Fire Exit

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of addiction, mental illness, and death.

The complex nature of culture, identity, and belonging is at the core of this novel’s thematic project. Through the author’s choice to explore life for a non-Indigenous protagonist, he makes a broader argument about the role that “nurture” plays in identity development. Charles considers himself culturally Indigenous; although he is not Penobscot, he grew up on the Penobscot reservation and was deeply connected to Fredrick, his Penobscot stepfather. This identity remains fraught, however, because many individuals on the reservation will never see him as anything other than white. The tension between experience and genetics and Mary’s choice to list an Indigenous man on Elizabeth’s birth certificate allow the author to interrogate blood quantum—the practice of determining eligibility for tribal enrollment based on “blood.”

Fredrick was committed to both his Indigenous history and his Indigenous community. He took parenting seriously, and because he considered Charles his son, he wanted his child to understand Penobscot traditions and identity. He taught Charles the history of his people and how to embody Penobscot beliefs and values. Through Fredrick’s tutelage, Charles learned songs and oral narratives and how to hunt, fish, and build homes. He learned how to be self-reflective and to prioritize the needs of his community. Charles is rooted both in the longstanding traditions of the Penobscot Nation and what it means to be an Indigenous man in the modern world, reflecting, “My mother and I were not Penobscot, but I spent all my early years on the reservation” (21). This meant that in addition to his relationship with Fredrick, Charles attended reservation schools and had Penobscot friends. He was part of the Penobscot reservation community. 

Despite this, Charles is not Penobscot by blood, and as he grew older, he was ostracized by many people in his community. This ostracization increased when Fredrick opposed tribal leadership’s interest in taking the US government’s offer of funds to buy more land. Lenno, the tribal chairman, and others thought that the offer was sound, but Fredrick found it wanting. Fredrick’s unpopular position contributed to Charles’s growing alienation—a subtle nod to the fact that an isolation supposedly stemming from genetic difference has political dimensions and is intertwined with a broader debate about the meaning of Indigenous identity. Charles’s sense of alienation only increased when Mary chose a Penobscot man to list on his daughter’s birth certificate. 

Without this, Elizabeth would not have qualified for tribal enrollment. This practice, referred to as blood quantum, is common in Indigenous communities but is fiercely contested. Proponents of the system argue that tribal resources are severely limited and that allowing tribal membership for individuals with only a small fraction of Indigenous DNA stretches those resources too thin, further endangering already precarious communities. They also argue that it “dilutes” Indigenous identity and culture, conferring Indigenous identity on people who are arguably more tied to mainstream, white communities. Those against the practice believe that it places too much emphasis on DNA and that there has been so much intermingling between white and Indigenous communities since settlement and colonization that it is possible for an individual with only a small portion of Indigenous blood to grow up, as Charles did, immersed in Indigenous culture and embedded within their Indigenous community. Moreover, the practice of quantifying Indigenous identity is itself an artifact of colonialism comparable to the “one drop rule” used to “determine” Blackness; as such, it reflects neither historical Indigenous conceptions of ethnicity and culture nor the modern understanding that race is socially constructed. Because Charles identifies as a member of an Indigenous community and Mary’s choice has so greatly harmed both Elizabeth and Charles, the novel contributes to this interrogation of the practice of blood quantum and raises serious questions about its usefulness.