Since Furiosa tells such a massive story that spans a huge swath of Furiosa’s life, it was divided into chapters to give greater insight into particularly important parts of her story. Each chapter saw Furiosa at a different moment, and as essentially a different person, considering how much she went through. Because of that and how much ground the movie covers, Furiosa is essentially five short stories chronicling her life. Each chapter had something to say about how Furiosa became “the darkest of angels,” and their titles give some insight into what each step of that journey was really about.
The Pole of Inaccessibility
Furiosa’s Story Began With Her Being Completely Isolated
The first chapter of Furiosa, “The Pole of Inaccessibility,” saw Furiosa and her mother, Mary Jabassa, fighting Dementus’ gang both to escape back to the Green Place, and to keep its location secret. While Mary and Furiosa did manage to keep the Green Place a secret, they failed to escape, and Mary was tortured and killed while Furiosa was taken as Dementus’ prisoner. It was a decidedly dark and hopeless start to her story, and it has a fittingly solitary title to accompany it.
“The Pole of Inaccessibility” is one of Furiosa‘s most vague and thematically rich chapter titles. In the real world, a pole of inaccessibility is a term used in geography to describe the point on a landmass or ocean that is furthest away from the nearest coastline. For example, the pole of inaccessibility of Australia is where the ocean is as far away as possible in every direction, which is nearly in the center of the continent, West of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.
Much like a pole of inaccessibility, Furiosa was completely isolated.
“The Pole of Inaccessibility” as a title in Furiosa could be a literal reference to the geographical concept, as both the Green Place and Dementus’ group were located very far inland in Australia. The beginning of the movie could have taken place at the continent’s actual pole of inaccessibility, but it likely has a much more nuanced meaning.
After her mother’s death, Furiosa was completely alone in the world. She had been taken from the Many Mothers and her sister at the Green Place, the only home she had ever known, and put in the midst of strange people who wanted to do her harm. Much like a pole of inaccessibility, Furiosa was completely isolated. “The Pole of Inaccessibility” put her in the middle of nowhere, which set up the rest of Furiosa and Mad Max: Fury Road, as she spent the next several years trying to get back to the Green Place.
Lessons from the Wasteland
Furiosa Learned To Be Brutal By Watching Dementus
The next chapter of Furiosa, “Lessons from the Wasteland,” picked up a fairly significant time after “The Pole of Inaccessibility.” Furiosa was still in Dementus’ captivity, but her hair had noticeably grown out, and she was much more resigned to her fate as a prisoner. “Lessons from the Wasteland” saw Furiosa traveling with Dementus’ gang and seeing how they brutalized the wasteland. A great scene that illustrated that brutality was Dementus’ initiation ritual, in which he forced his victims to fight to the death and execute one of their own by quartering him for a chance to join the gang.
Eventually, Dementus and his gang took control of Gas Town by hijacking one of Immortan Joe’s rigs and using it to hide some of their members. Then, when they made a play to extort Joe, it turned out that Joe wanted Furiosa to be one of his breeders. Dementus agreed to sell her in exchange for a better deal on food. After Immortan Joe started grooming Furiosa to be one of his breeders, his son, Rictus, started to take an interest in her. To save herself from Rictus, Furiosa cut her hair off and went into hiding, marking a major step in her.
Throughout the chapter, Furiosa was watching intently, even when Dementus allowed her to close her eyes. As the title “Lessons from the Wasteland” suggests, Furiosa was learning about how brutal the world beyond the Green Place was, and how to survive in it. During her time with Dementus, Furiosa learned that brutality was the most effective language of the wasteland, and that those who survive are the ones who are willing to kill. During her time at the Citadel, Furiosa learned that the only person who would protect her was herself, and that if she was to survive, she had to sacrifice who she once was.
The Stowaway
Furiosa Was A Stowaway On The War Rig, But She Needed To Be A Road Warrior
The lessons Furiosa learned in “Lessons from the Wasteland” informed the next chapter of her journey, “The Stowaway.” For years, Furiosa hid herself as one of Immortan Joe’s workers, biding her time until she could escape. That chance came when the War Rig was finally completed and Praetorian Jack took it to make a delivery. To escape, Furiosa chained herself to the undercarriage of the truck, along with a motorcycle and some supplies.
Furiosa was somewhere between the little girl at the start of the movie and the “fifth rider of the apocalypse” she would become at the end.
“The Stowaway” seems like the most straightforward of Furiosa‘s chapter titles, but it’s also possible to read into it further. Furiosa’s plan to escape via the bottom of the War Rig literally made her a stowaway, as she wasn’t a known passenger, but how it actually played out made her much more than that. The War Rig was attacked, and Furiosa fought well enough that she even caught the attention of Praetorian Jack. He then offered to help her learn to wage Road War, which hinted at the true meaning of this chapter being called “The Stowaway.”
The Furiosa shown in Fury Road was a wrathful warrior, but in “The Stowaway,” Furiosa was far from a legendary fighter. Because she wasn’t who she had to become yet, “The Stowaway” acts as a mid-point for Furiosa, as she was being far too passive in her own escape. Furiosa was somewhere between the little girl at the start of the movie and the “fifth rider of the apocalypse” she would become at the end during “The Stowaway.” While she fought valiantly during the attack on the War Rig, Furiosa still had quite a bit of development left, and much more pain left to endure.
Homeward
Furiosa Was Ready To Return To The Green Place, But She Hadn’t Found True Fury Yet
“Homeward” brought Furiosa closer to the person she was supposed to be, but it didn’t get her all the way there quite yet. This chapter showed Furiosa after another significant amount of time that she spent learning from Praetorian Jack. Through their various journeys in the War Rig, Furiosa had learned all the combat skills she needed to survive the trip to the Green Place, and Jack told her that she was ready to go. Before they could leave together, though, Dementus ambushed them at the Bullet Farm, tortured and killed Jack, and was the reason Furiosa lost her arm.
Dementus’ interference ties directly into this chapter’s title. Furiosa was finally homeward-bound, she had the skills she needed, and she was ready to make her escape with Jack. They were so close to freedom, and Furiosa was so close to her home, before Dementus took that from her as well. If it hadn’t been for his plans to take over the three fortresses of the wasteland, Furiosa’s story might have ended very differently. In an odd way, though, Dementus actually helped Furiosa in “Homeward,” as she still needed one final thing to become the character she was in Fury Road.
Furiosa may have been capable of leaving in “Homeward,” but she hadn’t truly lived up to the fury her name is based on yet. She was obviously filled with rage over what Dementus had done, but it hadn’t consumed her yet. Furiosa was named after fury, and she essentially acts as its physical embodiment, so she couldn’t let Dementus, the man who had taken everything from her, walk away. Furiosa had one final challenge to overcome and one final transformation to make before she was ready to return to the Green Place.
Beyond Vengeance
Furiosa Inflicted A Fate Far Worse Than Mere Revenge On Dementus
Dementus’ fate showed that this chapter truly was “Beyond Vengeance,” it was Furiosa’s rebirth.
After Dementus’ takeover of the Bullet Farm, Furiosa warned Immortan Joe of his plans, and the 40-day Wasteland War began. Furiosa got her mechanical arm, which completed her physical transformation into her Fury Road character, but she still had one last step to take to truly become that warrior. Furiosa set out to finally get her revenge on Dementus, and become the human form of fury. After an intense standoff in the wasteland, Furiosa ultimately settled on a fate for him: she planted the seed she had carried with her from the Green Place in Dementus’ abdomen, turning him into food for the tree.
Dementus’ fate showed that this chapter truly was “Beyond Vengeance,” it was Furiosa’s rebirth. She took all the lessons she learned over the course of the movie and used them against Dementus. She literally went beyond vengeance: Furiosa didn’t simply kill Dementus, she kept him alive to torture him for years to come. She didn’t give him the release of death, she turned him into a different form of life. Furiosa got so much more than vengeance, she got even on an existential level. Furiosa destroyed everything Dementus stood for, and made him live as a husk of what he used to be.
By the end of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Furiosa had finally completed her journey to Mad Max: Fury Road. It was a massive road to get there, though, and one that spanned several years. Luckily, the chapters and their titles helped guide Furiosa along the path, and even added more meaning to her revenge quest. Understanding the meaning behind Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga‘s chapter titles makes the movie even more thought-provoking and poignant, which is an impressive feat indeed.
