Hope in The Marrow Thieves Literary Analysis Essay Sample

What motivates you in life? What makes you work hard? Is it a person? Hobby? Pet? The Marrow Thieves is a dystopian novel written by Cherie Dimaline. It follows the story of a boy named Frenchie in a world where Indigenous peoples are hunted by the Canadian government for their bone marrow because the rest of the population has lost their ability to dream. The Marrow Thieves illustrates how important it is that we need hope, found in our relationships, for survival. 

One thing that proves this is that the characters show perseverance. Practically all of the characters have no other choice but to run from the Recruiters and go into hiding. Whether or not there may be something better out there is something they have to hope for, and they have to persevere through the challenges of chasing that. At one point, Miig says, “And what other ways could we fit in? Isn’t running towards something other than this all we have? Or am I missing something?” (pg.126) Additionally, having and being able to keep your goal in your head is important. For example, Frenchie faces a lot of challenges like losing his family that affects the way he gets to his goals or survives. His mother emphasizes that “You have to try to keep the goal in your head. You can’t let what’s not here, what’s missing, you can’t let that slow you down.” (pg.11) Both of these ideas emphasize that we need strong relationships to persevere because they give us hope and reason to live.

An important thing to have in a survival situation is a good mindset. Without that, we wouldn’t have perseverance or motivation. One loss that dragged Frenchie down in the beginning of the novel was when his brother was taken. For a very long time, his brother and parents were the ones that encouraged him and took care of him. It's what kept him alive, and having that suddenly taken from him almost led to his death had Miig and the others not been there. "No one to make me move, no one to take care of me." (p.13) Another example is when Frenchie encounters a group of wild guinea pigs. The father of the pack defends his kids, and  Frenchie describes them as scared of him but they knew they were safe because their father was there. Frenchie gets very upset and near tears, "To let them know I just missed my family? A small sob escaped." I think that the guinea pigs reminded him of his own family, and the fact he had no parent figure with him made him feel scared. In a survival situation, you have to be confident in what you are doing. 

Frenchie’s family and friends not only encourage him, but also give him motivation. Frenchie and any of the characters with relationships to each other feel the need to protect and live for each other. For example, Isaac’s motivation to survive was because of Miig. When Isaac is asked by Frenchie how he managed to find hope to keep himself alive in the schools, he says: “..How did you stay alive in there?” My voice betrayed the small sliver of hope sliding under my skin. “I heard it’s pretty grim.”... “I had somewhere I needed to be.” He pushed his hair back from his forehead. “Someone I needed to be with.” (pg.229) This proves that we need motivation or hope to survive because Isaac’s sole reason to be alive was finding Miig or having the hope that he was still alive. Another way this idea is presented in a different way was how Frenchie’s dad built the community/camp that Miig and the others eventually join. Jean originally was working with all these people so he could find his family - but it ended up being something much bigger. It ended up being very crucial to their survival because the camp became very efficient and resourceful “No matter what. I didn’t set up this camp to be my community, Francis. I brought these people together so that we could find our community, but eventually that’s what we became in the absence of the other.” (p.188) Both of these ideas talk about love and relationships as a motivator for survival, they give us hope to survive for the other person. 

Some people may think that survival is only about grit and hardwork, but we also need hope and most importantly strong relationships present in our life to get us through difficult hardships and achieve our goals. The reason why all the characters in the novel manage to survive so far is because they demonstrate perseverance, have motivation, and they have a healthy mindset. Even though The Marrow Thieves is set in a dystopian time and is quite different from our own lives, we can learn a lot about human nature and condition from the characters. Many of these lessons we can apply to our own lives, even if we don't live in the same situation.