73 pages • 2 hours read
Richard WagameseMedicine Walk
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2014A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Character Analysis
Franklin Starlight
Frank is a 16-year-old Ojibway boy who lives with Bunky, an old white man who has raised Frank from infancy. Frank has learned the ways of his ancestors and is an accomplished hunter who can survive alone in the wilderness. He attempted school but is more content to learn the wisdom of the natural world around him. Bunky instills within Frank a stern morality founded on the ideal of honesty and on the practice of respect for nature. Frank never knew his mother, and this absence pains him. Frank’s father, Eldon, is an alcoholic who has behaved irresponsibly toward Frank. Nevertheless, Frank agrees to help Eldon die in the traditional Ojibway warrior manner. During Frank and Eldon’s journey into the wilderness to find a final resting place, Frank gets to know his father, gains sympathy and confidence, and learns to forgive.
Eldon Starlight
Eldon, a tragic figure, represents the ways in which economic hardship and alcoholism ruin the lives of some Indigenous people. Alcoholism rates are high on Indigenous reservations, and Eldon is “screwed by circumstance” (86). He begins well and works hard, although few economic opportunities are available, and he is at first forced to scavenge to help his mother survive after his father is killed in World War II. Eldon’s life falls apart when his mother takes up with a white man who abuses her. Eldon attacks the man and is forced to flee. Eldon works hard but succumbs to alcohol and suffers from unexpressed guilt. While serving in the Korean War, Eldon murders his best friend to save his own life. He has one chance to redeem himself when he meets an Indigenous woman named Angie, who inspires him to give up alcohol. His inner demons get the better of him, and his shame drives him back to alcohol. When Angie dies in childbirth, Eldon gives up his son, Frank. Years later when Eldon is days away from his death, he seeks out Frank and asks him to give Eldon the proper burial of a warrior. Like Frank, Eldon learns from the experience of traveling into the wilderness. Eldon and Frank reconcile in the end, and Eldon dies in peace.
Bunky
Bunky, “the old man,” raises Frank for Eldon. Bunky is an understanding and virtuous man who teaches Frank how to survive in the wilderness, to honor the animals he hunts, and to appreciate the great mystery of the world. Bunky’s character also provides a positive dimension to Eldon’s character: Bunky accepts Eldon and sees past Eldon’s alcoholism.
Angie Pratt
Angie is a lot like Eldon in that she lives at the mercy of whites; she depends on lumberjacks for her livelihood. She has a strong moral center and can stand up to the white world, such as when she sides with Bunky when he confronts an abusive lumberjack. Angie represents the possibility of salvation for Eldon. She sees the good qualities within Eldon that he has forgotten he possessed. Like Bunky, Angie is a visionary character. She sees wisely into the nature of things and knows how to behave well. Angie’s death emphasizes the great harm alcohol does to Indigenous men, and it represents the loss of a lifestyle that Eldon might have attained had he been more self-controlled.
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By Richard Wagamese
