The Character Flaws: Garnet Raven
Character Flaws in Keeper ‘N Me In Richard Wagamese’s Keeper ‘N Me , the main character Garnet Raven is a young Native man who is taken away from his parents and put into foster care as a small child. He is later finally able to find his family after his brother contacts him many years later. Growing up, Garnet struggles with his Native identity and who he truly is. He lies to himself and to other people about his ethnicity and background and this results in Garnet being put into some difficult situations. This flaw affects Garnet’s journey throughout the story and his life as well because he constantly moving from place to place in the beginning of the book as a “new” person and he never really knows who he is. Garnet eventually realizes the importance of identity and the true meaning of family by the end of the story because of being able to reconnect with his relatives. The character “Keeper” is an old man who also lets a personal flaw interfere with his life. As a young boy Keeper is mentored by Garnet’s grandfather, Harold. He eventually leaves Harold because he becomes too worried about other people’s opinions of him. Later on, Keeper becomes an alcoholic because nobody is able to give him guidance while growing up. Keeper and Garnet both let their personal flaws affect their lives negatively. Garnet is unable to accept his identity and Keeper quits an important event in his life because of what other people think of him. Garnet grows up in a series of foster homes for the majority of his childhood. He lacks the love and support from a caring family and is therefore unable to receive guidance from any authority figures. Nobody educates Garnet about his Native identity thus losing the sense of who he truly is. After he is able to leave the foster care system, Garnet goes out into the big city of Toronto and starts