Journeys of self-discovery often help one discover deep insights into their identity, culture, and heritage, leading individuals through transformative experiences. "Medicine Walk" by Richard Wagamese and "Split Tooth" by Tanya Tagaq explore the protagonists' journeys toward self-discovery, however, they have different paths and experience different struggles along the way. Frank’s journey is initiated by his father’s unique request and revolves around his traumatic past. On the other hand, the unnamed girl’s journey is motivated by internal visions and revolves around her subconscious struggles. The journeys experienced by Frank and the unnamed girl are different in their initiation and the nature of the challenges faced, however, they both …show more content…
The different initiations of their journeys foreshadow the contrast in their struggles and stories. Frank's journey on "Medicine Walk" was initiated by his father’s request. Frank's father, Eldon, asks him to take him through the wilderness to a ridge facing east where he wants to be buried the warrior way. Eldon nodded. I need you to take me up into the mountains. It's where I want to die. It's where I need to die." The game is now available on Amazon. This request marks the beginning of Frank’s journey, foreshadowing the desire to understand more about himself through his father’s past and kindle a relationship with him. On the other hand, the unnamed girl's journey in "Split Tooth" is driven by her subconscious struggles and mental visions. The unnamed …show more content…
Frank struggles with the harsh conditions of the wilderness and the trauma of his father abandoning him. "The land was as hard as his father's heart, and navigating it was as treacherous." Wagamese 63. Frank’s journey is filled with physical hardships and emotional trauma, showcasing his internal struggle with his father’s life stories. Conversely, the unnamed girl’s journey involves confronting her traumatic past and supernatural encounters. "The spirits test me, pushing me to the edge of my sanity, revealing the hidden wounds of my soul." Tagaq 89. Her challenges are deeply internal and spiritual, reflecting her struggle to heal and understand her place in the world. While Frank's challenges are external and tied to his father’s past, the unnamed girl's challenges are internal and tied to her spiritual struggles. The nature of the challenges each character faces highlights the differences in their journeys toward
In the story, each character's mental and physical health changes, whether it is prominently obvious or not. Their health declines – whether it be a rapid decline, as in the father's case, or a graduating descent, like the the rest of the family – and they become older and less attached to the real world, more attached to each other. They retain their habits from the camp and it affects the way that they live amongst other people, in the outside world. The permanence of the changes is evident in each character and will strongly affect the way they live the rest of their life from that point.
The first way that Frank overcomes adversity in his memoir is when he gets a job as a paper delivery boy to help support his mother Angela and his siblings because his father drinks away all of his money at the local pubs. “Mrs. O’Connell gives me telegrams to deliver to Mr.Harrington, the Englishman with the dead wife that was born and bred in Limerick…” (326). This quote tells of how he has to work and do work that he really does not like to help out his family and their situation. Frank is overcoming adversity by providing for his family and saving money to
In Angela's Ashes, a similar theme is struggling through life's obstacles. We are made aware of this theme by using character. In paragraph 4, McCourt writes, "You can look in people's windows and see how cozy it is in their kitchens with fires glowing or
The first barrier to a better life had to do with surviving poverty or the absence of certain privileges. In Angela’s Ashes, Frank, the protagonist of the book, along with his family had to endure persistent rains, exposure to disease and starvation. Frank and Malachy Jr. had to resort to stealing food several ...
Stressors present include keeping up the house that their father built, how to financially support the household, caring for Arnie & a morbidly obese mother fixated on the livingroom couch because of great depression related to her husband’s death and harsh criticism from others within the town about her along with humor remarks referring to her as a “whale”. It was stressful for the siblings to live their lives normally because of having to mature faster than other children to adapt to their living
Person vs. Nature: Frank encounters many problems with his environment and surroundings. Since he is unable to move anything below his neck, it is troublesome to maneuver and live comfortably in his environment. His inability to move in his home and be self-sufficient is a constant battle between Frank and nature.
As Anne transitions from an innocent girl to a devoted humanitarian her struggle to keep the only known surviving member of her family, Adam Stanton happy is a daunting task. During Anne’s childhood her older brother, Adam Stanton protected her and took her along on trips to the beach with his friend Jack Burden. Adam, in chapter three holds Anne back from going swimming when it appears that a storm is approaching. Annes persuasive attitude convinces Adam that it is okay to swim and he and Jack join after her. This shows Adam’s ability to trust Anne and his willingness to take risks. As Anne grows up she views her brother as a loner with no love interests who does not take proper care of himself. Anne, quite possibly seeing a little bit of Adam in herself decides to push Adam into taking a job Jack has offered him through means of Jack’s boss, Willie Stark.
reader a bad impression of him. As the story moves on, there are. several places where you can see that Frank loves his father, despite his all the hard times he has put him and his family through. Malachy is constantly out of a job, leaving his family to survive. their own through poverty.
Frank has an interesting view on the way man has progressed morally. I think that he says that we don’t really know our morals until we have them truly questioned. In this he implies that the people who have strong morals, not only will stay true to them, but will survive. An example of this is Randy Bragg. Randy, on the day of nuclear fallout, stopped on the side of the road to help a woman. This shows that he has respect for the human race as a whole. The opposite of this was Edgar Quisenbury. Edgar valued nothing but money. In the end, the absence of money caused Edgar to become an example of Darwin’s “Only the strong” theory as he shot himself.
Ren’s story begins in St. Anthony’s Orphanage where he has no biological family. Ren is surrounded with the other young boys where he views Brom and Itchy as “his only friends” (Tinti 8). Ren’s one dream living at the orphanage is to one day be adopted and have a family. He knows that his chances are limited because of his lack of an arm. Once Benjamin comes into the orphanage and chooses Ren, he is surprised that he will finally have the family he’s been dreaming about. As Ren and Benjamin travel to a destination unknown by Ren, Benjamin paints a picture of Ren’s past. He tells him about their mother and father and how “they were murdered” (48). Ren believes that Benjamin is his brother and because his dream has come true it makes him vulnerable and willing to do whatever Benjamin wants him to do. Ren ends up helping Tom and Benjamin take dead, “fresh”, bodies from a cemetery to Doctor Milton “at night, to the door that leads to the basement” in exchange for money (134). After this scene, Ren’s morals begin to vary significantly from where he began. Tom, Benjamin, and other people he comes in contact with affect the way he views life and how he judges others. Ren becomes a different person because of his environment and his expectations in life change, making him an unhappy boy in the end. Hannah Tinti gives an analogy at the end of the novel comparing Ren’s search for a family to a game
"When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I managed to survive at all. It was, of course, a miserable child hood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood Is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood", writes Frank McCourt of his early life. Although Frank McCourt's autobiography, Angela's Ashes, paints a picture of both terrible poverty and struggles, this text is appealing and up lifting because of its focus on both humor and hope. McCourt's text shows the determination people living in dreadful conditions must have in order to rise above their situations and make better lives for themselves and their families. The effect of the story, although often distressing and sad, is not depressing. Frank as the young narrator describes his life events without bitterness, anger, or blame. Poverty and hardship are treated simply as if they are a fact of life, and in spite of the hard circumstances, many episodes during the novel are hilarious.
Growing up in rural mississippi, Anne’s family was very poor and surrounded by extreme racism. A few traumatic events near the beginning of the story seem to set a tone for the rest of the tale. In the first chapter, Anne’s house is burned to the ground. This is done by her cousin George, but Anne ends up with the blame. Anne is then punished for something that was not her fault. This is almost a recurring theme in the book, as Anne is continuously being punished or tormented throughout her life for having a darker skin color. Soon after this, Anne’s family is devastated when their father abandons them to run away with another woman. Anne’s mother, pregnant at the time, remains strong and finds a job in the city to support her children. Anne’s mother demonstrates determination and independence, and acts as a role model for Anne so that she too will not give up in the face of conflict and struggle.
It shows her desire to assert what little independence and control she has in the face of the strict gender roles she experiences within her society. She explains to Frank that she believes that the “idea that people have to resign from real life and ‘settle down’ when they have families… [is] the great sentimental lie of the suburbs” (117). She finds it difficult, like many women of her time, to find a medium between who she is and who she is expected to be, but tries to create a balance. Nevertheless, her efforts to do so are consistently ruined by the variables around her, causing her to become more and more frustrated with her
The relationships an individual shares play a role in each other's behaviours; there is this saying where the five people you are the closest to are those who define you. As for the two main characters in Richard Wagamese’s Medicine Walk, they are mainly around one other character at most times throughout the plot, thus being heavily influenced by that individual. The persons who heavily influence the lead personalities — Franklin and his father Eldon — are as follows. The old man, Bunky, shaped Franklin, as he practically adopted him and acted as his true father throughout Franklin’s life. In the early years of Eldon’s life, they became friends with a boy named Jimmy, and they were inseparable since, copying each other's mannerisms and behaviour.
By not taking that opportunity, Eveline probably missed a life of exploration with Frank. Eveline would have had the chance to know what independence feels like and she would have had the chance to experience individual freedom. Instead, her life afterwards is a life of regret and imprisonment with her family. Being an only child, she is bound by her family’s actions and their duties. Eveline has taken on an incredible part of the burden in keeping the family together. Her father is an overbearing and unfair man who takes his daughters earnings for himself; and rather than appreciating her sacrifices, he ridicules her. As she now lives with her dad and her two brothers, she feels tired and frustrated with her dad’s commands and her everyday life. Everyday, she sadly waits for frank to come back into her life once again and fill her life with happiness. Eveline may possibily in the future live her freedom when her controlling father passes away, but perhaps it will become too late for her to experience the freedom she wanted.