64 pages • 2-hour read
Hunting by Stars
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Chapters 9-16Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 9 Summary: “Bedridden”
French is now in the infirmary, talking to a vision of his mother. His mother says that perhaps earlier dreams existed in all parts of the body, but Native people learned to store them deep in their marrow once they realized how coveted dreams were. The others have tried to take away the Native people’s ability to dream many times, such as when they forced their children into schools meant to “kill the Indian in the child” (68). History is now repeating itself. French asks his mom if he and his people can still escape. She answers that although there is little hope for her, he still has a chance. Suddenly, the vision of French’s mother incongruously calls French “buddy” and morphs into Mitch, who has entered French’s quarters.
Mitch asks French why he ran away, and French says that he was looking for their mother. Mitch tells French there is no record of their mother ever having been at this facility. Mitch also explains that he is now a part of the system; he believes that all people are one under God and that right now, the role of the Native people is to be harvested for the general good. Once the world has recovered its balance, they will no longer have to give up their marrow. French is stunned at the change in Mitch.
Mitch also explains the bureaucracy of the schools and the recruitment system. Recruiters and the clergy are the top brass, while agents—whom Mitch hopes to soon join—are the middle rung. Watchmen or security, whom French has been thinking of as his escorts, police the inmates. To avoid being an inmate and having his marrow extracted, Mitch cooperates with the system, and he urges French to do the same. Those whose marrow is extracted almost always end up dead; without bone marrow, their bodies cannot heal. Mitch shows French one of the wards where the inmates undergoing extraction are kept. French is horrified to see even pregnant women hooked up on IVs, and the moans emanating from the many beds. He remembers the lie they were told about the extraction process: that people could reintegrate into society once they had donated their marrow. He tells Mitch he would rather be dead than cooperate with such a sadistic system. Mitch leaves but returns later that night to tell French his own going-away story.
Chapter 10 Summary: “Mitch’s Going-Away Story”
When the Recruiters took Mitch from the treehouse, his calf bone was broken, and this is how he acquired a limp. Mitch now regrets fighting the Recruiters but says that he did not know better then, being a child. He now knows that the Recruiters work for the greater good. Mitch also regrets thinking he was doing French a favor by distracting the Recruiters so French could escape. He should have made sure that French came with him and the Recruiters so that both brothers could “have been saved together” (78). Mitch was enrolled in the school system, and pastors delivered sermons every night.
In the beginning, Mitch missed his family, but over the years, he began to understand that God was his best friend and father. The thought of God gave Mitch comfort. When Mitch was 13, he was enrolled in an intelligence program. Because of his leg, he could not complete too many missions, but he gathered information and learned about the world. Mitch understood that the Dreamers should not begrudge God’s children their marrow and the chance to rebuild the world. He started to see hope for the future. He now wants to share this hope with French. Quoting the hymn “Amazing Grace,” Mitch believes that he and French, once lost, have been found.
Chapter 11 Summary: “A Slim Light in a Dark World”
French is astonished that Mitch would quote from “Amazing Grace,” a song written by an enslaver. While Mitch regrets not bringing French with him when the Recruiters came for him, French believes that Mitch saved his life that day. Mitch asks French not to excite himself, as he has seen young people get strapped to their beds for displaying too much emotion. French realizes that Mitch has seen people get punished and tortured. French bitterly reflects that Mitch is no longer the brother he knew, but his spirits lift when Mitch urges him to join the Program so that he can get sent into the field on missions. Realizing that this might be an opportunity to escape, French decides to pretend that he has genuinely been converted to the side of the Recruiters.
After Mitch leaves, two nurses check on French. They seem kind, but French is wary of their questions. Although many nurses are part of an underground network known to help the captives escape, French feels that he cannot afford to let his guard down. Later, the Watchmen drag French back to his cell, mocking him with racist epithets. French passes a large room filled with 60 Indigenous people, many of them kids. He is happy to see them play and assert their individuality. Several young men try to greet French, and although the Watchmen hit them with batons, they shout for French to stay strong.
Chapter 12 Summary: “The Death Tree”
As Rose and Derrick head toward Sir John A. Macdonald school, they hunt small game. Though the countryside is lush, Derrick thinks he can see southern Yew trees, which signify death. This means that climate change has disrupted the local ecology. Derrick spots a settlement and asks Rose to take cover. However, Rose’s instinct tells her to test out the settlement. She goes over to examine a yellow tent, and Derrick follows suit, but his leg gets caught in a bear trap that was most likely left to hinder any pursuing Recruiters. Rose manages to spring the jaws of the trap open and free Derrick’s leg, but he needs immediate medical attention. Rose makes a tourniquet with a sock and cauterizes the wound with salt. Derrick drifts off to sleep, and Rose keeps watch, fearing that there may be a death tree, or bad omen, in the woods after all.
Chapter 13 Summary: “Programming”
French learns that he will begin the program to induct him into the bureaucracy. He is given a uniform and toiletries and is overjoyed to be able to take a bath. He spends the first half of the first day taking tests and is then brought to Agent Mellin, a strict officer. Mellin asks French questions about the people he was travelling with before he was brought to the school. To protect the family, French claims that he was travelling alone. Mellin senses the lie and sends French to the Corrections Room for an hour of punishment. In the empty room, there is a mirror, and French is appalled to see how much weight he has lost. A terrifying, siren starts up, making French clutch his head to block out the sound. The torturous sound breaks French down.
French is brought back to Mellin. To maintain his cover, French pretends to cooperate with her. He tells her that he has been primarily with one group and that not many such Families are left in the wild. After the interrogation, French is taken back to his quarters. As he falls asleep, he is consumed with guilt over exposing Rose and the others to Agent Mellin.
Chapter 14 Summary: “News”
Carole reports to the family that French had been found on the record of John A. Macdonald, but his name has since been removed. This means that French has either been converted to work for the schools, or he has died. Miigwans believes that since French would never convert, he must be dead. The camp is plunged into mourning. They gather in a circle on the grass in front of the tents. Miig is unable to tell a story, so Tree and Zheegwon tell their coming-to tale to comfort the group.
Chapter 15 Summary: “Tree and Zheegwon’s Coming-To Story”
In the story, Tree and Zheegwon live on the outskirts of a small city with a man they call Uncle Tim, who is adept at hunting and dancing. They are happy enough, with Uncle Time ensuring that they always have food. Uncle Tim has an old hound named Max, who barks whenever danger is near. When the plague descends, and Native people start getting attacked, Uncle Tim stops sending Tree and Zheegwon to school. One night, when Uncle Tim is asleep on the couch, Max begins to bark sharply, then stops. Tree and Zheegwon discover that Max’s throat has been slashed. Uncle Tim steps out to investigate and never returns. Tree and Zheegwon are attacked shortly afterward. They are taken to a barn and hung by their feet. Plague-infested people bleed them and take bits of their flesh. These are the early days of the plague, when people have not realized that the dreaming ability lies in the marrow. Tree and Zheegwon are only given water to drink and are hosed down every day. One day, Miigwans finds them in this terrible state. He cuts them down and takes them away.
Chapter 16 Summary: “A House in the Woods”
Rose and Derrick come across a large house in the woods. Rose asks Derrick to keep watch while she investigates the house. From the windows, Rose can see a Native man in his forties, a younger Native person, and several non-Native women. The man holds court for the women, who gather around him worshipfully. The women refer to the man as “Chief” (129). Rose notes that while the Chief looks well-fed, the women are skin and bones. Just then a crow caws loudly next to Rose’s hiding place, drawing the attention of the house-dwellers. Rose is discovered.
The young person, Nam, comes out to fetch Rose and Derrick. The Chief seems happy to see Rose and Derrick, calling them a “true gift” (131). Rose asks the Chief if he has antibiotics, since Derrick’s wound is badly infected. The Chief has Derrick taken to the back room. He asks Rose to celebrate with him with a drink, though Rose is impatient that Derrick be given the meds first. However, she complies, hoping to hurry the Chief. The women dance around, and Rose feels that something is strange about the Chief and the house.
Chapters 9-16 Analysis
The interactions between French and Mitch are designed to highlight the disconnect that historically occurred between family members when certain individuals were forced to adopt colonialist traditions and values, while others retained their connection to their culture of origin. French’s horror and incomprehension upon realizing Mitch’s new affiliations and loyalties highlights the vast ideological gulf that now separates the two brothers. While French notes that he had often dreamt of reuniting with Mitch, the reality of their union illustrates the divergence of the two brothers, and this dynamic is particularly prominent in Chapter 10, “Mitch’s Going-Away Story.” Although French has long thought of Mitch’s decision to distract the Recruiters as a noble sacrifice, this section makes it clear that the now-indoctrinated Mitch has come to regret that decision, since he believes his action prevented French from being “saved” (79) along with him. In this moment, the brother’s opposing definitions of what it means to be saved foreshadow the ultimate split between them at the end of the novel. Significantly, Mitch’s story is the only “Going-Away” story in the novel, while all other tales are labeled as “Coming-To” narratives. This key difference emphasizes that Mitch has gone away from the family, his culture, and the world of ethics and morality, permanently compromising his perspective on life. While Mitch’s perspective is flawed, especially when he justifies marrow extraction as part of a grand plan, his story also illustrates the ways in which brainwashing and trauma can compel a child to turn against their own identity and culture.
As French grows to realize how profoundly his brother has been changed, his decision to pretend to comply in order to escape reflects the recurring theme of The Ethical Dilemmas of Survival Situations, and Mitch’s conversion also highlights this issue. In one sense, Mitch’s conversion to the school system is a survival tactic of a child separated from his family and threatened with violence. Now, French is offered a similar choice: to submit to “processing” of his marrow extraction, or to integrate with the system to escape processing and certain death. Left with very few options, French decides to pretend to comply in order to survive, deceiving his long-lost brother so that he may protect himself, his family, and his cause. However, the decision to pretend exposes French to a series of difficult, morally complex choices, for although he has sworn not to give vital information about the family to Agent Mellin, the intense torture to which he is subjected makes him share more than he intended. This scene foreshadows the fact that French will be compelled to make increasingly difficult choices as he weighs the cost of betrayal against the cost of failing to do what he perceives to be for the greater good.
As the author examines these moral choices, she also maintains the novel’s multiple plotlines in order to honor the story’s many voices and show that no single story eclipses any of the others, for every person’s story and journey matters, and every smaller story is part of the Story. This approach also implies that when one person believes in the superiority of a single narrative, as Mitch does, this conviction inevitably results in the devaluation of certain people and certain stories. When Mitch internally capitulates to the colonialist narrative that everyone must unite under God, he relinquishes his own values and departs from the larger Story that once included his brother, his family, and his culture. As the novel progresses, Mitch’s own isolated story will end before its time, for Mitch has cut himself off from every life-affirming aspect of his past history.
As the author shifts from one perspective to the next, certain motifs and symbols recur across the different settings. For example, when Rose’s story takes her to Chief’s sinister house in the woods, the building stands as yet another example of the fact that houses and institutions are never the safe havens that they appear to be. In fact, the narrative suggests that because of the secrecy and enclosure of four walls, abuses often proceed unchecked in such locations. From the moment Rose approaches the house, it exudes menacing vibes, for it is covered in mold, and even the light emanating from the candles is personified as being “hard to trust” (125). Likewise, the toga-clad women and the grandiose Chief exude a sinister and cultish image that foreshadows the menace that Derrick and Rose will experience there.
In each aspect of the novel, the author employs vivid descriptions and rich imagery to bring the details of the intricate world-building to life, and in the process, Dimaline proves that her world is fraught with unforeseen dangers. The vivid portrayal of Derrick’s injury and the other dangers that Rose and Derrick face demonstrate the desperate situation of the various family members, who must struggle to survive a hostile environment. To this end, the obstacles that the characters face are often imbued with an eerie sentience. For example, when Rose tries to pry the trap open “it jostled around its bone like a rabid dog but remained clamped shut” (99), and this evocative description adds urgency to the narrative, heightening the sense of peril that pervades this dystopian world. As a contrast to the horrors of such man-made devices, Dimaline creates lush descriptions of nature to imply that the earth is reclaiming itself. Now that the technological civilization has withered away, the earth is growing over its abandoned spaces. For example, the moss growing on the Chief’s house signifies that the earth will ultimately triumph despite the ravages of human arrogance, and this descriptive trend continues throughout the novel.
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