“‘In portaging from one river to another, Wabanakis had to carry their canoes and all other possessions. Everyone knew the value of traveling light and understood that it required leaving some things behind. Nothing encumbered movement more than fear, which was often the most difficult burden to surrender.’ –Bunny McBride, Women of the Dawn”

Molly learns about portaging in her American history class, when her class studies the Wabanaki Indian tribes, which include the Penobscot—Molly’s ancestors. This quotation establishes the driving theme of the novel: when you move—or portage—from one stage of life to another, you must decide what to carry and what to leave behind. Molly learns from Vivian’s example the intrinsic difficulties of making decisions based in fear and of clinging to belongings. The burden becomes too much to bear. Molly learns to travel light; she will learn from Vivian’s example and have a different life.

“I believe in ghosts. They are the ones who haunt us, the ones who have left us behind” 

Vivian speaks the first words in the novel. With most of her loved ones dead, or so she believes, Vivian begins her story of love and loss.

“Sometimes these spirits have been more real to me than people, more real than God. They fill silence with their weight, dense and warm, like bread dough rising under cloth” 

  Again, Vivian explains that the people she has loved are spirits, who remain more real to her than the people she encounters in her present-day life. They have a real presence, occupying space. Throughout the novel, Vivian lives almost exclusively in the past. She certainly does not look to the future in any way.