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Chapter 25
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Hunting by Stars, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Community and Identity
Resistance, Survival, and Hope
Dehumanization and Trauma
Language, Memory, and Legacy
Colonial Dominance vs. Healing with Nature
Summary
Analysis
Back at the institution, Frenchie lies awake all night thinking of Sunny. He resolves to die rather than betray someone again. Frenchie feels as terrible as he did after shooting the accomplice of the man who killed Riri—both men were Indigenous traitors, like he is now. A Watchmen retrieves Frenchie in the early morning and leads him to a meeting room where Agent Mellin, Mitch, and others debrief the mission. Mellin is pleased with their performance. A man who looks familiar begins reading a report of Frenchie and Mitch’s actions in the camp. Frenchie realizes the man is JP, whose real name is Agent Parisien. Frenchie feels overwhelming relief, believing Therese and Sunny must have been actors too.
Frenchie knows now that no personal goal is worth betraying others. Frenchie reflects that he has become just like the men responsible for Riri’s death who he killed, making him a hypocrite in addition to a traitor. The reveal that JP was an undercover Agent observing Frenchie and Mitch’s performance relieves Frenchie, who believes the entire mission was a set-up, meaning he hasn’t done any real harm.
Themes
Mellin asks Mitch and Frenchie if they have any notes. Frenchie mentions the unlikelihood of a runner using store-bought cigarettes, but he withholds further comments after realizing he’s helping them improve their disguises. Parisien praises Mitch’s determination to keep the group together and Frenchie’s physical restraint of Sunny. Mellin is pleased both “targets” were captured, meaning Therese and Sunny weren’t actors after all. Mellin dismisses everyone. Frenchie feels like a traitor once again, recalling Sunny’s innocent trust and kindness. He recites the isolation inmates’ letters in his room, waiting for the next mission to begin.
In his relief, Frenchie does further harm by sharing information that will help the institute improve their disguises when they are infiltrating fugitive groups. That Parisien applauds Frenchie for restraining Sunny confirms that this was a morally reprehensible action. The realization that Therese and Sunny were actual runaways reignites Frenchie’s guilt, as he must reckon with the consequences of betraying a vulnerable little girl who trusted him. That he turns to the inmates’ words for comfort suggests he is trying to convince himself that he hasn’t completely lost his identity.
Themes
Later, in the prep room, Mellin informs Frenchie that Mitch will be accompanying him to infiltrate his former family. Mellin gives Frenchie a list of repercussions should their mission fail: if either of them try to run, alert the target, or ignore instructions, they and the targets will be “terminated.” They will be monitored by remote surveillance. Additionally, if the mission fails outright, neither Mitch nor Frenchie will return to the school but will instead be killed. Mitch is unperturbed given the reward for success is a promotion. Frenchie had planned on subduing the other agent and running, but he sees now that the only way to escape without harming Mitch is to convince him to run too.
Again, Mellin seems to sense Frenchie’s hesitance and sends Mitch along to force obedience, assuming Frenchie won’t do anything to endanger his brother. The threat of being killed should they fail is also an effective motivator and reveals how far the schools are willing to go to ensure compliance in their double agents. That the threat doesn’t unnerve Mitch suggests he is accustomed to such cold dehumanization. Frenchie, on the other hand, knows that his life (and likely everyone else’s) now depends on him convincing Mitch to betray the schools.
Themes
Frenchie imagines convincing his family to trust Mitch. As a traitor himself, he isn’t sure they’ll even accept him back. The GPS tracker is gone from Mitch’s pack, at least. In the van, Frenchie confirms his cover story: he’ll say he spoke to no one his entire time in the school but heard contented voices. After the drop-off, Frenchie and Mitch spend the day walking toward their targets’ last known location before making camp. Mitch complains of hunger, but Frenchie reminds him that they don’t want to look too well-fed. Frenchie sets up a lean-to. Mitch apologizes for his uselessness. Frenchie shows him how to gather ferns for the walls and avoid poison ivy.
Frenchie seems to hope his family sees through his and Mitch’s ruse, as that will save him from making the difficult decision to betray them or betray Mitch. As a traitor himself, Frenchie no longer feels worthy of his family’s acceptance. Mitch is clearly unaccustomed to the wilderness, highlighting yet another way he has lost his Indigenous identity. Frenchie once again feels at home in the woods and using his skills to survive.
Themes
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Mitch recalls the time their uncle passed out in a patch of poison ivy, getting sores all over his face. Frenchie and Mitch laugh hard at the memory, and for a moment Frenchie feels his brother is back. Then he remembers how Mitch delivered Therese and Sunny to the Recruiters with no hesitation and returns to his shelter. They make a fire and Frenchie brews cedar tea. Suddenly, Mitch asks if Frenchie ever found Mom. Frenchie tells him no, but he did find Dad, who’s lost a leg. Clearly shaken, Mitch asks if Dad will be in the target group, but Frenchie can’t say for sure. Deciding to test the waters, Frenchie asks Mitch if he remembers the tree house.
For the first time, Mitch and Frenchie are truly alone together, free of close surveillance. That Mitch takes this opportunity to reminisce and ask about their parents hints that he hasn’t lost all sense of who he used to be—it may even convey a longing to return to his former self. Frenchie struggles to reconcile these glimpses of the old Mitch with the man who had no problem betraying Therese and Sunny, with the full knowledge of the suffering they’d endure in the schools. Frenchie stirs up more of Mitch’s memories in the hope of reminding him of who he used to be.
Themes
Mitch pretends ignorance, but Frenchie knows he remembers. Frenchie hands him a green army man figurine and tells their shared coming-to story. Having lost Mom, Mitch and Frenchie were hiding in a suburban tree house when Recruiters arrived. Mitch told Frenchie to climb higher and gave himself up. When Frenchie finally came down, he found Mitch’s army man in the grass. Mitch asks why Frenchie is telling him this. Frenchie says he’s just talking and goes to bed, leaving Mitch alone with his thoughts. The next morning, while Frenchie prepares a small fire, he finds the melted remains of the army man, which he puts back in his pocket. He goes to wake Mitch but calls him “Agent Dusome.”
Frenchie reminds Mitch of the last time they were together, hiding from Recruiters in a tree house. Frenchie hopes this story will remind Mitch of who he used to be: a self-sacrificial brother who resisted his oppressors to the end (or to what Frenchie assumed was the end). Frenchie offers the old army man as an invitation to Mitch to choose brave resistance over traitorous compliance. Mitch seems to sense Frenchie’s intentions, but Frenchie can’t speak more directly without risking Mitch alerting Mellin to his disloyalty. By burning the army man, Mitch rejects his former self and definitively commits to the schools’ mission, to Frenchie’s deep disappointment.
Themes
