Fire Exit

“Going to AA makes you think a lot about the past and how it shapes you.”

This quote illustrates the importance of self-reflection in Charles’s character arc and in his recovery, which requires understanding of how past experiences influence present behaviors. This line also connects to the literary device of narrative reflection, where Charles’s voice is shaped by his retrospective thoughts on family, identity, and pain.

“In the morning Fredrick acted as if nothing had happened. He went on living. And this is important, because it’s when, I think, I learned to push on through an untrue story that pushes back.”

Fredrick is no longer living by the time Charles begins to narrate his story, but he still looms large over the narrative. In this scene, Fredrick has chosen to believe Charles’s story over that of the tribal chief and has remained supportive of his stepson in the face of some damaging rumors. Personifying the “untrue story” with the ability to push back provides it with power, which connects to the power of narratives in shaping one’s life. Stories, whether true or false, inform identity and how Charles learns to navigate a world full of difficult, sometimes falsified, stories that push back against his desire for truth.

“Louise was who she had always been: my mother who suffered from severe depression. But as the years went on, she began to change. Her memory started to fail her.”

This line emphasizes the constancy of Louise’s depression, which now exists alongside the new burden of memory loss. Memory loss is a force that is overpowering Louise, reflecting the broader idea of loss and control—whether through addiction, family dynamics, mental health conditions, or illness.

“There’s nothing strange about a white person wanting to be Indian. It’s comical, if anything. And white people saying they’re Indian happens all the time, and it’s laughed at by Native people.”

This quote juxtaposes “Indian” and “Native,” using the term “Indian” to draw attention to white appropriation of Indigenous identities. By linking the desire to “be Indian” to something comical, the author highlights the cultural commodification and misrepresentation that occurs when outsiders claim Indigenous identity for personal gain. This is why the Penobscot view Charles as inauthentic, even though he is sincere in his interest in his father’s Penobscot culture and grew up completely immersed in reservation life. The alienation that he feels as a result haunts him and contributes to his struggles with depression and alcohol use disorder.

“Blood is messy, and it stains us in ways that are hard to clean.”

This line suggests the difficulty of reconciling one’s heritage with the impositions of society. Charles is not Indigenous, but because his stepfather, Fredrick, was such a loving presence in his life, Charles identifies deeply with Penobscot heritage. The word “stains” implies a permanent mark on the characters, particularly Charles, who feels the weight of his outsider status within the Penobscot community. This suggests a dark underside to the novel’s exploration of The Enduring Strength of Family Ties, as one’s ancestry may be an unwanted burden.

“When the doctor told me my mother’s memory would get worse, I started to sleep less and less.”

Family is important to Charles, and it is evident that his desire to maintain his sobriety is rooted in his commitment to helping his mother, Louise. Because he is powerless to stop the progression of her dementia, he begins to struggle as her symptoms worsen. Sleep loss symbolically reflects his ongoing struggle with his own emotional exhaustion as he becomes overwhelmed by both his mother’s decline and his own unresolved grief.

“But that’s Bobby. He almost never discusses things that aren’t or weren’t good.”

Bobby is a good friend to Charles and even helps Charles care for Louise. Although he values friendship, he struggles in his familial relationships. Bobby’s avoidance of uncomfortable subjects is framed here as a coping mechanism to shield himself from emotional distress.

“Am I at fault for Fredrick’s death is a question I have asked again and again. I could have saved him, but does that make it my fault?”

Obsessive guilt haunts Charles as he struggles to understand his role in Fredrick’s death. The Psychological Impact of Secrets and trauma is a key part of this novel’s thematic structure, and Charles’s inability to prevent Fredrick’s death was part of the rupture between Charles and his mother.

“I remained home and drank and watched the empty house across the street stay empty.”

Here, Charles recalls coping with the stress of his daughter’s birth by self-medicating. Alcohol use is both a coping mechanism and a trauma response in this text, which the author uses to explore the complexities of both family and identity for Charles. The “empty house” serves as a metaphor for his own emptiness and isolation.

“I always felt I had a father.”

This quote describes the profound influence that Fredrick had on Charles and reflects the depth of their bond. Many people in Charles’s community consider him an outsider and not Penobscot. However, this line reflects the importance of familial love and acceptance over biological connections, tying into the novel’s exploration of the difference between bloodlines and the emotional truth of family.

“Once Elizabeth moved home, I rarely went anywhere.”

Charles is committed to his family. Here, he remains connected to his daughter in the only way he can: by observing her secretly from his home. Although he has met Elizabeth only once, he loves her deeply and cares about the direction her life has taken. His isolation speaks to his unresolved grief and guilt over not being part of Elizabeth’s life, especially since he had no control over that decision.

“The baby can’t be yours.”

Mary’s decision to list Roger instead of Charles as Elizabeth’s father is at the core of not only Charles’s battles with unhappiness and melancholy but also Elizabeth’s. It also speaks to the novel’s theme of cultural heritage, identity, and belonging. Although Charles grew up immersed in Penobscot culture with a Penobscot father, his ancestors were white. The gap between his lived experience and his ancestry has caused him immense pain, and that pain was intensified when it prevented him from having a relationship with his daughter.

“Charles, you can’t tell her the truth. Look at her, you’ve seen her. It’ll put her over the edge.”

Keeping his real identity secret from his daughter eats away at Charles, greatly contributing to the emotional distress that, among other things, is at the heart of his substance use disorder. Once he finds out that Elizabeth is living with depression, he becomes even more set on telling her that he is her father. None of his friends agree that this is the right course of action, and Charles remains mired in unhappiness and unresolved grief. Charles’s pain stems from being excluded and from the identity-based rejection he faces as someone who was raised in a Penobscot family yet is written off as unworthy due to his lack of Penobscot blood.

“When I picked up Louise from her ECT treatment, she asked where her baby was.”

The “baby” that Louise refers to here is Elizabeth’s stuffed elephant, a toy that symbolizes the strength of familial bonds and the pain of family relationships. Although caring for the elephant helps Louise navigate her illness, seeing his mother so sure that a stuffed toy is a real baby causes Charles real emotional distress. He learns that sometimes acts of caring for others must be done despite the sadness that they cause the caregiver.

“I never would have guessed that Elizabeth went by the name Ellie.”

Charles is upset that Mary chose to cut him out of his daughter’s life because it means that Elizabeth doesn’t understand her true family history, and it robbed him of the opportunity to raise and to know his child. He is struck here by how absurd it is that he would be unaware of his own daughter’s nickname, and the knowledge adds to the years of pain he’s felt whenever he thinks about Elizabeth.

“Since she was a little girl, she’s been ill, not physically, I mean in her spirit.”

Charles assumes that the root of Elizabeth’s mental health conditions is, in part, his own family’s genetic propensity for depression. He also wonders if there is something in her spirit that understands that there is a missing presence in her life. He wonders if family bonds might be so strong that Elizabeth can feel the distance between her and Charles even if she does not know who he is.

“How strange that after all those years I still remember all the words to that song.”

The death song that Charles listens to for Lenno symbolizes his ongoing connection to his Penobscot upbringing. This quote reveals that Fredrick’s teachings and the cultural rituals of the Penobscot people have remained a part of Charles’s identity, despite external alienation.

“The next week, Louise did not look well. Her skin was pale and very warm.”

Several of the characters in this novel cope with their parents’ terminal illnesses and deaths. Loss is the counterpart to love in the world of Fire Exit, and Charles, Bobby, and Gizos all must come to terms with the fact that loving their parents as fiercely as they do will only make their losses more devastating.

“It’s all your fault.”

As Louise declines, she becomes increasingly withdrawn and often confuses Charles with his biological father. When she becomes combative or cryptically blames him for long-forgotten events, he is unsure whether she is reliving past difficulties or losing sight of the present. Caring for Louise when she is like this is hard for Charles and places more emotional strain on him as the narrative progresses.

“What if I had just never let Mary do what she did? What if I had said no, that I wouldn’t allow it? What if I had said fuck blood quantum?”

Blood quantum is the percentage of Indigenous genetics required for tribal enrollment. Blood quantum differs from one Indigenous nation to the other, and it is a fiercely contested practice in many Indigenous communities. This novel’s engagement with the problematics of blood quantum is a subtle nod toward the idea that identity is more than ancestry and is meant to start conversations about the relationship between ethnic heritage and identity.

“And the snow fell harder and faster and harder.”

Toward the end of the novel, a series of storms plague Charles and his community. These storms speak to the increasing tension of the narrative as it becomes clear that Louise is declining rapidly and Mary chooses to reveal the truth to Elizabeth. The physical storms symbolize the emotional “storms” that the characters experience at the novel’s climax and aim to create an atmosphere of anxiety and suspense.

“My mother kept telling me that it was the right thing to do, telling me the truth. Why did she tell me?”

It is difficult for Elizabeth when she learns that Charles is her father. She must recalibrate her sense of self and decide whether she can still trust the people in her life. The search for identity is a theme that unites several of the characters in this novel.

“We are made of stories, and if we don’t know them, how can we ever be who we really are?”

Charles speaks this line to his daughter to explain to her why he felt it was so important to tell her the truth. However, it also reveals how Charles construes identity. Identity is narrative, life experiences, and relationships rather than genetics or blood. His own identity is “Fredrick’s boy” rather than “white.” He wants Elizabeth to know her own story so that she might have a better understanding of who she is, beyond blood.