Medicine Case

Medicine Bag Essay

"Don't judge a book by it's cover" is just one of the themes in this story. Martin doesn't like that his grandpa doesn't look like the brave Native Americans from the movies. Martin didn't want to be embarrassed or embarrass his grandpa for how he looks. Martin doesn't want the medicine bag and doesn't like the tradition of receiving it. In my essay, I will tell how Virginia's use of characterization and character change points toward the theme of the story.

Martin's characterization is that he doesn't want to be embarrassed by his grandpa.

A quote from the story to support Martin's characterization,"We never showed Grandpa's picture... Our friends would have laughed at the picture." Martin didn't want his friends to see his grandpa because he doesn't look like what Martin's friends expectations are. Another quote to support this,"I told myself that I didn't want them laughing at Grandpa." I believe Virginia is characterizing Martin so that he cares for his grandpa, but doesn't want to embarrass him.

Now I will tell you about how he changed. The change in the story was when Martin didn't think grandpa would look good enough if Martin's friends were to see him, but Martin was proud when he dresses up for his friends. A quote from the story to support this change,"Grandpa did most of the talking while my friends were there. I was so proud of him." Grandpa showed Martin that he could do the appropriate things at the right time. Another quote from the story to support this,"I felt a hard squeeze from where my heart is supposed to be and was scared." Martin didn't want the medicine bag because it was old and dirty. Martin learned the tradition and was happy to have it. He became proud of his family's tradition.

This paragraph is about the theme. I believe the theme of this story is never judge a book by it's cover. The first quote from the story to support the theme ,"You look fine, Grandpa... I was so proud of him." Martin was expecting grandpa to be in his old raggedy clothes and have nothing to say, but grandpa dressed up and prepared stories to tell his friends. A second quote from the story,"I could tell that he had known all