What makes Frenchie decide to follow Rose and leave his dad behind? What are they running towards?

One day, Rose packs up her belongings because she has decided to leave the camp. As she says her tearful goodbyes, French watches from a hiding spot in the nearby woods. He feels he has found his family and his home at the camp and will stay there. But he feels conflicted and doesn’t want to see her leave. Anxious, he feels around in Miig’s pouch around his neck, where he finds tobacco and glass vial that reads, “66542G, 41-year-old male, Euro-Anishnaabe.” This is the vial that Miig has identified as Isaac. French makes his way to his father’s tent and begins to cry.

There, Jean tells the rest of his story. He says he was extremely happy with French’s mother, although he could never shake his sense of helplessness. Yet Mary never got mad at him. Even when she found Jean drinking bootleg when he was supposed to be out looking for work, she simply told him: “running only works if you’re moving towards something, not away. Otherwise you’ll never get anywhere.” When he hears this, French tells his father he has to go, and his father says he knows. Jean kisses French on the top of his head, making French feel safe enough to leave him and run after Rose.

French packs up hastily and runs after Rose.