The following version of the novel was used to create this study guide: Gay, Roxane. An Untamed State. Black Cat, November 20, 2018. Kindle.

In the historical fiction novel An Untamed State by Roxane Gay, Mireille Duval Jameson, a Haitian native and American citizen, was kidnapped when she visited her wealthy parents in Haiti. Because her father, Sebastian Duval, refused to pay the ransom, Mireille was held captive for 13 days. During that time, she was starved, raped, and beaten. The novel details Mireille’s struggle to stay in charge of herself while in captivity and her fight to get back to herself and her family after she was released.

Mireille and her husband, Michael, were leaving her parents’ gated estate when Mireille was taken at gunpoint. Their infant son, Christophe, was in the backseat. People stood around watching the kidnapping, but no one stepped forward to help. When Michael ran back to his in-laws’ house, Sebastian called a negotiator and ordered Michel to calm down. For Haitians, kidnappings occur regularly and are handled like business transactions. Because Sebastian feared he would put the rest of his family in jeopardy if he paid the ransom too quickly, he refused to pay to have his daughter returned.

Meanwhile, Mireille warned the Commander, the man in charge of the gang that kidnapped her, that her father would not pay the ransom. When the Commander ordered her to call her father and ask to be released, Mireille refused to cry and beg her father to pay the money. For that reason, the Commander ordered his men to rape Mireille. She was gang-raped through most of one night before she was taken to the Commander who raped her and used a lit cigarette to burn between her thighs.

In the course of Mireille’s captivity, she began to feel as if she were an animal being kept in a cage. She felt betrayed and abandoned because her father refused to pay her ransom. One of the men, TiPierre, bought the rights to exclusively have sex with Mireille. Mireille struggled the most with him because he was kind to her and treated her like a lover. Mireille refused to pretend that he was doing anything but raping her even though it might have been easier for her to handle it in the present.

When Sebastian continued to refuse to pay Mireille’s ransom, the Commander suggested that if he were to kidnap Christophe, perhaps, Sebastian would pay. To protect her son, Mireille sacrificed herself. She told the Commander that she would stay with him as long as he left her son alone. Mireille had resigned herself to the idea that she would spend the rest of her life in captivity when her father finally paid her ransom. She had forced herself to forget about her memories of herself as Mireille. At points, she even referred to herself in the third person, indicating that she has left the life she had as Mireille behind.

One morning, the Commander announced to Mireille that her father had finally paid her ransom. Before he let her go, he raped her one final time. Mireille indicated that during this final sexual encounter, she had died within herself because she decided to show the Commander mercy and not fight against him since he was letting her go.

After Mireille was reunited with her husband, she was afraid of him even though she knew he would not hurt her. She lashed out at her father for not rescuing her sooner. She, Michael, and the baby returned to America the following day. Even though Mireille was back in America, she still feared that the Commander would find her and take her back into captivity. She left her home in Miami and drove to her in-laws’ house where she stayed for six months while she healed.

Michael struggled to know how to best help his wife. He was stressed by what he had experienced. He also felt ashamed of himself because he had not vindicated Mireille when he had the opportunity. Victor, Mireille’s cousin, took Michael to TiPierre, one of the men responsible for hurting Mireille so badly. Michael beat TiPierre up, but because that man’s infant son was in the room, he was unable to kill him. With time, Michael helped Mireille to understand that he did not consider her damaged and that he did want to spend the rest of his life with her.

Years later, Michael and Mireille returned to Haiti to visit Mireille’s parents. Mireille had intended to tell her father everything that had happened to her while she was in captivity. Instead, she told him that she forgave him. It was a lie, but she had come to realize that telling him what had happened would not make her feel any more alive.

Shortly after Michael and Mireille returned from Haiti, Mireille recognized that the man who was working in a restaurant where they were eating was the Commander. She confronted him outside the restaurant while he was smoking. He stood and allowed her to beat him. Michael pulled his wife off the man and asked who he was. When Michael saw how angry and frightened Mireille was of the man, he understood that he had something to do with the kidnapping. Michael moved toward the Commander, but he ran away. It was at this moment that Mireille realized how weak the Commander really was. She asked Michael to stay with her instead of going after the man who hurt her.