An Anglican vicar and the novel’s protagonist, Mark is 27 at the start of the novel. The Bishop who oversees Mark’s career learns that Mark is suffering from an unnamed terminal illness and has at most two years to live. Knowing this, he elects to send Mark to the First Nations village of Kingcome, British Columbia, an experience that he believes will prepare Mark for his own death. In addition to ministering to the Kwakiutl tribe in Kingcome, Mark is also responsible for conducting a boat patrol of the neighboring villages with Jim Wallace and sets up monthly services in these villages. When he arrives, he is respectful of the residents and their customs and determined to win their trust and respect. Throughout the novel, he is confronted with death and learns to accept it as part of the natural rhythm of life. The myth of the salmon, or “the swimmer,” who returns home to die, is particularly important to Mark, who, like the swimmer, is one of a set of twins. At the end of the book, one of the village elders, Peter, stays awake through the night to greet Mark’s soul, which he is certain will return to his true home.