The Birchbark House

"Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won't either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth"
-Louise Erdrich

A young adult story, beautifully told. What makes it stand apart?

Omakaya, 'Little Frog', is a 7 year old girl. She learns about life & death alongside the members of her family and tribe, the Ojibwe, in the 1800's within the Lake Superior region of Minnesota.

Omakaya's journey follows important themes of power and death, perpetuating the model of adolescent literature, as described by Trites.

This is exemplified by

• The focus on survival- from daily elements to major disease
• Omakaya's effort to understand her identity
• The use of symbolism through animals

Omakaya faces the reality of death more than ever before after her little brother dies due to yellow fever. She had seen him emerge from just a 'spirit' to a baby.

Death's significance

• Grief and guilt overwhelm Omakaya
• She is forced to view life differently, as well as her place in it.

As Trites ascertains in her understanding of death as rite of passage, Omakaya gains the self-realization that she is mortal due to this death. She is no longer the same.

Recurring patterns

• His death occurs onstage- she must confront it.
• It is untimely, violent, and unnecessary. This is not an elder's death.
• It is and causes a tragic loss of innocence.