Character Analysis of Martin in “The Medicine Bag”
Martin’s Pride
The main character in Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve’s “The Medicine Bag” is a young boy named Martin, who lives in a city away from his ancestors’ Sioux reservation. He struggles with feelings of shame and pride about his great-grandfather. At first, Martin makes up wild fantasies to brag about his great-grandfather even though he is ashamed of him. However, by the end of the story, his boasting has changed to a true pride in his heritage.
The story begins with Martin admitting that he and his sister often tell glamorous stories about their Sioux “grandpa.” Martin boasts to make himself look important to his friends. He leads them to believe that his great-grandfather is like the Indians seen is movies or on TV.
However, when Grandpa shows up in Martin’s neighborhood, Martin is embarrassed. He says, “I wanted to sink right through the pavement.” When Martin won’t look up at Grandpa, he shows that he is ashamed of his great-grandfather.
How Martin feels about the medicine bag also shows his shame. His great-grandfather wants to give the bag to Martin, but Martin doesn’t want it. He nearly blurts out “I could never wear such a thing.”
Nor does Martin want his friends to meet Grandpa. His friends repeatedly ask to come for a visit, but Martin is afraid they will laugh when they see that Grandpa isn’t the brave Indian from Martin’s stories.
One day, however, Martin’s friends follow Martin home anyway. Grandpa puts on his best beaded vest and moccasins. When Martin realizes that his friends are impressed with his great-grand father, Marin is ashamed of himself. Martin begins to understand that Grandpa is a great man even though he doesn’t look or act the way Martin described him.
The next day, Martin learns the history of the medicine bag, Grandpa explains how his father passed it on to him. Then, he explains that Martin must find a piece of sacred sage from the reservation, add it to the medicine bag, and one day pass the bag down to his own son. As Martin listens to the story, he begins to understand and take pride in his heritage. Soon after that, Grandpa dies. At the end of the story, Martin stands alone on the reservation and puts the sacred sage into the medicine bag.
At first, Martin’s boastful pride is used to hide his shame. However, as he comes to see his great-grandfather in a different light and as he learns more about his own history, Martin’s boasting changes to a strong but quiet pride in his heritage.
From HRW Elements of Literature website