Content Warning: This section includes depictions of anti-Indigenous oppression, settler colonialism, graphic violence, murder, and death. It quotes pejorative and dated language to describe Indigenous people used in the source material.

The story’s time and place create a harsh setting. The Fowler family lives in a cabin on their farm, so they’re not near people. When they want to socialize or need to buy things, they must take their wagon and go into town. The isolation emphasizes needing others and self-reliance to survive. Since there aren’t many people in the Fowlers’ daily lives, they rely on the people they have. When the story starts, Pa is missing, so Nathan and Molly utilize each other. Together, they maintain the farm and home. Nathan says, “We fed the animals, we fetched the water, we did everything we knew to keep things right” (5). Ezra also becomes a person whom Nathan and Molly depend on. He takes them to Pa, and he also rescues Pa and helps his leg heal. Without Ezra, it’s plausible that Pa would have died, and Nathan and Molly would have been on their own.

Ezra and Nathan exemplify self-reliance, as the story showcases how they can survive on their own.