THE MARROW THIEVES
Themes
Plot
Setting
Characters
Climax: The group meets 2 other Indigenous people who end up being traitors. As soon as the group realized, one of the traitors kidnapped RiRi, the younger girl in the group. Frenchie follows him but understands that they both died. Furious, he returned to the place where the other traitor was and killed him out of sadness.
Rising Action: While the main character continue on their wat up North, the meet a new girls: Rose. Frenchie instantly falls in love with her.
Falling Action: After such a long trip, the main characters end up finding a safe village created by the Council of Elders, in which Frenchie's dad participated to create. So, Frenchie finds his dad and the group starts living there.
Denouement: After some fights, Rose and Frenchie decide to be together in a serious relationship. Then, they meet a small group of Indigenous people in which Miig's husband is. This encounter is so emotional that Frenchi ends up crying and laughing.
Exposition: Frenchie and his brother are on the run together, when they are found but Recruiters. Forced by his brother to leave him to the Recruiters, Frenchi escapes and tries to survive on his own. However, a few day later, he ends up meeting a group of Indigenous people who decide to take him on and accept him in the group.
Where?
Context
When?
Wab
Tree and Zheegwon
Frenchie
Minerva
Slopper
Chi-Boy
RiRi
Rose
Miigwans (Miig)
He is the leader of the group and a father figure for all the kids/teenagers in the group. He is a wise man who gives the kids hope when they think that nothing will help them survive. He tells stories about their ancestors to the teenagers so they don't forget where they come from and to show them that they will survive just like their ancestors. Being one the oldest man and the only adult of the group, the kids respect him.
Throughout the book, Minerva has been mostly a silent character. However, she is important because she helps the kids to connect better to who they really are and to not forget where they come from. Being the only one who still speaks Indigenous languages without any difficulty, the kids appreciate her and respect her.
He cares about his family and would do anything to protect them. We can see how he matures and learns about relationships and love. He is brave but can be impulsive. At the end of the book, he comes to terms with himself and accepts who he is, without judging his past mistakes anymore.
He is the oldest guy in the group after Miig. He is also his right hand. He is brave, smart and has really good skills, such as hunting with bows and arrows. He doesn't talk much but develops a relationship with Wab, who falls pregnant at the end of the story.
Wab is the oldest girl after Minerva. She is responsible and a mother figure for the youngest in the group, because she is the one who takes care of them the most. She is quiet because oh her hard past. However, she has a good heart and is really brave when it comes to saving her family.
They are two brothers that do everything together. The only difference between them is that they sometimes exchanged a baseball cap they shared. The had a rough past, but live comfortably with their new family. However, they are quiet kids. They are always there for each other.
Slopper is a kid who learned soon about the dangers in the world. However, he still acts like a kid and enjoys playing with RiRi. He starts becoming more mature after Minerva's death because the Council gives him an important role.
She is the youngest kid in the group. She is a happy and curious kid. She starts off by being a sweet and innocent kid. However, after discovering the story of Wab's past, she becomes more afraid of strangers and starts understanding the risks they are taking. She dies tragically after a traitor kidnaps her.
She is and upfront person who is constantly angry or defensive. She is one of the first people who doesn't understimate Minerva. Rose can be also really sweet and is obviously in love with Frenchie.
In the future, a few years from today
In Canada
The world went through many natural disasters and half of the population died. The people that survived all those disasters, became mostly depressed and stopped dreaming. However, the indigenous people never stopped having that ability. That's why the government decided to do research on them and started to kidnap them to extract the dreams from their marrow, which puts them in danger.
Family: In the book, we notice how much they appreciate family. All the characaters have lost a lot of people with who they shared blood. However, after going trough so much together, they ended up becoming a family. They would all do something to save the others because they really love each other and don't want to lose no one anymore.
Environment (nature): Since the beginning of the book, we can understand that the reason why the main characters have all these problèmes are the environmental issues. The effects of climate change are noticeable in the story and explain how they ended up in such a bad living situation.
Indigenous Oppression: In the book, they talk about how it isn't the first time that the Indigenous people have been mistreated and mention what used to happen to hem in our country's history. The mention about how some of them lost their culture and how they could never forget the suffering the went through.
Identity: In the story, the Indigenous people have become, to the eyes of the white people, a simple commodity. Being constantly on the run, they are living in horrible conditions that dehumanize them, which explains why is better to stay together. Throughout the whole book, they talk about the importance to remember where they come from.