Introduction
“Soo-wanee-quay” is the third story in the novel Keeper’n me. Garnet has settled into his life living on the White Dog reserve, although, he feels torn between his new life and his past life in the city. Concurrently, the White Dog reserve has launched a new radio station. The novel Keeper’n Me consistently has concentrated on the theme of Garnets finding of his identity. However, throughout Soo-wan-quay, Richard Wagamese focused on the importance of balancing tradition and the ‘new world’ for Keeper, Garnet and the White Dog community.
The Keeper Throughout the Keepers monologues in “Soo-wanee-quay” he introduced a new perspective of balance. He described it as everyone having two gifts when they come into the world, one from the mother and …show more content…
For example, if someone has a daughter they are commonly associated only with the mother instead of both the mother and the father. I also thoroughly enjoyed how Keeper consistently tied together balance and respect. I think that Wagamese had Keeper repeat “drum’s the heartbeat. Heartbeat of our Mother. Heartbeat of the land. Heartbeat of our culture,” (Wagamese, 1994) for impact because it tied in the gift from the mother to respect for the land. I found the focus on simplicity that Wagamese had Keeper routinely enforce quite refreshing. By Keeper always circling back