The novella begs the question of whether human life is a privilege, and whether humans deserve to be treated differently than animals. In a culture where starvation is as common as the snow that buries the food supply, the fact that humans are made up of flesh carries more importance than the fact that humans might also be made up of souls. Fearing cannibalism is part of the two women’s lifestyle, and it hovers in the background of their travel as well. 

The People leave the elderly and young children to die because they are not able to make a physical contribution; this is another example of categorizing humans as mere bodies instead of thinking, feeling people. While there is a physical gain in no longer having to care for the people left to die, there is a mental cost when human life is treated with such indifference—exemplified in both The Chief’s slowly deteriorating mental state and in Ozhii Nelii’s unending shame. 

As a young woman, Sa’ “asked the men if they thought they were no better than the wolves who shun their old and weak” (57). In her direct comparison between animals and humans, she charges humans with a responsibility to make use of their compassion.