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.
Chapters 7-8Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 7 Summary
Deirdre buys Eldon and Frank the items they need for their journey. For the first time, there is a sense of connection between Frank and Eldon as they ride out into the wilderness seeking a place for Eldon to die gracefully like a warrior. At first, Frank is embarrassed when Eldon rides the horse “sloppily” (42) and smells of alcohol, “a rotted high smell like a dead thing” (43). Eldon notices that Frank didn't bring any food, but Frank catches plenty of fish for them to eat. Eldon is surprised that Frank can start a fire with only natural materials such as straw. Eldon begins to tell Frank about his life, and it becomes clear that Eldon never had a chance to acquire the skills and wisdom that Frank has. From an early age, Eldon had to work and "scavenge" (47). Because Eldon was a “half-breed,” neither community accepted Eldon, and survival was difficult. Frank begins to get a better sense of Eldon and understands that they both were dealt a bad hand in life: “[H]e had an idea of him as a small kid, and when he stood up finally with his arms full and made his way back to the camp he understood that he bore more than wood in his arms” (50).
Chapter 8 Summary
Frank reflects on the times Eldon visited him when Frank was younger. During one visit, Bunky criticizes Eldon for not finding work. Eldon makes excuses for himself, and he can no longer work in lumbering because he had to pawn his saw for alcohol. After Eldon leaves, Frank asks Bunky about Eldon and his whiskey. Bunky explains that alcohol keeps things away “that some people don’t want around neither. Like dreams, recollections, wishes, and other people sometimes” (55), and Bunky compares Eldon to a “busted” (56) machine:
Things get busted sometimes. When they happen in the world you can fix ‘em most times. But when they happen inside a person they’re harder to mend. Eldon broke up pretty bad inside (56).
Frank also recalls the day when Eldon revealed that he was Frank’s father, but Eldon has difficulty talking about it. Bunky tells Eldon he must make the years ahead different from the ones behind, but Eldon doesn't know how he can do that. When Eldon leaves, Frank points out to Bunky that Eldon said nothing about Frank's mother.
Chapters 7-8 Analysis
One part of the narrative moves forward toward Eldon’s death, and one part moves back into the past, revealing the events that happened prior to the start of the novel. Eldon's past reflects how economic hardship and alcoholism destroyed the Indigenous communities. Bunky is a model of rectitude and hard work, and he serves as a measure against which to assess Eldon. Eldon fails to take responsibility for his failures and instead holds “luck” accountable. If Eldon believes that failure and bad luck are things that "happen" to him, he assumes that he is powerless and cannot right his wrongs, namely those against Frank and Frank’s mother, Angie.
The author provides enough information for the reader to sympathize with the hard life of an Indigenous man like Eldon and at the same time to respect the ideals of characters like Frank and Bunky, to whom people like Eldon can aspire. The author contrasts an ideal way of living for Indigenous people with the reality of economic hardship and pitfalls that prevent Indigenous people from achieving success in life.
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By Richard Wagamese
