Marrow Thieves Sparknotes

Mary LeClair

Ms. Bartella

NBE3UE

Thursday May 25th, 2023

Storytelling and Indigenous Influence in The Marrow Thieves Indigenous culture relies heavily on the practice of storytelling, with some of the most respected people being those that tell stories and share their knowledge. While the practice of storytelling is an oral tradition, Cherie DImaline uses it in her book, The Marrow Thieves, to build the world of the story. How well does the oral tradition translate to a written medium, though? And what role does it play exactly? In The Marrow Thieves, storytelling is used to explain the perspectives of the main characters through the traditional Indigenous medium as seen in the coming-to stories, certain elements only being revealed once the

Many characters in The Marrow Thieves have a coming-to story that explains what led them to join the group but each story has meaning and purpose behind it. With each story, we learn about and begin to understand the characters, while they do the same. As Frenchie says when talking about his family; “Instead of dreaming their tragic forms, I recreated them as living, laughing people” (Dimaline pg 43). In sharing his story and experiences with his new family, Frenchie is able to keep the memory of his biological family alive while ensuring that more of them is remembered aside from the pain their departure brought. Not only is this precious information being shared with readers, the other characters in the book come to better understand the storyteller as they share their experiences. Acceptance is the first step on the path to healing and so the act of storytelling itself can be therapeutic and even aid the characters in working through their feelings and trauma. Each story shared is not just referenced later on, but directly ties to the events of the book. From the mention of Frenchie’s dad disappearing, to the untrustworthy people mentioned in both Wab’s and Miig’s stories, to Issac being

The Marrow Thieves begins with our first coming-to story, Frenchies, but it is not until sixty pages later that the next one is told. A similar pattern occurs with Miig’s stories, the full scope of things is only revealed around two fifths into the book. Once Frenchie and readers are better acquainted with the group, Frenchie describes what a typical day may look like. WHen describing Miig’s stories he says; “He spoke to us every week. SOmetimes Story was focused in one area … Other times he told a hundred years in one long narrative … But every week we spoke, because it was imperative that we know.” (Dimaline pg 25) It is revealed that Story is not just important but also fairly common. Miig’s stories take place every week yet these stories are only detailed maybe three or four times in the whole book, both accounts being one story broken into two parts, each being told at a different time. It can feel a little like readers are left in the dark, the characters know more than you do. The role of the reader is really just a fly on the wall, observing the discussion of topics that are not given enough context to understand in full. This burning curiosity and naivety experienced by the reader are shared by another character in the book, one who could very well represent these feelings, Riri. Story is not finished when