Vola is the strange woman living isolated from the rest of the world on a farm that Peter stumbles upon. As the story unfolds, it is revealed that Vola is held back by guilt and trauma from war, and her self-isolation a form of self-punishment.

Peter's guardian/adoptive parent in Pax: Journey Home. She teaches people about marionettes two days a week at the library. Vola also speaks Haitian Creole, and frequently uses the word dyableman .

Pax is the story’s secondary protagonist: a fox with incredible loyalty to Peter who doesn’t see humans as the enemy. His very existence helps forge a peace between humans and animals. His role is especially significant, as the name Pax means peace.

Vola: A reclusive woman who helps Peter heal physically and emotionally. She has her own past with war. Peter’s Father: A strict and emotionally detached man. His actions set Peter’s journey into motion. Highlights. Thematic Depth: Pax explores crucial themes of war, loyalty, and sacrifice.

Vola then refers to Sinbad “Think about what he wants: to escape” (163) that connects Sinbad and Peter together by the quintessential nature of the human experience. In many ways, Vola is the bird, Roc, and Peter is Sinbad—the one trapped, desperate to escape.

Vola. Vola is the former army medic who had herself made the decision to isolate and disconnect from society until she discovered the injured Peter on her land one day. Recovery from his injuries grew into friendship and a sort of Obi-Wan/Luke kind of relationship.

When Peter breaks his foot, and his quest to find Pax is in great jeopardy, he is rescued by a one-legged female hermit named Vola. This damaged-female-as-savior turns just about every Disney princess story ever written on its head, but the differences do not stop with the gender and the handicap of Vola.

In Chapter 22, as Peter prepared to put on the puppet show for Vola he realized that she was right about being a good teacher. He thought she was wrong, however, about being too dangerous to be around anyone. When Vola came into the barn, Peter was surprised because she was wearing a purple skirt and had combed her hair.

Whether he was dead or alive, he would not let her stop him from getting Pax. Vola agreed to help him as long as he met three conditions. In Chapter 11, Bristle told the story of the death of her parents. They had gone to the humans' farm to try to get mice from the barn for their babies one winter when the snow did not...

After two days of working Peter hard with his crutches, Vola decided it was time to tell Peter about the third condition. She pointed toward the barn and told him he was going to work some puppets for her. She removed the piece of burlap from the wall that had covered what he thought were human heads the first day he had been with Vola.