Wab Character Analysis in The Marrow Thieves

Wab is an eighteen-year-old woman in Frenchie's family. As the oldest girl, she has the power to choose how, what, and by whom domestic tasks get done, though she often chooses to do things herself. She's quiet and is described as "movie star beautiful," which is marred only by a huge keloid scar that runs from her forehead to her chest and which covers one of her eyes. Though Wab's scar and the history it suggests—and in some ways, Wab herself—is scary for some of the younger members of the family, they have all had crushes on Wab and gossip about her having been a mercenary. When the truth comes out, it's decidedly less heroic for Wab: after a childhood of poverty and intermittent sexual abuse, Wab turned her love of running into a business and ran notes around her city after other modes of communication were cut. A man put a stop to this business venture by cutting Wab's face and then keeping her locked in a broken walk-in freezer where men raped her for two days. Because of this experience, Wab is suspicious of strangers and slow to trust anyone. She channels her grief and trauma into caring for RiRi and Minerva, and losing both of them makes her even more anxious and unstable. She and Chi-Boy are romantically involved, though it doesn't become clear to everyone that this is the case until right after Minerva's death. When summer arrives, Frenchie realizes that Wab is pregnant.

Wab Quotes in The Marrow Thieves

The The Marrow Thieves quotes below are all either spoken by Wab or refer to Wab. 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:

Cyclical Histories, Language, and Indigenous Oppression Theme Icon

"Like how we are motivated to run because of the Recruiters?" Rose jumped in. "And the Recruiters are motivated to run after us because of the schools?"

"Almost," he answered. "We are actually both motivated by the same thing: survival."

"But isn't it just us that's trying to survive? No one's trying to kill those jerk-offs."

"But, nevertheless, they are dying. Mostly killing themselves, mind you. And so they are motivated by the need to be able to survive. And they see that solution in us."

Related Characters: Rose (speaker), Miig (speaker), Wab, Frenchie

Related Symbols: Residential Schools

Page Number and Citation: 54

Explanation and Analysis:

Around the fire one night, Wab begins a discussion about the nature of evil and the group discusses that though they may differ significantly with the Recruiters on who's in the right, they're all doing what they think they need to do to survive. Miig leads this conversation in a way that encourages the children to humanize the Recruiters and understand that while they may be wrong. And they are—they're doing horrible things to Indigenous people, and even Miig suggests that there's no excuse for this even though they think they're doing the right thing. Through this, Miig suggests that Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui a

I nodded back, copying the way he held his mouth. Yes, we would definitely do so. Us men. We'd be vigilant. Chi-Boy turned and started making his way through the trees. I watched him for a minute, and tried to listen. There was nothing—the absence of sound was the only thing the ear picked up. There was no doubt Chi-Boy was the best scout we had, probably the best scout anyone had. I followed close behind, imitating his movements.

Related Characters: Frenchie (speaker), Chi-Boy, Rose, Wab, Travis, Lincoln

Page Number and Citation: 124

Explanation and Analysis:

During a scouting expedition while the rest of the group sits with Travis and Lincoln, Chi-Boy lets Frenchie in on his suspicions and his belief that they need to protect the girls in their family in particular. Letting Frenchie in on this concern allows Frenchie to feel extremely adult and as though it's his job to protect the group, as Chi-Boy does. By imitating Chi-Boy's method of moving through the forest on the way back to the clearing, Frenchie is also able to learn how to be a better and more skilled Indigenous person, part of which includes moving silently Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperi

Wab Character Timeline in The Marrow Thieves

The timeline below shows where the character Wab appears in The Marrow Thieves. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...twelve-year-old twins, Tree and Zheegwon, who are covered in scars, and Slopper, a round nine-year-old. Wab is almost a woman at eighteen; she has a huge scar across her face. RiRi... (full context)

At the campsite, Miig gives the rabbits to Wab to skin and cook. Rose sits down next to Frenchie, and Frenchie says that she... (full context)

...talks. He wakes up one morning freezing cold, having fallen asleep in RiRi's tent. Outside, Wab and Chi-Boy step away from each other awkwardly and in a way that makes Frenchie... (full context)

...go hungry. He feels better when he sees that Chi-Boy and Miig both got turkeys. Wab is late getting back. They wait anxiously for almost 40 minutes before she slips into... (full context)

...Because the group hasn't seen a Recruiter in weeks, they travel more slowly and happily. Wab, however, seems anxious. After a few days, she asks one evening if circumstances make people... (full context)

Wab takes this to mean that people change because of circumstances and asks if good people... (full context)

Miig asks Wab what she'd do to save them. Chi-Boy says he'd do anything, and Wab says she'd... (full context)

Frenchie hears Wab settle Minerva in a room. Because of her age, Minerva would've spent more time than... (full context)

...a tall, naked man stood before her, looking like a hungry, desirous man. At this, Wab insists that she needs to take RiRi to bed. (full context)

...looks around and sees Tree and Zheegwon lying perpendicular across the bottom of the bed, Wab and Chi-Boy sleeping close to each other on the floor, and Miig on the floor... (full context)

...hopes that Rose might visit him again. Frenchie happens upon the manager's office and finds Wab sitting at the desk with a bottle. She looks sleepily at Frenchie and says that... (full context)

Frenchie is scared and feels like Wab should be alone. Wab's face darkens. She stands, steps around the desk, and then falls... (full context)

Wab says that before people left the cities, the cities were teeming with desperate, hungry people.... (full context)

Wab's mother traded sexual favors for alcohol, so Wab had to feed herself. She was a... (full context)

Wab tried to give the man his letter and leave, but the guards moved closer as... (full context)

Wab says that when she was healed enough, she started to walk out of the city... (full context)

...snow starts to fall. Everyone wants to stay at Four Winds where they feel safe. Wab moves slowly, and RiRi is quiet and seems to be trying to act mature enough... (full context)

...to Rose, but she's avoided him since that first night. He wishes he hadn't heard Wab's coming-to story, and seeing RiRi so scared eats at Frenchie. He also dreamed about Mitch... (full context)

...interrupted Minerva feeding her baby grandson, raped her, and took the baby. He says that Wab was alone for two years before she joined the group, and she followed them for... (full context)

...stays awake later than anyone else and quietly watches Chi-Boy put the beautiful hat under Wab's pillow. He wants to know how Miig escaped from the schools but knows he can't... (full context)

...piece of bread that isn't moldy. Miig says it could belong to the men that Wab saw, and he sends Chi-Boy out to patrol and asks Tree and Zheegwon to set... (full context)

...have a fire, but Frenchie says that he thinks they're not Recruiters—they didn't have vehicles. Wab confirms that these are the men she saw a few weeks ago, and Tree suggests... (full context)

...and bread. Slopper exclaims at the sight of food and Frenchie wonders if Miig saw Wab's reaction. He's also distracted by the food, but he knows he needs to act maturely.... (full context)

...head back, but Chi-Boy stops and asks Frenchie if he noticed how Travis looked at Wab. He says they need to keep an eye on it. Frenchie feels very adult and... (full context)

...he's happy to stay in the forest, since cities bring out the worst in people. Wab starts to pace, and Travis says that he used to have bad habits, but he... (full context)

...shoulder. Lincoln's eyes are glassy, and he seems cloudy somehow, but he tells Rose and Wab to stay close for safety. The girls turn away, but Frenchie says they didn't know... (full context)

...Frenchie wakes up when a body crashes into his tent and onto him. He hears Wab scream, pushes the body off of his tent, and unzips it. Travis has Tree and... (full context)

...his gun and punches Travis, and Lincoln grabs RiRi and starts to run. Miig and Wab chase Lincoln while Zheegwon and Tree tie up Travis. When Travis is secure, Frenchie follows... (full context)

...come up the ladder. She insists that everyone else stay up there, so Miig and Wab make her a comfortable bed on the ground. Miig smokes on the ground with her... (full context)

Frenchie notices that the twins seem more content, and Wab seems to be feeling the same thing. He turns to his tent when Rose asks... (full context)

The drumming starts. Many people, including Wab, Chi-Boy, and Slopper, start to dance in a circle, but Frenchie sits and stews jealously.... (full context)

...days and then set up camp. Summer arrives over the next few weeks. Chi-Boy and Wab begins living together, and summer clothing makes it obvious that Wab is pregnant. (full context)

Wab Character Analysis

Wab Quotes in The Marrow Thieves

A Plague of Madness Quotes

The Other Indians Quotes

Wab Character Timeline in The Marrow Thieves