Humans' relationship to nature
The Marrow Thieves takes place in a not-too-distant future in which humans have destroyed the earth. Yet the government shows no interest in trying to change or improve humans’ relationship with nature. Rather, humans continue to extract nature’s resources for the immediate benefit of a few, without regard for the long-term consequences. In the same way, the government extract Native bone marrow for the short-term benefit of non-Native people, rather than trying to learn from those who are still able to dream. Dimaline characterizes Miig, French, Clarence and the other Native resistance members by their respectful relationship with nature. They are sure to not be wasteful with nature’s precious resources. And their long-term goal is to heal the land from the damage that humans have done to it.
Trauma and Indigeneity
Most of the Indigenous characters in The Marrow Thieves have experienced significant trauma. On the broadest level, they are persecuted for being Indigenous. Many have experienced physical and sexual violence and have lost their loved ones. These terrible, traumatic experiences have left lasting psychological and physical impacts on the characters' day-to-day lives. Moreover, the novel tracks how trauma does not only happen on the individual level but is also transmitted from generation to generation. Many characters, including Miig, French and Rose, have heard stories of their families' histories in Canada's residential boarding school system. These schools tore Native children from their families and prohibited them from speaking their languages or practicing their cultural traditions. Physical and sexual abuse was also common, and the characters are still dealing with the legacies of these traumas, generations later.
Family
Most of the main characters in The Marrow Thieves have lost their blood relatives. Many are young people whose parents and siblings have been killed. Yet in Miig's group, each has found a new family. They are not related by blood. But they are bound together not only by their indigeneity and the need for survival, but also by relationships of care and love. French ultimately realizes that found family is just as important as blood family. When he finds his father, the group believes that he will leave them for his "real" family. But French tells them they are just as real as his blood family. Dimaline highlights this when French speaks of having two fathers—Jean and Miig—and when he is willing to leave his father to go after Rose.
Loss
French reflects that while being on the run or being captured by the schools is horrible, it is actually the constant threat of loss that represents the most difficult aspect of the inhospitable world they live in. Dimaline demonstrates that the devastating power of loss not only affects characters psychologically, but also impacts them on a physical level. After losing RiRi and killing Travis, French experiences loss “as physical pain at the bottom of my stomach and under each kneecap. That’s where the loss lived….”
The power of language
Throughout The Marrow Thieves, author Cherie Dimaline presents language as a powerful tool for preserving identity, memory, and culture, as well as for resisting an oppressive system. A key example is one of the novel's most powerful moments: when Minerva destroys the Recruiters' marrow-harvesting system through a song in her native language. The song is made up of dreams which are recounted in her native language. Through Minerva’s miracle, Dimaline suggests that language is much more than a means of communication and expression. It is a carrier of cultural memory and ancestral wisdom, capable of confronting oppression and bringing down a “broken system.”
Climate crisis
The Marrow Thieves is a work of speculative climate fiction. It speculates about a not-so-distant future in which the climate crisis has progressed, killing half of the human population and leaving much of the earth uninhabitable. Dimaline makes clear that while the novel includes fantastical elements, it also seeks to reflect on the future we may actually face if the climate crisis deepens.
Adulthood and manhood
The Marrow Thieves is a coming-of-age novel that explores the themes of adolescence, adulthood, and more specifically, manhood. French has an outdated idea of manhood, in which he is the protector, provider, and hero. But deep inside, he feels like a young, awkward, teenage boy. From this tension comes French’s anger and jealousy. When Derrick tries to make him look bad, French boyishly feels the need to prove he is a man. The only way he knows how to do this is through an angry outburst. Without realizing it, he ends up hurting Rose. This is because his strong feeling of love for her also brings up his insecurity and doubts.
Dreams
Dreams represent the possibility of hope in the novel. In an interview with CBC, author Cherie Dimaline explained: "Dreams, to me, represent our hope. It's how we survive and it's how we carry on after every state of emergency, after each suicide. Hope is the backbone of our survival, and it's the core of our strength. Our grandparents survived residential schools and still brought through the stories, still carried our language, still made sure that we had ceremony and it was because we had that hope that there was going to be survival and revival. So I think dreams are the epitome of the hope that we carry."
