The Law of Life

Koskoosh is a First Nations or Inuit man, and the story’s main character. Although once a tribal chief, Koskoosh is now elderly, blind, and frail to the point that his existence is implied to be a drain on the tribe’s resources. As a result, the tribe leaves him behind when they pack up to seek new hunting grounds, providing him with no supplies beyond a bit of firewood.

Koskoosh is stoic in the face of this decision, and even assures his son that it is the correct one; as his private thoughts make clear, the hard existence he and his fellow tribesmen lead leaves little room for sentimentality about death. For Koskoosh, it is simply a law of nature that the sole purpose of the individual is to reproduce, or at least to otherwise contribute to the group’s survival. That being the case, he sees little point in mourning his ill health or trying to prolong his existence, though even he cannot entirely quell his instinctive desire to live; at one point, for instance, he indulges in a fantasy of his son returning to save him. Koskoosh’s bravery and pragmatism prevail, however, and the story ends with him surrendering himself to a pack of