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Agent Mellin is a middle-aged woman working in the residential school where Frenchie is being held captive. After Mitch recommends Frenchie for the Program, Mellin—who helped develop the curriculum—supervises his progress. Cruel and humorless, Mellin treats Frenchie like an animal and doles out severe punishments for minor offenses. Despite this treatment, Frenchie often finds himself feeling grateful for Mellin’s small mercies and yearning for her approval. Though Mellin allows Frenchie to advance through the Program, she never seems to fully trust him and threatens to kill his family should he expose himself as a double agent.
Agent Mellin Quotes in Hunting by Stars
The Hunting by Stars quotes below are all either spoken by Agent Mellin or refer to Agent Mellin. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 13 Quotes
This was me now: bald, weak, caught. I recognized my eyes, but they too were different. I felt tiny. I felt young. […] And then a loud screech filled every molecule of air in the room, so high and so precise I felt it in my throat. I slapped my hands over my ears and dropped to the ground, gasping. After an interminable amount of time, the siren stopped, but I was already hollowed out from it. Gutted. I crawled on hands and knees to the middle of the room. At least the lights were on. Then I realized I didn’t care if the lights were on. Everything had been taken from me. I had nothing left to lose, not even light. They couldn’t reach me, not really, if everything was already gone.
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Chapter 29 Quotes
“I just feel like, I don’t know, like a second-class citizen there.”
“Ummm, I mean, sometimes it’s weird. But they really take you on your own merit, you know? Like, you can work your way up from the bottom. It’s all about pulling yourself up.” He was practically skipping along. “I appreciate that. It means I can get to where I want to be for no other reason than that I earned it.”
“Okay, but aren’t you beginning a hundred yards back from the starting line while everyone else is already at the gate, just because of what they are and what you aren’t?”
He didn’t answer right away. A good sign. I kept going.
“Out here is where you can really prove yourself every day. And nature doesn’t judge anyone before they are called to task—it can’t.”
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“We, brother, can make it so that more Native people have a chance to truly live. As productive members of a reborn society.”
[…]
“See, there will be the herd, and then there will be everyone else. Not divided by race, exactly. Just divided by purpose. And the purpose of Indigenous people will be to give birth to the answer. What more noble purpose could you ever ask for?”
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Chapter 31 Quotes
I thought about what Mitch had told me. Farms. They weren’t ditching the schools; they were repurposing them. How could dreams be transferred in to such poisoned heads? I couldn’t imagine minds capable of making schemes like that also being able to create nighttime cinema of swimming through the stars or losing teeth by the handful. But it didn’t take depth to build cruelty, only a profound lack of hope.
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Agent Mellin Character Timeline in Hunting by Stars
The timeline below shows where the character Agent Mellin appears in Hunting by Stars. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 13
...instructs Frenchie to stand, then sit. Hating it, he obeys. The woman’s name is Agent Mellin—she will be Frenchie’s supervisor throughout the Program, which she helped develop. She asks about Frenchie’s...
(full context)
After the Correction Room, Frenchie is returned to Agent Mellin’s office. The siren still ringing in his ears, Frenchie tells her the story of what...
(full context)
Chapter 17
...confident he won’t run for fear of punishment. The only information he withholds from Agent Mellin is Rose’s existence and the circumstances of his capture. He claims he was disillusioned with...
(full context)
Chapter 19
...always exist. His days take on a predictable routine. Twice a week he visits Agent Mellin to recount his time on the run. Mitch visits occasionally to praise his own experiences...
(full context)
...sees the mattress flipped against a wall. Not knowing if he’s being taken to Agent Mellin or the Correction Room, Frenchie feels he’s gotten everyone in isolation caught as well as...
(full context)
Chapter 23
In her office, Agent Mellin reprimands Frenchie for possessing contraband. Still assuming she’s found the notes, Frenchie tries to figure...
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Back in his room, Frenchie is disgusted to feel sincere gratitude toward Agent Mellin for his easy punishment. He checks the mattress and finds the notes intact. Knowing he...
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...the angry kitchen workers. Frenchie wakes to Mitch entering his room. Mitch has good news: Mellin is going to make a decision about whether Frenchie is ready for the Program’s final...
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Chapter 24
In her office, Mellin tells Frenchie and Mitch that she doubted Frenchie after the “pen incident,” but he has...
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Frenchie is quietly ecstatic at the prospect of returning home, even as Mellin describes how he will need to betray them before they cross over into the United...
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Before the mission, Mellin explains, Frenchie will undergo a final field test accompanied by Mitch to ensure his loyalty....
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Chapter 25
The morning of the final test, Frenchie feels nervous. Mellin returns Frenchie’s possessions from when he was first brought to the institution, claiming they will...
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...today instead of waiting for the larger mission—he can’t become a traitor. Mitch is excited. Mellin reminds them that failure will result in their own “radical extraction,” a term Frenchie doesn’t...
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...to fail or succeed in his mission. A shameful part of him wants to impress Mellin. Again, JP suggests abandoning his companions. His selfish individualism embarrasses Frenchie, who feels better about...
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Chapter 26
...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...
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Mellin asks Mitch and Frenchie if they have any notes. Frenchie mentions the unlikelihood of a...
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Later, in the prep room, Mellin informs Frenchie that Mitch will be accompanying him to infiltrate his former family. Mellin gives...
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Chapter 27
...their progress. In private, he tells Frenchie that, if he leaves, he’ll report Frenchie to Mellin. He won’t let Frenchie slow him down again, implying he blames Frenchie for his capture...
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Chapter 29
Frenchie stays with his family because of Mitch’s threat to alert Mellin. He regrets ever agreeing to the mission and worries that the hopefulness he inherited from...
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Chapter 34
Agent Mellin rides south with the convoy of Recruiters. Having found Mitch’s body, she assumes he and...
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Chapter 36
...to their departure. She feels she owes her community nothing. The woman at the school (Mellin) told her to pack light. The Recruiters should pick up Adelaide and Jimmy right after...
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