Character Analysis Of Garnet Raven In Keeper N Me Richard Wagamese

People often cannot feel confident in who they are unless they know their past. In the novel Keeper’ N Me Richard Wagamese develops Garnet Raven as a young indigenous man taken away from him his family as a child, which in turn causes him to struggle through life feeling uncertain of who he is and longing for a sense of belonging. Initially, Garnet tries to conceal his true identity as an “Indiyun” because his people have been portrayed as alcoholics and unproductive people throughout his life. Due to this concealment he feels a part of him is missing inside and is determined to fit in somewhere. It is not until Garnet receives a letter in prison from his brother Stanley that he realises in order to fill this lonely pit inside him that

Garnet is searching for a place to call home while he goes around town portraying himself as “anybody from anywhere” because of the embarrassment he feels being Ojibway . While going into a bar Garnet meets Lonnie Flowers, a hip, sly, partying man from around town. Once they start talking Lonnie quickly realises Garnet is faking who he is and calls him out. Garnet is immediately consumed with shame, wishing he was “anywhere but that doorway” and wants to escape. This is the first time Garnet is “confronted with [his] own phoniness” and is thrust into feelings of humiliation, guilt and irritation. As time passes, while becoming closer to Lonnie and meeting his family, Garnet is quick to realise that he does not know who he is and where he comes from. Furthermore, all he is able to feel is a sense of loneliness, not the type of loneliness while standing in a crowd filled with people but one that consumes him and is unable to shake. Soon after Garnet recognizes in order to fill this hollow tunnel inside, he must reconcile with his family. Once he arrives in prison due to trafficking drugs he receives a letter from his brother Stanley filled with messages of love, telling him to come home which he