Borders

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1993

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Summary

Background

Story Analysis

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Important Quotes

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Themes

Citizenship and Identity

King’s work explores how identity and citizenship overlap with law, and this conflict is central in the mother and son’s trip to Salt Lake City. The story addresses the intersection of identity and policy on both an individual and a societal scale. This theme is the most overarching in the text and is explored through the conflict between individual characters and institutions. King weaves individual and societal experiences of identity throughout the text.

The individual scale of identity is represented in personal ideas of status and citizenship. For example, the mother’s sense of identity centers on her Blackfoot citizenship, and she does not consider herself to be attached to the nation of Canada. This view directly contradicts the societal identity upheld by law enforcement officers and other authority figures. On the societal scale of identity, Indigenous groups are forced to identify with colonial nations. The mother must specify whether she is Canadian or American because these are the identifiers the border patrol officers deem valid. The societal scale does not recognize the validity of Indigenous identity.

Some characters have a deeper understanding than others of the complexities of identity. For example, Inspector Pratt is the only border patrol officer who seems to understand the mother’s conflict, and she tries to skirt the citizenship policy. The narrative also reveals that institutions are not designed to deal with these nuances. Those who work in these institutions, like Inspector Pratt, have little flexibility to account for complex identities. Inspector Pratt, much like the mother and son, is powerless in the face of institutions and bureaucracy, which end up hurting both parties. The mother and son cannot cross the border, and Inspector Pratt cannot put compassion into action.

Pride

The narrator’s mother and Laetitia have equally deep but different senses of pride. The narrator also suggests that someday he will develop pride and identity. One of the central conflicts in the text stems from the different senses of pride in the mother and daughter. The narrator suggests that the events in this story will also have a tangible impact on his own sense of pride.

The theme is mostly explored through the mother’s character. Through her pride, we can understand larger issues of identity. The first hint of the mother’s pride comes on the first page of the text, where we learn that despite her vocal objection to her daughter’s decisions, she eventually feels a sense of gratification for her child. The mother also reveals her sense of self-esteem in the passage by pointing out that at least her daughter hadn’t gone with some man or been pregnant. Laetitia’s decision to leave as she left did not reflect poorly on her mother. The mother’s attention to appearance is shown when she and her son dress nicely to cross the border. In addition to the mother’s self-respect for her family and their choices, she also has a deep sense of pride in her identity and culture. This is made explicit by her refusal to bow to the demands of the border patrol officers even though it causes conflict.

The conflict between the mother and daughter is central in both storylines. The mother’s pride leads her to stay close to the reservation, honor her Blackfoot culture, and not compromise her identity and citizenship. The daughter’s self-regard leads her to take a leap of faith into the unknown and establish her independence through will and conviction.

The Outside World

Throughout the text, the mother insists that everything Laetitia finds appealing about Salt Lake City or the outside world can be found in Alberta near the reservation. She appears torn between frustration at her daughter’s free-spiritedness and confusion as to why she would seek things that already exist close to home. This theme is mostly revealed through her dialogue.

For example, the mother comments that Salt Lake City “sounds too good to be true” (139). This passage helps us understand the darker facets of the mother’s character—she is pessimistic, critical, and perhaps has experienced kinds of trauma that she wants to protect her children from. Her resulting distrustfulness of the outside world causes her to constantly fault her daughter’s free-spiritedness.

The mother distrusts the outside world and feels a sense of security and kinship on the reservation. The mother’s apprehension leads her to see her daughter’s plans as not only misguided but dangerous. The mother is not wrong to fear for Laetitia’s safety—Indigenous women and girls make up a disproportionately large percentage of missing persons in Canada. And media attention to their cases is scarce and prejudiced. Laetitia’s adventurousness may seem commendable, but the mother is more interested in her daughter’s safety than her independence. The mother’s fear for her daughter’s safety represents the dynamics between many parents and their children, but the specific context of missing and murdered Indigenous women makes this fear deeper for the mother.