Themes In Bone And Bread

Bone and Bread Themes and How They Relate to Canadian Identity
Thesis; themes, such as isolation, survival, loss of a loved one, loneliness, and emotional instability are all connected to what Canadian identity is. Through the loss of parents and close family, these two sisters, Beena and Sadhana, have to navigate life while dealing with the loss of their loved ones. Beena becomes pregnant, having to be a single mom, as the biological father leaves her; this is when she begins to get reclusive. Her sister had no means to deal with the emotional trauma, so she became anorexic. Keeping secrets and always pushing people away, Sadhana never wanted help from her sister or uncle, who became their caretaker until they were old enough to handle themselves. …show more content…
It is also prevalent theme in Canadian identity. Residents of Canada come from all walks of life and Canada harbours a place of survival within its borders. In Canada, everyone has a chance to make their living however they choose. In the book, Beena and Sadhana are forced to survive without their parents; they have to fend for themselves most of the book and are constantly fighting to keep their sanity. Beena learned how to survive being a single mom without parents to support her, and Sadhana learned how to manage her illnesses even though she met an unfortunate end. Despite all of the tragic things they had to experience, the sisters were still able to survive their childhood. “My sister and I found ourselves laughing, and to have that feeling return so suddenly, when I thought it might never be given back to us, almost stopped me up short”(113). This is significant because it shows how the sisters grow through their hardships and how the simple action of laughing caused so much emotion to Beena, with good reason. This shows the theme of survival because the girls need to learn to let go of their sorrow and laugh in order to survive; this moment is pivotal because through the entire novel the sisters are consumed by heartache and …show more content…
Quinn is a main character who displays this the most. “Quinn was already too solitary, too inclined to prefer the company of adults” (331-32). During the novel, you get a glimpse of Quinn in his childhood, and growing up without grandparents or a father he grew accustomed to loneliness and seclusion. As he grew into a teenager, he still kept that sense of loneliness. This theme is related to Canadian identity because Canada is a resilient country, due to its ability to strive for excellence. This notion is connected to loneliness and the idea of standing alone specifically when Canada separated from England. Quinn is similar to this; he strives to be independent from his mother but at the same time he wants to have a family to look up to. Quinn is a complex character who depended on his aunt Sadhana, but once she died he became even more withdrawn than when she was alive; and it made him feel more alone than ever. Libby, a side character, is a single mother like Beena but she was divorced instead, and was forced to become independent but also depended on Sadhana as her confidant just as Quinn