Sacred Heart School is both a setting and a symbol. It is an environment that evokes a prison mentality. The system forces students to be there against their will and live under the oppressive regime of Father Mulligan. The author’s characterization of Sacred Heart School employs pathetic fallacy in its use of physical descriptions that match the actions, emotions, and motivations of the characters. The students feel negative energy from the trees. This is especially true for the students from the Arctic area of Alaska, where trees are sparse or nonexistent. The trees are a physically oppressive force because they block out the sky and the stars. The trees also add to the secluded nature of the school. Sacred Heart is menacing because it is so isolated from the rest of society that it would be impossible for the students to run away. Sacred Heart School is a setting for trauma and tragedy. Although the students there develop a sacred community of their own, they do so in self-defense: they are victims of institutionalized racism and abuse. The earthquake that damages Sacred Heart is symbolic of forces larger than institutions that punish these institutions for the trauma they inflict.