Richard Wagamese and Novel “Starlight,”

Richard Wagamese and Novel “Starlight,”

When he was working on the Novel “Starlight,” Richard Wagamese passed on aged 61. He did not even have a chance to complete writing the book, but regardless of it being raw, it is one of the most beautiful books he wrote, leaving his audience with some intense anxiousness. It is a bittersweet work to read regarding the storyline and the fact that there will be no other chance to read on the works of the great novelist Wagamese. The Novel is a contrasting story of love vs. hate and good vs. evil, traits that can be taken from two distinct characters in his work, Frank Starlight and Jeff Cadotte.

From the story, Jeff is a very abusive man. He cares less about anything that has to do with his family. His daughter and wife (Winnie and Emmy) do not find the value that they would like to find in a father and husband. At the beginning of the novel, Emmy is moving stealthily towards the cabin where she was living with Jeff Cadotte, her daughter Winnie and an enormous coworker of Cadotte called Anderson. Emmy and Winnie have a plan of sneaking into the cabin where Jeff and Anderson are already sleeping. Their aim is to take away what belongs to them, some foodstuffs, and the keys to Cadotte’s track and escape while his husband and friend are still very drunk and lifeless. They want to do these because they have already gone through much abuse both physically and mentally in the hands of Cadotte, to the extent that Emmy cannot take it anymore. She has to find a way out of escaping the dark, grief, and hate side of life that she was under for so long. Unfortunately, Cadotte wakes up, and some violence crops up. Winnie and Emmy manage to escape with the track, though without money or food. They, therefore, are dependent on breaking into houses for food, something she is not happy for. In one of these incidences of stealing food, she arrested for stealing in a supermarket, but she escaped through Frank Starlight’s kindness.

Frank starlight, a photographer of American decency, does not only save Emmy from the supermarket where she is accused of shoplifting, but she also offers her a place in her home. To prevent Winnie to go the hand of child services, Frank takes Emmy to his home, where she will be working as a housekeeper until when they would feel well to stand on their own. These are not the first people Frank has accommodated at his home; there is also Roth, a former worker who lives in the household. The four gel so well. The bringing in of Emmy and Winnie brings some completeness in the home that was missing. Roth and Frank realize that they lacked some humane connection even though they thought of having an idyllic life. There is a feeling of humane action and humanity association from the kindness of Frank. He has ended up creating a joyful family with people he was assisting. He is a concierge of good and kindheartedness. Everything that he does out of his good will is natural and not exaggerated. He is a character whose kindness one can relate to from an audience level, unlike for Cadotte.

Communion with the natural world is shown in Wagamese work to be an antidote to alienation from oneself and others. These can be seen from Winnie and Emmy, who are integrated into the natural world by Frank. The weekends camping trips shoe Winnie and Emmy catch fish, ride horses, find mushrooms, explore nature, become physically fit, and survive on their own. For the very first time, they are dawned to some realization that inner peace can be attained through communing with nature. Emmy realizes that Frank was not just teaching her about the land, she says, “You were teaching me to listen to myself,” something that Frank admits he was. Frank takes her to the challenge of trying to touch a deer with her newly acquired skills; she does not hesitate. Frank tells her that if she can touch a deer and gallop a horse, then there is no place for anger or hurt. That is the place that one learns and lives when they come to the land.