Crow Lake by Mary Lawson
Setting
The book is set in a small rural area in Northern Ontario. The story begins with the death of the parents of Kate, Bo, Matt, and Luke Morrison. When their parents die Kate is 7, Bo is a toddler, and Matt and Luke are teens. Their parents' dream was for them to get a college education. Luke is the oldest, but gives up his college career to take care of his siblings.
Sacrifice
The sacrifice Luke makes causes rivalry between him and Matt. They both work for their neighbors, the Pyes. The Pyes have a history of conflict between father and son. After Matt wins his scholarship, he discovers that his girlfriend, Marie is pregnant. She also reveals that her father, Calvin Pye has killed her brother. Matt gives up his plans for education to marry Marie. Matt's sacrifice causes Kate to view it as a horrible choice for his future and she does not talk to them as much.
Ending
In the end of the novel, Kate goes to Crow Lake for Matt and Marie's son's eighteenth birthday and she introduces her partner Daniel for the first time. Kate realizes that Matt's loss of education was not as tragic as she thought and it caused them to not be close anymore. She struggles with her relationships with the past and it never gets resolved. In the evening, Matt, Kate, and Daniel went back to the ponds. Lawson writes, "The other ponds, our pond included, are just as they have always been" (291), leaving a joyful mood at the end.
Symbolism: Suitcase
The suitcase is symbolizes in both Crow Lake and The Tiger Rising. In Crow Lake, Kate, Bo, Matt, and Luke Morrison's parents went to get a suitcase for Luke, and they end up getting killed in a car accident. In The Tiger Rising, Rob Horton hides all of his thoughts packed up tight in a "suitcase", but ends up "opening the suitcase", revealing everything that he has kept inside of him.