Fire Exit

Discuss Louise and Mary as mothers. How are these women different, and how do those differences impact their parenting and their children?

Discuss the author’s depiction of substance use disorders. What is he suggesting about the relationship between trauma and addiction? What evidence from the text can you cite in support of your claim?

Why do you think the author chose to depict a non-Indigenous protagonist? What broader argument is Talty making about genetics, culture, family, and identity?

Research other contemporary Indigenous authors. Where does this text fit in thematically with its genre? What kinds of themes, symbols, and ideas present in Fire Exit can you find in other works of Indigenous literature, and how do they compare across texts?

Research the practice of using blood quantum for tribal enrollment purposes. Discuss the controversy surrounding blood quantum and the arguments for and against the practice. Where does Fire Exit make an intervention in that debate, and what side do you think Talty is on?

Discuss this text’s depiction of fatherhood. What makes a “good” father according to the logic of Fire Exit, and where do you see those qualities on display in the narrative?

Research Talty’s short story collection, Night of the Living Rez. What common themes can you find between it and Fire Exit? What kinds of Indigenous stories is he trying to tell, and what seems to motivate him as an author?

Discuss this novel’s depiction of secrets. How do secrets function within the narrative, and how do they impact its various characters?