Hunting by Stars

The camp’s soundlessness is forced rather than organic. Chi Boy suggests this is because Indigenous people often have to stifle and silence themselves in order to stay hidden and survive. His worries for his unborn child characterize Chi Boy as responsible and caring. In sharing his story, he hopes to warn his baby of the world’s dangers and prepare them for life’s challenges. The beginning of Chi Boy’s story, though vague, implies the people whose help he sought made him feel “other” and separate from them, likely because of his Indigenous identity. His use of scenes to organize the story suggests a disjointed childhood.

Chi Boy’s childhood teaches him to equate silence with safety, as it is better to go unnoticed in the temporary homes he inhabits. By the time Chi Boy sets out on his own, knowledge of Indigenous people’s retained ability to dream have already made them a target for those driven mad by the Plague. The old couple’s racist ideas about the lawlessness of Indigenous people place Chi Boy at a further disadvantage. These experiences teach Chi Boy that some people will only ever see one aspect of his identity, refusing to acknowledge his nuanced and complete personhood. That the old man shoots Chi Boy—a child—for no apparent reason is evidence of his moral depravity. When he meets Minerva, she is well-hidden, reiterating the notion that silence is the best way to survive.