The theme of trauma in Marrow Thieves is the impact arising from intergenerational suffering of Indigenous people. The novel follows the story of a group of indigenous people in the future, who are on the run from government forces who hunt them down to harvest their bone marrow. The events presented by the text show that trauma is continuous, inseparable from the victim and rigid to change.
The story showcases that trauma is continuous once it is induced on the victim. In this quote “It’s like a wound that never stops hurting,” trauma is developed through a physical analogy (Dimaline, 2017, p. 48). The narrator compares the trauma to a wound that never stops hurting, suggesting that trauma is embedded deeply and has a lasting effect (Dimaline, 2017). This implies that trauma is not something that can be easily forgotten or healed; rather, it stays with a person for a long time.
The narrative implies that trauma cannot be separated from an individual besides causing intense pain. In the line “It’s the kind of thing that shakes a person to their core and never quite leaves them,” trauma is manifested by showing the impact of the disastrous event on the character (Dimaline, 2017, p. 87). The phrase “shakes a person to their core” implies the strong, profound effect that the trauma has on the character (Dimaline, 2017). The quote also implies that the trauma is long-lasting, implying that the character will never recuperate from the trauma, as it will always remain with them.
Marrow Thieves prove the point that trauma is unchangeable, meaning there is no healing or resolution. The trauma in this quote, “It was a wound that would never heal, no matter how much time had passed” is developed through the metaphor of a wound that will never heal (Dimaline, 2017, p. 89). It is a permanent scar, and the trauma will remain no matter how much time passes.
In conclusion, the theme of trauma in Marrow Thieves is explored through the characters’ experiences of displacement, loss, and emotional and physical pain. The three quotes indicate how the indigenous people have to shoulder physical violence by having their bone marrow extracted to promote the dreams of others. Generally, these lines have depicted various levels of trauma in the novel exploring how trauma can be inherited.
Reference
Dimaline, C. (2017). The marrow thieves. DCB.