Themes present in the novel In Search of April Raintree

              Beatrice Mosionier tackles many themes in the novel  In Search of April Raintree such as: family relationships, sovereignty social challenges and identity. Right from the beginning of the novel Mosionier writes about young April Raintree observing her family carefully. April  was close to parents and understood that they took a particular medicine to cure their sickness. Later April discovers that the medicine was alcohol that their sickness was caused by themselves. She grows a strong hatred for them because they had lied to her and that alcohol destroyed them. Throughout the novel we get to see the strong relationship between April and Cheryl. The two sisters stuck by one another throughout everything even when they were taken to separate foster homes. Throughout the novel we are taken on a roller coaster ride of  this relationship: the sadness of being split apart, their hope for survival, their dreams to achieve, their freedom, their fallout etc. Mosionier also explains the theme of sovereignty in the novel. Although Native people faced many injustices they were given a choice to overcome them or to let it break them. The strong ones fought hard but the weak one's just gave up and fell into the stereotype put out by the white society in the novel. April did not sympathize with those who drank and wasted their lives because she believed they did this to themselves. But Mosionier tells us that although some chose to give up that we need to help them get out of their slump. Cheryl did this for many people in the community and helped especially girls like Nancy to turn their lives around.

           Another theme that is prevalent in the novel is the theme of social challenges. Beatrice Mosionier tackles many social challenges such as: alcoholism, rape, and suicide.  She explains that often times Native people turn to alcohol as a means to escape their lives and to forget all the hardships that they faced. But she also explains the severity of this disease and how it destroys people. In the end of the novel April  is left alone with her entire family falling victim to alcohol. She explains her hatred for alcohol for destroying her parents, her sister and her people. The character April Raintree was mistaken for Cheryl and was  raped by three men simply as a means of revenge against Cheryl. Mosionier expresses that when someone is raped they are not only physically abused but also mentally abused. April continuously bathed and scrubbed herself because she felt dirty and used and  felt the smell of the men still lingering on her. Lastly Mosionier also talks about suicide in the novel. Cheryl commits suicide in the novel as an outlet to all her sorrows. She explains in a letter that she could not live like the living dead any longer and that her time was up. Cheryl opted to kill herself like her mother did as well  so she could run away from her problems. Mosionier allows the reader to see why the social challenge of suicide is prevalent by giving us an insight into the lives of the characters.

         Lastly, Mosionier discusses the theme of identity in the novel. The novel is called In search of April Raintree and is essentially about the character April finding herself. Right from April's childhood she explains instances in the park where she and her sister were teased for being half breeds. She envisioned the Native children as dirty and unclean and the white children as winners. Growing up April always connected with the white part in her rather than the Native part of her whereas Cheryl connected  with the native society. April was of lighter pigmentation and could pass for a white person whereas Cheryl was of darker pigmentation. In her teenage years April started to hate anything Native because she believed that they were inferior and that white was better so she started identifying herself as a white person. April was ashamed of her full heritage and would often times hide Cheryl so her secret remained a secret. This signified the loss of April's identity. After April got divorced and moved back to Winnipeg she started to immerse herself into Cheryl's life.As she took care of Cheryl she started to become more aware of the lives of her people in the community center and as well as with her culture by going to the powwow. She gained insight as to why Cheryl connected with the Native community so much. April regains her pride of being Native and her passion for the Native community when Cheryl died, it ignited a fire in her. She was determined not to allow alcohol to destroy her people anymore.  Her people? She finally acknowledged both aspects of her race, she finally accepted her Native heritage without shame. This signified April regaining her identity.