The Land
Wagamese devotes ample descriptive imagery to the land throughout Medicine Walk. The land is immensely important to Frank, and it is where he feels most at home. The opening pages of the book describe Frank's life as rides on horseback in solitude, fires in the night, and mountain air that tasted sweet and pure as spring water. Land and moon and water seemingly sum up the equation that lends depth to Frank's world. The old man brings Frank to the land, to the feeling of the land at one's back and the "hearty, moist promise of it rising from everything." Wagamese devotes much of his descriptive imagery to the land because of its import to Frank, and because it comprises much of the novel's setting.
Eldon's Dying Body
Eldon's face becomes slacker as he nears death, and he is often described as a sack of bones. Right before Eldon's death, Eldon has "an odor coming off him," one that is "moldy like compost but higher like rot, as though his flesh would die long before his heart." The often-grotesque imagery surrounding Eldon's body as he dies marks a stark temporal shift. The audience is thrust into the reality of Eldon's dying body. Such descriptive imagery is interspersed between Eldon's stories of his younger self, and so the audience is reminded of the imminence of Eldon's death.
Frank's Ancestors
The last scene of the novel depicts Frank going out onto the land and watching the setting sun plunge the world into shadow. Frank closes his eyes for a moment, and when he looks over the valley again he sees ghostly shapes of people riding horses through the trees. There are children running with sticks, dogs, and women stooping to gather herbs and berries. Frank can hear their shouts and traveling songs on the wind, laden with hope and good humor. It is an image of Frank's ancestors, who are revealed to Frank after Frank hears all of Eldon's stories. The last scene of the novel indicates Frank coming to terms with a past he has never known.
Eldon's Room
Eldon's room, and the town of Parson's Gap as a whole, is dilapidated and neglected in Frank's eyes. Eldon's room is described as being strewn with objects from empty bottles to fast-food boxes, and barren of furniture save the dresser, the bed, and one chair. The room does not have a single square foot of open floor. Similarly, when Frank rides into town, the houses are equally derelict. The house where Eldon lives is described as seeming to "hover," as though "deciding whether to continue hugging the land or simply shrug and surrender itself to the steel-grey muscle of the river." The town's disarray makes a sharp contrast with the sanctity of the land and backcountry.
