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Finding Direction
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
It snows for five days. The snow is wet and heavy, and everyone is cold and soaked. One evening while they set up camp, RiRi finds a "toy" in the muck. She shows it to Minerva, who raises the alarm. Miig inspects the "toy," which is a broken plastic lunchbox with a superhero on it. Inside is a 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 more alarm wires. Frenchie climbs a tree, hoping that the lunchbox belonged to friendly people.
For people on the run, like Miig's family, it's unthinkable to leave valuable food behind. This suggests either that Recruiters were involved in the lunchbox being left, or it's a trap of some sort. Being on the run is beginning to color how Miig and Frenchie see the world and the possibility of meeting others, and it keeps them from being too hopeful or trusting, in case it's a trap.
Themes
Frenchie looks around and notices the cliffs recently formed by the earthquakes. He then notices two men about three hours west. One wears a bright red hat. Frenchie climbs down and approaches Miig and Minerva, who looks unusually alert and upset. He shares what he saw. Miig is alarmed that the men 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 that they're "townies." Zheegwon's face goes pale, and Tree puts his cap on Zheegwon's head to make him feel better. RiRi suggests that they're "dumb kids" who are doing silly things because they don't have adults to guide them. Miig declares that they'll check out the situation.
RiRi's assessment of the situation shows that after hearing Story, she understands that Miig and the other near-adults in the group want to protect her, and that children in general need that kind of protection to avoid making mistakes like these men are clearly doing. Frenchie's unwillingness to think ill of the men shows how desperate he is for more of a connection with people like him who might be able to add to his understanding of the culture, his history, and what's going on in the world.
Themes
They begin to head in the direction of the men. Frenchie can't shake a story that Tree and Zheegwon told a few weeks ago about the wiindigo people, who are cannibals. Rose startles him when she brings him a bowl of porridge. As he grudgingly eats, Frenchie observes that it's stressful to be in a situation where their lives could change so much because of one decision. Rose nods and says that if she'd gone west after she left her uncle, she never would've found Frenchie. They sit in silence and Frenchie notices that spring is coming. Chi-Boy returns from scouting and says that they're an hour away from the men. Frenchie has been watching them from trees and has found them strange: they have lots of food and move slowly. They don't seem worried about Recruiters.
As with the Rogarou, the wiindigo function as a symbol for the dangerous in the world—though in this case, one that's posed by other Indigenous people. This foreshadows the horrific events to come (these men are dangerous double agents, just not cannibals). That Frenchie is able to make observations (such as the food stores and the pace) that tell him clearly that they shouldn't trust these men, suggests that Frenchie is learning to think more critically about who he meets and how he chooses to trust and evaluate potential threats.
Themes
