Silent Words

Author: Ruby Slipperjack Setting: Canada in the 1960s Protagonist's culture/ethnicity: Canadian aboriginal

In Silent Words, Danny Lynx, a Canadian aboriginal, leaves his abusive home to embark on a journey of self-discovery. Once he is on his own, Danny's daily life becomes a struggle for survival. His determination to find his mother gives him the strength to continue his journey, despite his fears that the obstacles of hunger and lack of shelter will be too great to overcome.

Danny is not on his own for long, however, before a family takes him in and tries to reconcile him with his father. Terrified at the prospect of returning to the home his father shares with a cruel girlfriend, Danny resolves to keep running. Traveling through a series of communities along the Canadian National Railroad mainline, Danny forms meaningful relationships with several aboriginal people who teach him some of the beliefs and values that characterize their shared culture. Danny's experiences on the journey provide him with new understanding about himself and the world he lives in.

When Danny is finally reunited with his father, he realizes that his father has also changed. The reunion takes a painful turn when Danny learns that his mother died while he was looking for her. Distraught, Danny tries to run away again but ends up reconciling with his father, who promises to take care of him and to make up for past mistakes. However, when Danny arrives at his father's new cabin, he mistakes a woman he sees there for his father's former girlfriend. Overwhelmed by fear of being hurt again, Danny picks up a gun and accidentally wounds his father.

The epilogue finds Danny a young man about to be married. He has returned to the community where he made many friends on his journey and is building a home there. Danny has put away the anger he once felt toward his father and has committed himself to taking care of him. At the end of the novel Danny has found the self-knowledge he was searching for. He knows his place in the world and has learned to speak the silent words that are at the heart of aboriginal expression.

Back to the article