Medicine walk has many different interconnected themes, but one of the main ones is healing and reconciliation. This novel also explores how broken relationships, generational trauma, and personal regret can be remended through honesty, connecting to the land, and storytelling.
This story is mostly about a son and father attempting to mend a deeply fractured relationship. Their journey through the wilderness becomes a symbolic path toward understanding, closure, and healing from past wounds while reconciling with one another.
The land in Medicine Walk is more than a setting since it also represents identity, tradition, and spiritual grounding of Indigenous peoples. Frank’s survival skills and bond with nature tie him to his Indigenous roots, while also offering a calm environment for Eldon and Frank to reconcile.
The novel also shows how trauma from war, abandonment, and colonial violence is passed down through generations. Both Eldon and his father carried scars from their pasts that affected their sons. The story highlights the importance of confronting this history to break the cycle to provide a more peaceful life for future generations.
Eldon’s confessions and stories function as an emotional medicine by allowing the truth to help give an identity that Frank had been missing. The act of telling and listening is portrayed as a powerful way to process pain, pass down wisdom, and reclaim identity. This also helped heal and reconcile their relationship with each other.