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1-Page Summary of The Soul Of An Octopus
Overall Summary
The Soul of an Octopus is a nonfiction book written by Sy Montgomery. Inspired by her visit to an aquarium, she explores the intelligence of octopuses and speculates on their emotional and rational capabilities. She also educates the reader about octopuses’ often mysterious physiology while forming strong bonds with several creatures. The book was a finalist in 2015 for a National Book Award.
Montgomery begins by describing her interactions with an octopus named Athena at the New England Aquarium in Boston, Massachusetts. She is fascinated by what she learns about these creatures and how they are different from the myths surrounding them. After only a few visits, however, Athena unexpectedly dies. The aquarium acquires a new octopus named Octavia who is initially shy but warms up to Montgomery after some time. Montgomery accompanies Octavia’s keeper Bill Murphy when he feeds her and interacts with the young octopus through touch because an octopus has arms that contain many of its neurons which allows it to taste, feel and grip things as well as analyze chemicals on other objects such as people’s hands.
Montgomery leaves on a book tour, and when she returns, Octavia seems to be aging. Octopuses live for only about five years. The aquarium acquires another octopus named Kali who is younger than Octavia. Montgomery also meets several people at the aquarium who become her friends: Wilson, a volunteer with great skills with octopuses; and others including staff members like Bill.
Octavia lays eggs in the summer, and she guards them until they hatch. She stops hunting for food and starves herself to death soon after her children are born. Montgomery takes lessons on scuba diving so that she can observe octopuses in their natural habitat. Shortly after her return from a trip to the Caribbean Sea, Kali is moved into a larger tank because she had outgrown her old one. The next morning, however, they find her dead on the floor of it; somehow she squeezed through a pipe hole and died outside of it.
In January, a new octopus arrives. She is named Karma and she becomes the next subject in Bill’s study. Montgomery is very interested in these creatures because of their intelligence and feels like they’re her friends. Octavia dies after living for two years, but Montgomery continues to be fascinated by them as well as curious about whether or not they have consciousness.
The book ends with Montgomery returning to the aquarium. She also continues her octopus research and explores whether octopuses have consciousness and a soul.
Chapter 1: “Athena: Encountering the Mind of a Mollusk”
The first chapter starts with the author’s story of her first encounter with Athena, the giant Pacific octopus. The author talks about how she visited Athena’s home at New England Aquarium in Boston and was introduced to this creature by Scott Dowd, who works there.
In the early part of the chapter, Montgomery describes how octopuses have been portrayed in Western culture as monsters. From Icelandic folklore to Hollywood horror films, they are seen as evil sea creatures. However, Athena is “beautiful and benign”, despite being very different from humans. She has no backbone and her head is between her body and limbs; she can instantly change shape, color, and texture; 60% of her neurons are in her arms rather than in her brain.
Octopuses are very intelligent and have different personalities. They also interact with people, liking some more than others. Scientists have proven that they do this, but it is still controversial because many scientists don’t believe animals can think or feel emotions at all. The author of the article is aware of this controversy and doesn’t want to anthropomorphize them, but she says her octopus named Athena was leading her to a new way of thinking about these things.
