Fathers and Sons
Medicine Walk is the story of 16-year-old Franklin Starlight’s journey to get to know his dying father. All his life, Frank (usually called “the kid” in the novel) has been raised by “the old man,” Bunky, who teaches him farming, love of the land, and how to be a good person. The kid only visits his biological father, Eldon Starlight, a handful of times, typically finding him drunk and unable to…
read analysis of Fathers and Sons
Nature and the Land
In the novel, the land of backwoods British Columbia is practically a character itself. Besides the old man, the land is the kid’s closest companion and the place where he is most himself. He describes the open land as “real,” a place where a person is free from artificial structures like school and can learn to truly “see”—whether by tracking an animal for hours through the forest or simply learning the rhythms of…
read analysis of Nature and the Land
Identity and Heritage
Franklin Starlight grows up knowing he is half Indian. But his guardian, the old man, isn’t Indian, and he only has irregular contact with his biological father, which means that he doesn’t know much about his heritage. In his early life, the kid’s primary connection to being indigenous comes through feeling somewhat alienated and rejected by his non-native classmates. Even his Ojibway surname, “Starlight,” holds no special meaning for him, and the old man…
read analysis of Identity and Heritage
Memory and Story
Medicine Walk takes place on multiple timelines. The primary one is the kid’s journey through the wilderness with his dying father, Eldon. Alongside this journey, the kid (Frank) recalls episodes from his childhood relationship with his father, and, most significantly, the father tells stories of his life. The father’s stories are all Eldon has to pass down to the kid before he dies, and they’re all the kid has of his mother, Angie…
read analysis of Memory and Story
Love, Loss, and Grief
All of the novel’s main characters are burdened with heavy losses that they respond to in various ways. Among Eldon Starlight’s many losses, he is estranged from his mother, his best friend was killed in the Korean War, and the love of his life, Angie, dies in childbirth because of Eldon’s own negligence. He copes with the grief of these losses by drinking. In contrast, the old man (Bunky) copes with losing…
read analysis of Love, Loss, and Grief
