Fire Exit

Elizabeth is Charles and Mary’s daughter, although she has always been told that her father is Roger, the man Mary chose to list on her birth certificate so that she would qualify for Penobscot tribal membership. Elizabeth, although important to the narrative, plays only a small part in its action. She is viewed primarily through Charles’s surveillance of her and embodies how secrets and lies adversely impact individuals and families. 

Her character is thus key to the theme of The Psychological Impact of Secrets, as her ignorance of her family history contributes to her depression. However, she also embodies resilience. She has obtained a degree, had a successful career as a teacher, and purchased her own home. 

Because so much of what the author shares about Elizabeth unfolds through Charles’s eyes, her importance to Charles becomes a key aspect of her characterization. Charles, although he does not have a relationship with Elizabeth, loves her fiercely. She is, alongside Charles, an engagement with the idea that parent-child bonds need not be traditional to be strong. Moreover, Elizabeth herself also comes to embody the enduring strength of familial relationships: Finding out the truth about her parentage is distressing for her, but at the novel’s conclusion, it is evident that she has embarked on a path of forgiveness and reconciliation and that she is rebuilding her relationships with her parents.

Louise is Charles’s mother. She is not Penobscot but married a Penobscot man and spent much of her life on the reservation. She is presented initially through the framework of her declining health: Louise experiences bouts of memory loss that Charles learns are the result of dementia. Louise struggles to navigate her worsening memory and resulting difficulties, but her illness ultimately shows the strength of her bond with her son, Charles: He is a loving caretaker, and his dedication to Louise illustrates how loving Louise and Fredrick were to Charles. He learned how to be a compassionate family member from his parents. Louise further demonstrates her loving nature in the regard she shows to others. She is kind to Charles’s friend Bobby, Elizabeth’s stuffed elephant (her “baby”), and even Mary and Elizabeth during their ECT treatments. 

Louise is looked upon fondly by many people on the reservation, even as they treat other outsiders with skepticism and caution. Like her husband, she is an important member of her community. Louise is also characterized by her love for Fredrick. Charles’s biological father, although she keeps much about him secret, was a difficult man and an absent father. In Fredrick, she found a true partner, one whom she feared losing because she loved him so much. Charles recalls that even when Fredrick was still young and fit, Louise began “worrying more and more about his health” (87). His loss devastated her, and it exacerbated her depression. Louise’s experiences with depression were lifelong, and her character becomes one of the key ways that this text engages with people living with mental health conditions.

Fredrick is no longer living by the time the novel begins, but he still looms large over the narrative. He married Louise when Charles was only a toddler and quickly began to see Charles as his own son. Fredrick was deeply connected to his Indigenous roots. He had a strong sense of himself as a Penobscot man and taught Charles about Penobscot history, culture, and traditions. He raised Charles to identify as Penobscot both through a deep appreciation for Indigenous culture and by embodying those cultural values himself: Under Fredrick’s tutelage, Charles became both emotionally intelligent and adept at the kind of practical skills that he would need to make a life for himself in a rural community. Fredrick loved Charles fiercely, and Charles reflects, “It was Fredrick’s love that made me feel Native. He loved me so much that I was, and still am, convinced that I was from him” (56). 

Charles feels a sense of “coming from” Indigenous culture because of Fredrick’s teachings, selfless love, and concern: He taught Charles that love and identity both derive from relationships and commitment, not blood or genetics. Fredrick was a capable and competent man who helped Charles build a house and learn to hunt. Fredrick taught Charles about this spirit of self-sufficiency because it earned him the respect of his community members. He was known as a man with real, practical skills who was willing to do his part to maintain the reservation. Fredrick was also active in tribal politics and fought for Indigenous rights in Maine. He was against the US government’s proposed plan to allot small parcels of land to enrolled members of the Penobscot tribe, citing the flaws in the proposal and arguing that their community deserved better. He received pushback for his views and demonstrated his willingness to remain steadfast in his beliefs in the face of dissent.

Mary is a secondary character in the novel but still plays an important role in the story. She and Charles began a relationship when they were both young and quickly developed a strong bond. As a teenager, Mary displayed an interest in women’s status and a burgeoning sense of self-advocacy. She wanted to participate in Penobscot drum circles but was prohibited from doing so because of her gender. She found this tradition inherently sexist and did her best to change it. Because she was willing to speak up for herself and take on tribal leadership, she showed herself as both courageous and determined. 

Cultural identity is important to Mary, and she has a keen sense of herself as an Indigenous woman. She retains this interest as an adult and adds to it a commitment to the well-being of her reservation community. She takes a position within the tribal government and dedicates her professional life to her fellow Penobscot citizens. Mary is a complex character and not without flaws: Because she wanted her daughter to have enrollment rights (which she would not have with a white father), she hid Charles’s identity from Elizabeth, choosing to list Roger, a Penobscot man, as her father on Elizabeth’s birth certificate. While Mary’s choice could be construed as well-intentioned, its consequences impacted Mary, Elizabeth, Roger, and Charles.