Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Marrow Thieves, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Cyclical Histories, Language, and Indigenous Oppression
Family and Coming of Age
Humans and Nature
Trauma, Identity, and Pride
Summary
Analysis
Rose relaxes after three weeks, though it takes her longer to share her coming-to story. She's a fighter and speaks out during Story. She was raised by old people and so speaks like them, which makes Frenchie feel as though she's both the future and the past. One warm night, Rose moodily declares that they should go after the government themselves. Miig assures the group that they've survived persecution before and will survive it again and asks them to trust that someone is working for him. Rose mutters that if nobody else comes up with a plan, she will. Frenchie studies her face and hopes he'll dream about it.
Frenchie's assessment that Rose is both the future and the past speaks to the status that children hold for Indigenous people in the novel. They are a representative of the future, as if they can survive, they're the ones who will carry the culture forward and make it so it doesn't die. Rose's grasp of the accent and the inflection of Indigenous Elders makes it clear that one can still be undeniably Indigenous, even in an English-speaking context.
Themes
One morning, Miig tells the group he's taking hunting that they need to work harder at learning to hunt. Frenchie is thrilled to be with the hunting group; those at the campsite have to babysit Minerva. He avoids Rose's glare as he winds his way out of camp and blushes as Miig tells them how to look for animal dung to see if there are any creatures around. They look at marks on trees where deer rubbed their antlers and after they catch several rabbits, head back to camp. Frenchie joins Chi-Boy and Slopper in a joyful song, but Miig is unusually quiet. Frenchie joins him and asks what's going on, and Miig says that the birds seem too quiet.
It's interesting that Frenchie so clearly devalues Minerva here when he celebrates Rose's way of speaking as being similar to the way that Elders speak. This suggests that Frenchie doesn't yet understand just how important it is for him and for his family to protect Minerva and her wealth of cultural and language knowledge. More specifically for Frenchie, this shows that he doesn't yet have a full grasp of the necessity of living in a family that's composed of people of all ages.
Themes
At the campsite, Miig gives the rabbits to Wab to skin and cook. Rose sits down next to Frenchie, and Frenchie says that she feels bad for those that have to stay in the campsite with Minerva, doing "useless" things. Rose casually says that being with Minerva is "nishin," which she says is part of the language. Frenchie is distraught: he feels somehow more deserving of learning language than Rose and pulls his braid out of his shirt as though it proves this. Rose snaps that Minerva knows the language, and those who spend the day with her learn it. Frenchie walks into the trees, feeling ready to cry or scream. Miig calls him back and before Frenchie falls asleep, he repeats the word in his mind like a prayer.
This confrontation impresses upon Frenchie the necessity of treating Minerva with respect and reverence, as difficult as she may be to reason with at times. At the very least, she's okay to be around when someone like Rose expresses interest in learning from her. This begins to set up the idea that the youth in the novel need to be willing to learn from those who are older and more knowledgeable than they are, as those people are the ones who possess the key to surviving this—even if the youth themselves are also the key.
Themes
Frenchie dreams that he's in the pine tree, unable to shout at Mitch down below as six Recruiters surround him. As Frenchie points at the Recruiters, Mitch yells angrily for Frenchie to hang on. Frenchie wakes up drenched in sweat when Zheegwon pokes him. Miig says they need to leave and move quickly, so others carry Minerva and RiRi's packs. After an hour, Rose catches up to Frenchie, says that nishin means "good," and says that she'll share Minerva's lessons with him.
Frenchie's dreams of Mitch keep him emotionally grounded in his biological family, even though he's now become an essential part of Miig's chosen family. His growing connection with Rose suggests that Frenchie is beginning to see that he has multiple families available to him.
Themes
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