The Mission School

The Mission School is located on a rural Canadian island. Kenny, Maisie, Lucy, Clara, and Howie are all interned at this residential Catholic institution when they are children. They are torn from their homes and families and forced into the school against their own and their parents' will. The school is geographically isolated from the surrounding modern civilization. Therefore, the students are incapable of escaping the school without risking their lives. Furthermore, they are made to live in constant fear at the school. The nuns and priests mentally, emotionally, physically, and sexually abuse them. They are taught that their Native languages, customs, and traditions are shameful, and thus forced to dress, speak, act, and worship according to Catholic teachings and mainstream white culture. The school operates as a symbol of entrapment throughout the novel. Indeed, even after the characters either flee or are released from the...