be male for her own safety.