The characters in Cherie Dimaline’s The Marrow Thieves experience serious misfortunes, which ultimately results in the finding of their chosen family. The misfortune begins with the overarching plot of the toll of climate change on the Indigenous, in addition to the hunt for their bone marrow by modern residential schools. The events lead to the characters’ need for love and care, so they stumble upon Miig’s group and fulfill that need. Their associated coming-to stories emphasize the intense despair and loss, especially because they are divided into separate chapters from the related character’s point of view, rather than that of the main character. They need hope to mend themselves back together again, and they find that in their chosen family. The family Elder, Minerva, tells them “[k]iiwen” while on her deathbed, which means “go home” (Dimaline 211). The family members carry out that request by the end of the novel and can only do it with the hope that their family provides them with.
Frenchie loses his brother, after already losing his mother and father, and is found by Miig and the rest of the group. He grows up with them, learning Indigenous traditions, survival skills, and how to protect one’s own. After many years with his new family members, he eventually reunites with his father, finding his home once again. However, his chosen family leads him to find romantic love with Rose, who becomes his ultimate home. The close familial bonds that he forms with his chosen family replace his feelings of loss with those of love, and he ends up happier than he can ever imagine.
Miig starts this band of travelers after losing his husband. He finds a source of family to recover from his loss and finds a new type of love within these relations. His bonds to the family members are significantly strong, as he introduces them as his “boys” and “daughters” (Dimaline 121). Through his devotion to his family members, he eventually reunites with his husband, finding his home once again. He even starts to give up hope right as his family seems to be breaking apart, with losing RiRi and Minerva, and as Frenchie and Rose show signs of leaving. However, his husband’s return restores hope and faith in the entire family, as love prevails over despair.
The hope that the chosen family provides is enough to keep them going until they find their homes. The characters experience tragedy and loss in their lives, and what they need most at the end of their coming-to stories is love and care. The family they find while running for their lives is extremely significant for them to have a support system during the trying times the novel is set in, and for them to eventually find safety in their homes, just as Minerva wants for them.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWhile the characters in Cherie Dimaline’s The Marrow Thieves initially choose the people they travel with for survival’s sake, they do much more than protect one another; they become a family, no matter what the future holds. Whether they find members of their previous families, as is the case for Frenchie and Miig, or not, they stick with their chosen family, not treating them as less than those who are blood-related.
ReplyDeleteAfter a long, eventful day in which Frenchie reunites with his father, Rose expresses her concern about his leaving, saying “even though it’s great that we found your dad, well, you know what happens when we find family” (179). Frenchie realizes that he feels torn about whether to stay with his father and begin to rediscover who he was before their separation or leave with the family he has grown to love in the past years. It is this confliction that highlights the closeness he has created with those who, although not related, are his chosen family.
Furthermore, the group’s devotion to one another is displayed many times, most prominently in their attempted rescue of Minerva. They risk their lives in the battle to free her from the van transporting her to the airstrip, the General getting shot in the process. Even Derrick helps them, despite his and Frenchie’s disputes, shooting the driver who injured the General (207).
Dimaline makes it clear: although not related by blood, chosen family is equally close and strong.
I agree Dimaline explores the theme of chosen family and blood relations. When Miig's group rescues Frenchie, they immediately treat him as one of their own. The multigenerational aspect of the group also mirrors a family structure. Minerva taking the role of a grandparent, Miig a father, and the rest siblings with their own specialties. Even though they all have different coming-to stories, they all still share the trauma of running, which bonds them together. For example, even when they find the hotel and all can sleep in separate rooms, they keep the doors open and eventually all sleep in Frenchie's bed. The loss of RiRi, a beacon of hope and innocence, sends their family into hysterics. Rose throws up, Miig almost falls off the cliff, and Frenchie even murders the other Indian. They mourn exactly like a family mourns.
ReplyDeleteHowever, once Frenchie reunites with his father, he starts to question in which family he belongs. He clearly loves his father, but he starts to see a future with Rose that his father cannot provide. His dad understands, telling him a story about Frenchie's mom. His father explains how "'She made me feel like I was important...Now that's medicine. Don't need no damn house to keep it in'" (Dimaline, 199-200). His dad understands that at some point you have to choose an alternate family than yours; you have to start your own family. Frenchie's dad made a similar choice when he met his mother, and Frenchie decides to go after Rose because she is the opportunity for his future family.
I entirely agree with the idea that the characters of The Marrow Thieves seek to mend themselves through their makeshift families after the traumatic events they have suffered, and I believe that Frenchie’s story exemplifies this. However, the sense of belonging that comes with choosing a family also creates a sort of resentment towards the original family that for whatever circumstance was forced to separate.
ReplyDeleteWhen Frenchie’s father asks him what exactly he’s hoping to find, Frenchie gets irritated that his father undermines the worth of Minerva. Frenchie tells his father, “that’s what we do. We look for each other, Didn’t you bother looking for us?” (Dimaline, 188). Frenchie’s father says that he never stopped searching, although along the way he “brought people together so that [they] could find [their] community. But, eventually, that’s what [they] became in the absence of the other” (188). Frenchie admits that he holds resentment toward his father for leaving him for a revolutionary group. In a similar manner, his father shows resentment for the esteem that Frenchie holds for his own group. The bonds that they’ve both created with their respective groups are ones based on trust, support, and survival, contrasting with the harsh separation of their biological ties.
Nonetheless, the blood ties that unite these two characters ultimately trumps whatever indignation they hold toward each other. For Frenchie, being reunited with his father makes him feel a “good sense of safety once more, even just for a minute” (189). However, as you mention, the bonds that he creates with his chosen family leads him to find true happiness.