Medicine Walk

This chapter is an account of the various times Frank and Eldon have visited each other. Frank is always disappointed by Eldon, who is usually drunk and with a new woman each time Frank visits. In contrast with the beauty of nature, the mill town is described as something “sullen” that “hurts the ears” (116).

The first visit is with Bunky, and Eldon is surprised to see them. Eldon is dancing with a woman in his room and is drunk. Frank, hurt, accuses Eldon of lying about wanting to see Frank. When Eldon says, “I’m your dad” (119), Frank replies, “Ain’t got one” (119). Eldon offers to give Frank money, but Bunky says that Frank needs a father, not money.

During the next visit, Eldon has bought Frank a fishing rod for his birthday, and they go on a fishing expedition. Though Eldon has promised to be sober this time, Eldon brings a thermos of alcohol and gets drunk. Although Frank is only a young boy, he is forced to drive Eldon home. Frank is angry and upset. All through the accounts of these failed visits, the author recounts Frank’s feelings about the land and the natural world around him: “He felt the pull of the country […] Rocks glistened with the sheen of spray tumbled into the air by small rapids […] When the kid alit he could smell the fecund bog of the meadow” (127-28). After Frank drives Eldon home, Frank leaves a note saying, “You lied to me” (134).

On the next visit, Eldon is once again unprepared. Frank curls up in a chair and drapes a coat over himself as he waits for Eldon in Eldon’s room. When Eldon returns with a woman, he does not see Frank and has sex with the woman in front of Frank. Eldon is embarrassed when he realizes what he has done. The woman says she likes the idea of the boy watching and asks if Frank would watch again. Frank refuses and leaves; this visit was “supposed to be a camping trip” (137). The final story of visitation involves Eldon breaking his promise to visit Frank. These encounters contrast with Frank’s more positive experience of Christmas with Bunky where they would walk together on snowshoes across the fields. Bunky says of Eldon, “Shoulda never let him near ya” (138).

Eldon and Frank make camp, and Frank feeds Eldon some grouse. They talk about being alone and realize they are alike. Frank shares how he likes to come out into the wilderness “when it gets too noisy in my head” (144). Eldon comes to admire Frank and calls him a “good man” (144). Eldon wishes he had lived more like Frank and explored the wild. They finally reach the valley where Eldon wants to die. Frank builds a fire ring and a tent made of saplings. Eldon views life as a “Great Mystery” (149) that should not be solved but accepted. Eldon wants to die in the valley because it’s “the only place I felt like I belonged, like I fit, where I never fucked up” (150). The chapter concludes with Eldon confessing that he once killed a man (150).