49 pages • 1-hour read
The Skeleton Tree
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Themes
Death as Inevitable and Natural
The novel uses animals as a means for the protagonist to discuss death and dying. The raven symbolizes death, while the salmon is a symbol of the life cycle, which begins and ends with dying. Salmon live predominately in the Pacific Northwest and along the Alaskan coast. These fish are born in fresh water, travel to the salty sea, and return to fresh water to spawn in the same location where they began their lives. They’re indicative of the life cycle that all creatures face, one filled with trials and long, arduous battles. As Chris watches the final journey of the salmon to their spawning area, the voyage inspires sadness and respect.
While grappling with the loss of his father and uncle, Chris comes to understand the inevitability and universality of death. The salmon are a symbolic, reoccurring presence in his journey toward healing. As he comes to understand the salmon and their perseverance and strength, he begins to think of death as an inevitable part of living. He buries trinkets that wash ashore, laying their former owners to rest by proxy. He buries a plank from Uncle Jack’s boat to represent burying his uncle. At long last, Chris faces his greatest fear, the skeleton tree’s coffins, to bury Thursday. In facing his fear of the dead, Chris liberates himself from it. He makes peace with death’s inevitability and universality.
Author Iain Lawrence, a salmon fishermen himself, writes fondly and reverently about salmon in The Skeleton Tree. Although many die pointless deaths, the majority reach the breeding ground so that another generation will survive. In many ways, Uncle Jack is one such salmon. He has struggled to reach a fertile ground, bringing Chris and Frank together so that they might have a rich and full life, but sacrifices himself willingly so that the boys can survive. While he didn’t intend to die, Jack’s intention was to heal and encourage the next generation.
The raven has an abiding cultural connection to death in Western society partly because it eats carrion and partly because of its dark coloring and haunting calls. This connotation is what Frank brings to Thursday: “‘He’s evil,’ said Frank” (112), and later, “‘Oh, the bad-omen thing,’ I said. To my surprise, Frank agreed. ‘That’s right,’ he said. ‘It thinks I’m dying.’” (148). For Frank, the raven and death are linked, and its perch on the skeleton tree symbolizes its connection to the dead. Frank fears death, wary of addressing its inevitability or presence in his life. Meanwhile, Chris slowly befriends the raven, and although he views it as “the black fruit of the skeleton tree” (89), he can understand and live with death, slowly releasing his fear of the inevitable.
Mental Attitude and Survival
In survivalism, mental toughness is the most important indicator of a survival mindset. The Skeleton Tree juxtaposes two different survival mindsets through the characters of Chris and Frank. Chris has a positive mindset, while Frank has a negative one, and their chances of surviving greatly depend on these core views. Cody Lundin, director of the Aboriginal Living Skills School, explains the mental aspect of survival:
Survival is 90 percent psychology. When the chips are down, it doesn’t matter what you have buried in the backyard or how many books on survival you’ve read. If you’re a mental and emotional basket case during your survival episode, you’re toast (Lundin, Cody. 98.6 Degrees. Gibbs Smith, p. 36, 2003).
Frank goes into shock the moment his survival episode begins. He’s incapable of reacting to the sinking sailboat and thus relies on others for his survival. Although Frank has survival skills, like knowing what to eat and how to forage and fish, his mindset continually sets him back. His frustration and anger keep him from being an effective fisherman. His lack of perseverance causes him to lose most of their matches. His resistance to new experiences and friendships leaves him an enemy of Thursday, which results in a near-fatal altercation with the bird. Throughout his survival episode, Frank’s mental attitude is one of defeatism and quitting. He nearly dies precisely because he’s mentally and emotionally unprepared.
In contrast, Chris jumps into action as the sailboat sinks, saving himself and Frank. He lands in the wild without any significant survival skills. However, his positive mindset drives him to keep trying after failures, and he thus develops the skills necessary to survive. For example, when Chris first goes fishing, he loses the lure and is ashamed, but instead of allowing this discourage him, he tries again. By the novel’s end, he’s fishing on his own, cleaning the fish, and cooking them. Likewise, he’s initially unsure of what to eat, but he’s open to learning, even at the cost of looking weak in Frank’s eyes, and is soon foraging and providing for both of them. His positive mental attitude enables him not only to survive but to flourish. He has the emotional and physical reserves to face his deepest fears, to climb actual mountains and emotional ones. Chris becomes a young man prepared to face more challenges and obstacles with poise and grace: “‘You have to believe it,’ I said. ‘We won’t be saved if you don’t believe it’” (243). Chris shows that believing in a positive outcome makes one possible.
The brothers represent opposing mindsets, and the novel demonstrates how keeping a positive outlook like Chris does is crucial. This mindset allows Chris to heal from his family trauma and grow stronger in the wild. Meanwhile, Frank’s negative outlook nearly results in his death, and the emotional and mental turmoil that weighs him down makes his physical survival uncertain.
The Reality of Uncertainty
The Skeleton Tree is a tale of survival and confronting grief, though at the heart of the story is a massive question that can never be answered. In omitting any explanation of their father’s motivations or intentions, the novel leaves the boys in a world of uncertainty. They’ll never be able to understand him, his actions, or his vision for their world. Instead, the boys must grow comfortable with uncertainty or they’ll become mired in the weight of unanswerable questions.
Frank is tortured by his father’s lack of affection, his disappearances to another family, and particularly his ambivalence. At some point in the wild, Frank understands that he’ll never know his father and grows comfortable with the uncertainty surrounding his father’s last day. When Chris nears the end of Kaetil the Raven Hunter, Frank rips out the last page, explaining, “I don’t read endings. It’s more real that way” (256). Later, reflecting on Frank’s actions, Chris agrees: “He’s smarter than I thought; it is more real this way. Now the story just stops—suddenly—in a way that makes no sense. And that’s the exact way our father’s life ended” (260).
Several of the mysteries the wilderness presents are resolved. Cabin guy wasn’t rescued but was killed by the grizzly, as Chris learns upon discovering his body in the woods. The washed-up objects aren’t mysteries but evidence of a tsunami two years earlier. The boys puzzle out Uncle Jack’s intentions toward them as they work together to map out his actions in bringing them together. Thursday’s whereabouts during his long absences become clear when Chris finds Thursday’s cozy corner in the coffin. For Frank and Chris, however, the mystery that matters most—whether their father loved them and why he left—can never be answered. Chris comes to answer these questions for himself, while Frank struggles, mired in pessimism. Eventually, they both find peace in uncertainty, in not knowing and never knowing what their father wanted, what he felt, and whether he truly loved them. Likewise, the future holds uncertainty. The boys make no plans to stay in touch after their rescue. They don’t discuss whether they’ll tell their mothers about each other, their father’s secret lives, or Uncle Jack’s puppet-like attempts to keep the two worlds from colliding. The novel leaves the true end of Chris and Frank’s saga ambiguous, mirroring the boys’ own lack of understanding of what life will be like once they’re home.
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