The Color Purple (Symbol)
The color purple is a recurrent symbol throughout Medicine Walk. When Jimmy is shot, the mud around Jimmy is made purple by his blood. Frank sees purple in the night sky above after Eldon discloses the story of Jimmy's death. When Eldon craves a drink after the thought of losing Angie to Bunky, there is a "purple ache" between his ribs. Purple often appears in Wagamese's descriptive language around loss, and so purple often functions as a symbol for loss throughout the novel.
Coyotes Dancing (Allegory)
Before Frank agrees to accompany Eldon on the journey to Eldon's burial site, Frank awakens in the night to coyotes howling. Frank leaves the barn where he is staying and goes to watch the coyotes, who play and snap at each other until they begin to "dance." The coyotes "weave sinuously" in and out until they disappear into the forest once more, as if the woods "folded itself around them." Frank wonders what shape the coyotes "would bear when they emerged into the moonstruck glades." The coyotes' dancing, and their disappearance into the forest, becomes an allegory for the impact of the journey Frank is about to make. Frank does not know how he will be made different after his journey, what "shape he will bear."
Forgiveness (Motif)
Forgiveness—or the possibility of forgiveness—permeates the pages of Medicine Walk. In the novel, a large part of Eldon's alcoholism is wrapped up in Eldon's inability to forgive himself for his past wrongs. Eldon walks through life ashamed of his past and who he is; when Frank thinks of his father's life after Eldon passes away, Frank thinks of a life that "only ever set out the boundaries of pain and loss." Eldon's powerlessness against guilt and self-blame pushed him to drink, and pushed him to be a neglectful father. In addition to Eldon's inability to forgive himself, forgiveness is a theme in the father-son relationship between Frank and Eldon. After Eldon dies, Frank is unsure if he forgives his father. Frank is also unsure what Eldon wanted during his last days, although he believes Eldon wanted Frank's forgiveness. Forgiveness is a motif in the novel because the gift of forgiveness is never given, but the possibility of forgiveness very much exists within Wagamese's work.
Unrelenting Earth (Symbol)
When Eldon builds Bunky's fence, the earth beneath Eldon is hard and unrelenting. When Frank digs Eldon's grave, the earth is similarly implacable. Eldon gets sober while digging Bunky's fence and working the earth, and so the "hard, unrelenting" earth during these chapters is a symbol for Eldon's journey to sobriety. When Frank digs a similarly unyielding ground, the earth comes to symbolize coming to terms with familial hardship. Eldon and Frank both succeed in completing their respective jobs, but not without struggle. In much the same way, Eldon is able to come to terms with his drinking problem, and Frank is able to come to terms with his father's troubled history, but not without struggle.
Fighting the Bear (Allegory)
Frank struggles to acknowledge Eldon disclosing his past as a brave act, blaming Eldon for leaving his mother and therefore robbing Frank of a grandmother. Becka Charlie attempts to reframe the act of storytelling in Frank's mind, telling Frank that what his father did was brave. After Frank and Eldon leave Becka's house, they encounter a young grizzly bear. Frank is able to scare the bear away by making himself physically large and growling, demonstrating courage despite actually being frightened. Frank scaring the bear away is an allegory for Eldon being able to disclose his past, even the most lamentable parts of it.
