The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Powers, Richard. Bewilderment. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2021.

When the novel begins, 45-year-old Theo Byrne is in the Smoky Mountains with his son, Robin, who is about to turn nine years old. Robin is neurodiverse, and Theo has taken him to the mountains to distract him from the problems he is having with his classmates. The school and Robin's doctors have suggested Theo put Robin on psychoactive medication, but Theo refuses. He believes Robin's behavioral problems are the result of the death of his mother, Alyssa, two years earlier in a car accident. Theo is an astrobiologist studying the possibility of life on other planets. He often tells Robin about fictional planets from science fiction books he has read. Alyssa was an animal rights lawyer, and Robin and Theo say a Buddhist prayer each night in memory of her: “May all sentient beings...be free from needless suffering” (24). In the mountains, Robin and Theo visit a stream where Theo and Alyssa swam on their honeymoon.

On the way back to Madison, Wisconsin where they live, Theo and Robin listen to the audiobook of Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. They also hear news stories about the effects of climate change and the dangerously regressive President of the United States, who has passed an executive order allowing for the arrest of anyone who is critical of his administration. Theo recalls growing up with parents who were negligent because of their addiction and mental health issues. This has contributed to his own insecurities about parenting Robin. As a young man, Theo began drinking heavily, but he turned his life around when he discovered science in college. He met Alyssa while he was studying for his PhD.

Back in Madison, Theo and Robin watch videos of Alyssa online, and Robin is troubled by her comments about endangered species. The next day, Theo goes to work teaching at the University of Wisconsin, but he is interrupted during a class by a call from Robin's school. Theo goes to the school and learns that Robin hit his only friend in the face with a metal thermos. Robin's principal threatens to call social services if Robin's behavior does not improve. Robin tells Theo that the fight at school was caused by his friend telling him that his parents said Alyssa's death was a suicide. Theo assures Robin that Alyssa died because she swerved her car to avoid hitting an animal. He does not tell Robin that Alyssa was pregnant at the time.

Robin tells Theo he wants to paint pictures of every endangered species and sell the paintings at the farmer's market, then donate the proceeds to one of Alyssa's favorite animal charities. Theo agrees, but when Robin insists on staying home from school to continue painting, they have a physical altercation.

Theo recalls visiting the lab of one of Alyssa's ex-boyfriends, a man named Martin Currier, years earlier. He and Alyssa volunteered for an experiment in which Currier monitored their brain scans while they attempted to summon different emotions. Theo was asked to summon grief, while Alyssa summoned ecstasy. These brain scans would be used in something called Decoded Neurofeedback, in which a person with an emotional or mental health condition would attempt to match the activity on the brain scan with their own brain, leading them to experience similar emotions.

Theo visits Currier's lab and tells him about Robin. Currier suggests Robin try the neurofeedback training and Theo agrees, believing this will assuage Robin's principal. Almost immediately after beginning the training, Robin becomes calmer and more empathetic and comfortable with other people.

Robin makes a sign that reads “HELP ME I'M DYING” (125) and asks Theo if he can protest outside the state capitol building. Theo agrees. During the protest, a man confronts Theo and implies he is a bad father, exacerbating Theo's anxiety.

Back at Currier's lab, they use Alyssa's brain scan in Robin's neurofeedback training.

Currier asks Theo if he can include a video clip of Robin with his face blurred in a presentation about neurofeedback training. Theo is unsure but Robin convinces him to allow this because he thinks it could help people. Shortly thereafter, they are approached by a journalist who figured out Robin's identity. She asks for an interview, and once again, Robin convinces Theo to go along with it. The interview goes viral.

Theo and Robin go to Washington D.C. and Theo testifies before a Congressional panel hoping to secure funding for a NASA telescope project. Afterward, Theo and Robin pose outside the Capitol building with a banner Robin made that reads “MAY ALL BEINGS BE FREE FROM SUFFERING” (212). They attract a crowd of people who recognize Robin, and when the police arrive to disperse them, Theo is arrested after yelling at a police officer for touching Robin.

Soon after they arrive back in Madison, they learn that Martin Currier's lab is being shut down by the government because of concerns about the “sanctity of [the] research subjects” (235). When Robin can no longer take part in the neurofeedback training, his emotional and behavioral well-being regresses. He has violent meltdowns, including one where he hits his head against a wall after seeing a video about cattle suffering from an infection. Representatives from social services visit and warn Theo that they are considering intervening in the situation.

Theo decides he will take Robin to the doctor, but first he will take him back to the Smoky Mountains. While there, Theo learns the NASA telescope has lost funding. They notice cairns (piles of rocks) around the stream Theo once swam in with Alyssa. Theo tells Robin the cairns endanger the wildlife in the area. They remove some of the cairns, but Theo tells Robin it is not safe to remove them all. That night, Robin sneaks out of the tent and returns to the stream. Theo finds him beached on a rock, barely breathing. Robin dies.

When Theo returns to Madison, he grieves for Robin. He is contacted by Martin Currier, who invites him to come to the lab to use the neurofeedback scanner with Robin's brain scan. Theo is grateful.