Crow Lake

Degree of education factors heavily into the lives of the Morrison siblings, influencing both their accomplishments in life and their relationships to one another. Although the Morrisons struggle for generations to secure enough time and money to allow their children to pursue education, the entire family strives to learn and encourages one another to stay in school as long as possible, which sets them apart from many other families in similar situations. Fiona deJong, Kate’s student, acts as a foil to Kate in this respect. Although Fiona and Kate both come from small farming communities, their outlooks on life and relationships to their families are vastly different. The key factor is that while Fiona’s family sees her interest in education as an oddity, Kate’s family has always encouraged her.

Although the Morrisons tend to be very restrained in how they express emotion, the value they place on education is one manifestation of their familial care and love. It is only possible to send a child to school if their responsibilities are covered by another family member, so the pursuit of education becomes an all-family activity, including efforts from even the siblings who aren’t in school. Kate’s father, for instance, was able to finish high school because his brothers picked up his farm work; likewise, Luke abandons his schoolwork to support the family, insisting that Matt should stay in school, and even opening an account for Kate where she can put her own earnings and save for university.