64 pages • 2 hours read
Cherie DimalineHunting by Stars
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2021A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 17-24Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 17 Summary: “Phase Two”
As French’s programming proceeds, he is often thrown into the Corrections Room and tortured with the relentless siren sound. After a while, French begins to fear the threat of torture as much as the torture itself. He tells Mellin much about the family, but he does not tell her about Rose. He also lies and claims that he has been meaning to leave the family anyway because he hates life in the wild. French reasons that if he professes to dislike the family, Mellin might not pursue them.
After 15 days, Mitch informs French that he has now entered the second phase of the program: integration. To prove that he is integrated, French must help administer the inmates: the Indigenous peoples whose marrow is to be extracted. Although French will supervise the residents, he must not talk to them. Mitch calls the residents “the rejects, the holdouts, the past” (140) and claims that converts like him and French are the future. French inwardly recoils at Mitch’s words. Mitch shows French a folder with the map of the institute, and French manages to filch a plastic pen from the folder.
The next morning, French is assigned kitchen duty. On the way, he meets an Indigenous person who is dressed like him. Although French greets him in Ojibway, Cree, and Mohawk, the man doesn’t respond. French regrets reaching out, since the man might be a genuine convert like Mitch. In the kitchen, French must oversee meal preparation. Dozens of residents chop vegetables and prepare rationed meals that will be taken to those in the isolation ward. French must check off in a list every resident who consumes food. The Watchmen tell French that many residents refuse food as a mark of protest, preferring to wither away. The residents scowl at French, and when a teenage boy calls French a traitor, the Watchmen haul him away. Even as the boy is being dragged off, he shows French the middle finger.
Chapter 18 Summary: “Vampires in the Woods”
Rose learns that the Chief calls the women in his house his “wives.” The wives spend their time lying around the house or following the Chief. The Chief loves to lecture everyone and claims that his house is a church for lost souls, promising that those loyal to him will reap a reward. Nam, the young Indigenous person, tells Rose that the Chief is their uncle. According to Nam, the Chief initially cooperated with the government and betrayed many of his people. When no one was left, he abandoned the reservation with Nam. The wives are non- Indigenous women whom the Chief collected while on the run. They were either too poor or too liberal to use marrow, but they were unable survive by any other means. Now, they cling to the Chief, believing that he can magically heal them. The Chief has named them after birds, such as Owl and Wren. Cardinal is pregnant with the Chief’s baby. Robin, the youngest, is hardly more than a child. Grouse, the oldest, seems to be lost. Rose realizes that all the women have been affected by the plague and have lost their ability to dream.
Nam tells Rose that the Chief has not yet given Derrick any antibiotics. When Rose threatens to leave the house with Derrick, the Chief finally administers the meds. He takes one of the wives along to give Derrick the drugs, forbidding anyone else to accompany him. Rose that worries the Chief has an ulterior motive. During the nights, Rose often dreams of the threads that connect her to her loved ones and the larger world. One night, she dreams of a thread pulling at her insistently and follows it to Derrick’s room, where the young man is sleeping. This is where Rose belongs, she thinks, and then wakes up. The next morning, she visits Derrick, who is still running a fever. She asks Derrick if there is something odd about the Chief’s visits. Derrick tells her that he often falls unconscious when the Chief and a wife wipe his face; this suggests that they are using chloroform. Rose notices an injection mark in the crook of Derrick’s elbow. She asks Derrick if the Chief is extracting something from him, rather than administering him meds. From the doorway, the Chief replies that he is extracting Derrick’s blood, but only a little bit.
Chapter 19 Summary: “Moccasin Telegraph”
In the school, French establishes a routine during the meal delivery. He calls each resident by their name even though he is not supposed to talk to them. Using their names is French’s small act of resistance. The residents often give him folded paper napkins from the meal trays as gifts. French later notices that the napkins are messages from the residents to their children, families, and friends, promising hope and asking loved ones to not look for them. French begins to cry at the raw emotion in the messages. He pokes a hole in his mattress and stuffs the messages inside to honor them. This becomes a pattern. The messages are sometimes written in blood, sometimes in sauce. One night, Watchmen break into French’s quarters for a routine inspection and upturn his mattress, then tell him that they have found the contraband. They drag him away.
Chapter 20 Summary: “Moving On”
Two sympathetic nurses (Theo, from Boston, and Rania, from Pakistan) arrive at the camp with important information for the Council. They say that the camp should move across the border to the United States because the school system in Canada is changing. The schools are now targeting pregnant women and newborns as sources of marrow, which means that the pregnant Wab cannot stay here safely any longer. In the States, a no-harvesting law is in force, which will offer Wab protection. Miig decides that his family must leave immediately, even though Rose is still at large. Jean, French’s father, who is the head of another family in the Council, promises to stay until Rose returns. Miig leaves instructions in “syllabics” (written language) for Rose.
Chapter 21 Summary: “A Little Bird Brings Death”
After the Chief discovers that Rose knows the truth, he and the wives attack her and drug her as well, tying her to a bed. When Nam brings Rose water, Rose tells her that Derrick’s blood will not cure the wives of the plague’s effects. Nam admits that the Chief knows this but offers the wives blood to give them hope. When Rose asks Nam why the Chief does not offer the wives his own blood, Nam tells her that the Chief does not have enough blood and cannot dream. All the stories he tells the wives are borrowed from novels or stolen from Nam. The Chief is too corrupt to have any wisdom or dreams of his own.
The Chief starts taking blood from Rose as well, but when Rose asks him uncomfortable questions, he sends Nam to extract Rose’s blood instead. Nam extracts as little blood as possible and dilutes it with water so the wives all get their share. Nam also brings Rose and Derrick vitamin and iron supplements to make up for the blood loss. Rose decides to take Nam with her when she escapes. Matters deteriorate when Cardinal miscarries her pregnancy. The Chief decides that Rose will bear his baby. He also plans for Grouse to be killed, since resources are running short. Rose tells Nam that they will leave before the next dawn. Early the next morning, Nam sneaks into Rose’s room and unfastens the straps holding her down. Nam and Rose tiptoe out.
Chapter 22 Summary: “A Cage Opens”
Nam leads Rose to Derrick’s room, and they free him. The three of them are quiet as they walk out, though Nam knows there is no need for caution. Unbeknownst to Rose and Derrick, Nam as ensured that the Chief and the wives will not wake up during their escape. First, Nam mixed morphine into the homemade liquor the Chief and the wives drank the previous night. Nam also mixed morphine into the blood from Rose and Derrick. Drugged, the wives fell asleep. The Chief retired to his room, but not before hugging Nam and calling them “little bird” (194). The Chief’s touch made Nam relive the traumatic memories of the Chief’s sexual abuse throughout their childhood. Nam went to the Chief’s room later that night, and suffocated him to death by tightening a plastic bag around his face and neck. As Nam leaves the house with Derrick and Rose, they feel they are leaving a cage behind.
Chapter 23 Summary: “The Light Comes On”
After the discovery of the contraband, French is brought before Agent Mellin. He assumes that the napkins have been found. However, when Agent Mellin brings out the contraband, French is relieved to see that it is only the pen he stole from Mitch. French tells Mellin that he found the pen in the hallway. She accepts the explanation but punishes him with 48 hours of solitary confinement without food. French hides his relief at getting out of the situation so easily. As the two days go by slowly French wonders about the cruelty of people like Mellin and the pleasure they derive from hurting others. French decides that the notes are too dangerous to store, so he memorizes each message and flushes the napkins down the toilet. One of the messages is from Marguerite Eliot; she wants French to tell her mother that she is still alive. Marguerite also writes “baamaapii gigabawamin” (201) to her mother, which means “see you later” in Anishinaabemowin (Ojibway). French feels a sense of solidarity when he reads the message, realizing that someone else is writing the words of his language and missing their Elder like he misses his own.
Mitch visits French when the solitary time is over and whispers his thanks to French for covering for him; Mitch knows that he was the one who left the pen in French’s quarters. To Mitch’s delight, French asks to rejoin the Program immediately. However, during isolation meal delivery, French has only 19 trays— half the usual number. This implies that many of the residents have disappeared or died. He cannot understand what has happened to them, especially when he sees the remaining residents in a drugged and near-catatonic state.
In the kitchen, a dishwasher drops a steel knife, and French calls him out, not wanting the blame to be passed to him. The Watchmen notice and take the man away, since all knives are supposed to be returned and locked in a cabinet. French realizes that he has gotten the dishwasher in serious trouble, and the man calls French a traitor. That night, French has nightmares about what he has inadvertently done. Mitch wakes French with the news that his quick-thinking action in the kitchen has won Agent Mellin’s approval. She may decide that French is ready for the final test: the last phase of the Program. French asks about the missing residents and about the euphoric but mindless state of the remaining residents. Mitch explains that the residents are drugged before the marrow extraction to keep them calm. French is shocked and feels he will go out of his mind if he does not escape soon.
Chapter 24 Summary: “Rules of the Game”
Mellin meets Mitch and French. She states that French’s group is on the move, though they seem to be abandoning him. Mellin also has intel that a couple of nurses are with the group. The school wants to get French into the field so he can rejoin his family and serve as an insider for the government. However, French must first prove himself by capturing three Indigenous people who have been spotted nearby. Mitch will be the senior agent and will supervise French on the mission. As they walk back to French’s quarters, Mitch thanks French for creating an opportunity for Mitch to go on an important mission and gain a chance for promotion. Later that night, French is excited to rejoin his family, but he wonders how he will be able to evade the government.
Chapters 17-24 Analysis
The action quickens in this middle section of the novel, with key characters either in perilous situations or faced with morally ambiguous choices. While the first two sections set up the stage for major journeys and conflicts, the action now begins to play out at a rapid clip. In French’s plotline, his decision to join the Program offers him the possibility of escape, but his subterfuge confronts him with The Ethical Dilemmas of Survival Situations as he is forced to act contrary to his own morals in order to ensure his survival. As he pretends to be part of the establishment, he becomes a bystander to extraordinary cruelty, but he cannot intervene for fear of revealing his true stance. As he is temporarily comply with oppression in order to survive, the power of words and language help him to overcome his guilt and perform a small act of resistance; thus, by using the inmates’ names and preserving their messages to their families, French also manages to hold onto his own identity and preserve his links to his own cultural roots. As French symbolically joins the inmates in their acts of resistance, his refusal to dehumanize them shows that even in such a sterile, cruel setting, hope and determination can endure.
As French finds himself moved by the message containing the phrase in Anishinaabemowin, the words of this traditional language exemplify The Importance of Hope in Bleak Times. The incident also references the historical (and current) reality that when marginalized cultures vanish, their languages vanish along with them. As French reads the written words of the Anishinaabemowin language, he draws hope from the idea that this vanishing language is still being recorded in some form. With this scene, Dimaline implicitly addresses the historical issue of the Canadian school systems that were designed to make children forget their mother tongues; she also references the extended genocide of Indigenous American peoples that has drastically decreased the number of fluent speakers of these languages. The moment also captures the delicate ineffability of terms that cannot be precisely translated from one language to another. As French notes, the Anishinaabemowin goodbye in the message is untranslatable, for although it is technically a goodbye, it actually means “[s]ee you later” (201). In Anishinaabemowin, there is no word for goodbye, because the speakers of this language believe that each person is always connected to everyone with whom they share an emotional bond. The phrase is therefore meant to capture a sense of continuity between loved ones and across generations, as well as a larger connection with nature and animals. Because a term like “baamaapii gigabawamin” (201) can never be fully translated into a colonial tongue, French realizes that this holistic worldview and knowledge system faces eventual erasure unless it is actively preserved.
Just as the author addresses vanishing languages, she also portrays incidents that are symbolic of the atrocities perpetuated upon marginalized peoples and cultures. Tree and Zheegwon’s coming-to story is an example of the author’s use of violence in a precise and realistic way. The description of men killing their dog and uncle and then hanging the twins in a barn to bleed them dry is designed to shock and is also reminiscent of historical incidents of lynchings of Black Americans. The descriptions of violence in the text therefore act in a doubly significant way; not only do they heighten the sense of peril that pervades the fictional dystopia, but they also imply that this dystopia is not that far removed from the injustices of the real world.
In a continuation of this theme, Rose’s storyline in the Chief’s house is seasoned with pervasive, heavy menace, and these chapters demonstrate that violence need not always be outright and graphic; it can also operate in quieter, more insidious ways. The schools may be harvesting marrow in a systematic, open manner, but the Chief is committing similar crimes in a more covert fashion. Likewise, the wives of the Chief represent the fact that passive compliance can be as dangerous as active violence, for by exoticizing and fetishizing the Chief, the wives have found another way to exploit the so-called magical power of Indigenous people. The passive evil of the wives is therefore linked with the textual motif of female villains, such as Agent Mellin. The wives also foreshadow the fact that another group of sinister women will play an important part in the closing section of the book. Throughout the novel, the author uses the recurring motif of villainous women to show that women can act as patriarchy’s foot-soldiers, often internalizing and furthering toxic masculine values. Moreover, the female villains in the text do not participate in intersectional feminism; they do not band together with women and other gender minorities against oppression. Instead, they choose to ally with the cause that serves their larger social group best.
If Agent Mellin represents institutionalized cruelty, the Chief represents absolute moral decay. A thoroughly corrupt human being, the Chief chooses to exploit the wives for sex and to treat other Indigenous people as commodities. Not only does he steal blood from Derrick and Rose, but he also plans to force sex on Rose to impregnate her. Thus, Chief’s house emerges as a locus of horrors. With his air of a charlatan godman, the Chief exemplifies toxic masculinity and is presented as the exact opposite of Miig. Standing as a clear foil to the Chief’s depravities, Miig is a true paternal figure who guides and mentors his family while the Chief preys upon his own. This devastating dynamic is particularly prominent in the case of Nam, whom the Chief has sexually abused during their childhood. However, the greatest proof of the Chief’s corruption is that he has lost the ability to dream. Nam tells Rose that the dreams the Chief relays are actually stolen from her and from the writings of Indigenous writers, such as Métis author Maria Campbell and Anishinaabe journalist Waubgeshig Rice. Because the Chief follows the worst of capitalistic values, he has become one with the non- Indigenous oppressors.
While French finds hope in the Anishinaabemowin words, Rose uses the wisdom of her ancestors and her intuition as a guiding light. For example, in a dream-like sequence, the intuitive Rose feels a thread loop itself around her ankle and pull her to Derrick’s room and perceives that following the thread feels “satisfying, like touching a bruise in your mouth with the tip of your tongue” (150). The thread leads to Derrick’s bed and disappears in his chest, alerting Rose to the possibility that Derrick is in danger. Rose’s sense of being connected to everyone she cares for makes her observant and wise and helps her to see beyond the obvious. The description also opens the possibility that Rose may be growing closer to Derrick, which raises questions about the long-term viability of the love between Rose and French.
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By Cherie Dimaline
