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April Raintree
17
April Raintree
By Beatrice Culleton
Themes
Themes
Innocence
Evidence
"That winter, I noticed that my mom was getting fatter and fatter. When winter was finished, my Mom got so sick from being fat that she had to go away to the hospital." pg. 4
Innocence
Innocence is a theme throughout the first section of April Raintree because April and Cheryl are young and wholesome. They thought that the way they were living was normal and a good way to live. April and Cheryl didn’t want to go with the social workers when they came to their house because they thought their parents were good at taking care of them. When their parents drank alcohol they thought it was medicine that would help them. April thought that her mom was getting fat but she was actually pregnant with Anna. It is good that these girls are innocent because it protects them from all the harmful things their parents do.
"My mother should have fought with her life to keep us with her. Instead, she had simply handed us over." pg. 8
"She and Dad would sit around joking and drinking their medicine." pg. 4-5
Determination
Evidence
"I'm going to go on to university and become a social worker. And I'm going to be one of the better social workers, just like Mr. Wendell." pg. 69-70
"I'd buy magazines that featured beautiful homes and study how they were decorated. Then I would lay back and have daydreams of owning one of those homes, giving lavish parties and having lots of important friends." pg. 76
Determination
Determination is a theme because Cheryl and April work very hard and set goals for themselves so that they don’t go down Mrs. Semple’s “Native Girl Syndrome” route. Cheryl works very hard in school and graduates top of her class. She is going to university to become a social worker, hoping that she will be able to help other children make it through foster care. April works hard during the summers and gets a job at a law firm once she graduates. She sees many other native people who seem to be going down the native girl syndrome which makes her even more determined not to go down that path. April is determined to live a luxurious life in big houses with fancy furniture. She looks through house magazines and cuts out things she would like to have in the future. April does manage to get married to Bob who is very wealthy. Even though their marriage doesn’t work out it still shows April’s determination to get to that point in her life.
"One of the girls I had met last summer now had a baby at home and was living on welfare." pg.72
Loss
Evidence
"I scrubbed wherever I wasn’t sore or bruised, sometimes
hitting a sore area that brought back new pain. But no matter how much I scrubbed and lathered,
I still felt dirty and used." pg. 119
"Baby Anna. Did you know about her? Well, she died when
she was still a baby." pg. 160
Loss
“Mother—you know what happened to our poor, dear Mother? She jumped off the Louise
Bridge, is what she did. Committed suicide. pg. 159
Loss is a prominent theme in the last section of April Raintree. April is struggling mentally with her sexual assault. I can tell that ever since she was raped she has lost a bit of her happiness and her ability to fully trust people. Cheryl reveals to April that their mom (Alice) and sister (Anna) are both dead. Anna passed away when she was a baby and their mom committed suicide by jumping off the Louise Bridge. April slowly loses Cheryl as she drinks more and more and comes to the house less often. April lost Cheryl forever when she committed suicide on the same bridge as their mom.
"Cheryl had died. But for Henry Liberty and me, there would be a tomorrow. And it would be
better." pg. 184
Symbols
Symbols
Rebel
Rebel represents friendship, comfort and love. April and Cheryl both spend time living at the DeRosier’s farm. The family is very mean and not at all comforting or loving towards April and Cheryl. The family dog, Rebel, is a friend to the girls and is there to listen and comfort them.
Rebel
"The only companion I had was Rebel, who had now adopted me as his new friend." pg. 52
Flies
Flies represent filth and dirtiness. They also represent April and Cheryl’s childhood because they lived in a similar environment as the home April visits in an attempt to find her parents. The house was not clean and the flies were everywhere. April couldn’t believe that she had lived like this in the past. She thought that if she stayed too long with the flies and filth that she would get sick.
Flies
"One fly landed on the rim of an uncovered lard can which sat on the table with
some bread. It rubbed its legs together, as if with glee. How could anyone eat that food and not
be sick?" pg. 75
Louise Bridge
The Louise Bridge represents hardships, giving up and death. Alice and Cheryl both committed suicide on the Louise Bridge. It was too painful for them to suffer through life for any longer so they gave up. Alice struggled with an alcohol addiction and the separation of her girls. Cheryl didn’t know how to cope with her mother and younger sister, Anna’s death. She also had a hard time dealing with prostitution and supporting her Dad and his addiction with alcohol as well as her own.
Louise Bridge
“…not five minutes ago,” one of them was saying, “she just stood up on the railing, I tell you,
and jumped off. pg. 168
Character
Character
Cheryl Raintree
Traits
Confident - Cheryl is confident in herself and is never afraid to voice her opinion or defend her culture.
Intelligent - Cheryl is very intelligent and graduated high school top of her class.
Determined - Cheryl was determined to not go down Mrs. Semple's "native girl syndrome" path while she was in foster care.
Depressed - Cheryl becomes depressed when she finds out that her mother and sister, Anna had died and that her father is still addicted to alcohol.
Traits
Appearance
Behaviour
Character
ABCs
Appearance
A
Cheryl is April's younger sister. Cheryl has black hair, dark brown eyes, brown skin and looks like her father, Henry Raintree who is mostly Indigenous.
Behaviour
B
Cheryl is headstrong and always talked back to people who bullied her or April. Cheryl is pretty independent because she grew up separated from most of her family members. She develops an addiction to alcohol later on in her life. When she is drunk she becomes aggressive and says harsh things that hurt the people around her. Cheryl was very optimistic about the future at the beginning of the book and set goals like becoming a social worker. At the end of the book all of Cheryl's optimism was gone and she couldn't find joy in living anymore so she committed suicide.
Character
C
Cheryl always embraced her Metis heritage. She read about her ancestors and wrote stories about current day Indigenous people as well as people in the past. Cheryl was determined to help other people live better lives. This was the reason she wanted to become a social worker and the reason she would let her son Henry live with people who she felt could take better care of him than her. Cheryl is fond of her family and spends part of her life trying to reconnect with her parents.
Archetypes
Section 1: Sidekick
Cheryl is a sidekick to April throughout the first section of April Raintree. Cheryl is April's best friend and is by April's side whenever she can be. She continues to be April's sidekick when they are in different foster homes by writing letters. Cheryl was always able to make April laugh.
Section 2: The Persona
Cheryl is the persona in the second section of our book. She lies to April in her letters and says that she had continued her dream to become a social worker but she had actually quit school and gotten into some bad relationships. Cheryl also went to the Friendship Center less often but continued to tell April that she was still going.
Archetypes
Section 3: The Tragic Hero
In the last section of the book Cheryl is the tragic hero. Cheryl dies in the last section of the book but her death makes April want to change and become a better person for Henry, Cheryl's son and all of the Indigenous people. Cheryl died but April became a better person which is why Cheryl was a hero.
Colours
Colours
Yellow - Cheryl is yellow throughout the first part of the book. She is young and happy in most of her foster homes. She is a friendly child that is full of energy.
Red - Cheryl is red towards the middle of the book because she is passionate about becoming a social worker and finding her parents. She also starts having relationships so red can represent love. Red also represents danger which relates to Cheryl being hospitalized after getting beat up.
Black - Black symbolizes how Cheryl is depressed and having trouble finding joy. Black represents the loss Cheryl experiences with her mother and Anna's deaths. It also symbolizes Cheryl's death which is a big part of the book.
Song - Fix You by Coldplay
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4V3Mo61fJM
Song
Lyrics
When you try your best, but you don't succeed
When you get what you want, but not what you need
When you feel so tired, but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse
And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone, but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?
Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you
And high up above, or down below
When you're too in love to let it go
But if you never try, you'll never know
Just what you're worth
Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you
Tears stream down your face
When you lose something you cannot replace
Tears stream down your face, and I
Tears stream down your face
I promise you I will learn from my mistakes
Tears stream down your face, and I
Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you
Explanation
Cheryl's character can relate to this song because many of the lyrics fit with what Cheryl was feeling throughout her life. The lyric "When you try your best, but you don't succeed" relates to Cheryl wanting to become a social worker. Becoming a social worker ended up not being what she wanted because she tried so hard to help people but they kept on getting in trouble. The lyric "When you get what you want, but not what you need" relates to Cheryl's alcohol addiction because she wants alcohol but it doesn't help her. Another lyric, "and the tears come streaming down your face when you lose something you can't replace" relates to Cheryl finding out that her mom had died. Cheryl never got to say goodbye to her mom before she died and nobody can replace her. The song as a whole sounds very sad which relates to Cheryl's life because she goes through many hardships and dies at the end of the book.