Djembe - Concordia College

12
Though there is much more that could be said about both mythical moments and magical
touches, as well as practical means the children use to achieve responsibility, let us consider what
the use of this universal myth to the particular Irish story might mean. When the children bring
Papa home, they reconnect him with the Traveler community from which his repressed grief had
severed him. Papa learns from his boys how to start anew. The children help Papa express his
grief and let go of his inability to control life. They also teach him again the lessons of hope for
the future, faith in the on-going nature of life, and joy in the moments of living and loving in the
present. In short, these children bring Papa home again, mooring his soul so that he can return
to who he is and resume the life of the Traveler. Let me suggest three conclusions that we might
reach as we look at the film. At the Jungian universal level, the narrative may be seen as a heroic
journey, in which the boys achieve individuation and move toward adulthood. At the level of
practical reality, this film is a story about grief set in the context of today’s world in which all too
often children are forced to grow up fast yet adults often behave like children. At the particular
contextual level of Irish Travelers, the narrative does not allow the older generation to remain
static in a nostalgic grief over a past dead and gone. Instead, the children help Papa and Grandpa
Ward both let go and honor that past, keeping it alive in healthy ways for the present and the
future. The Irish Travelers, like the arc of this film, are on a never-ending journey that will hold
both sorrow and joy—for it is the human condition. Once we all accept that much, we can feel at
home on this earth and in our own skin, no matter where we journey.
Works Cited
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Experiencing Loss. Eds. Gerry R. Cox, Roberta A. Bendiksen, and Robert G.
Stevenson. Amityville, NY: Baywood, 2002. 7-19.
Campbell, Joseph with Bill Moyers. The Power of Myth. New York: Anchor Books, 1991.
Cirlot, J.E. A Dictionary of Symbols. New York: Dorset Press, 1971.
Irwin, Chris. “Horses Help with Human Psychotherapy.” Brain Injury Resource Foundation.
Accessed 20 July 2008.
Kane, Sean. Wisdom of the Mythtellers. Ontario: Broadview Press, 1994.
Lamers, Elizabeth P. “Helping Children During Bereavement.” Dying, Death, and Bereavement:
A Challenge for Living. 2nd Edition. Edited by Inge Corless, Barbara B. Germino, and
Mary A. Pittman. New York: Springer, 2003: 267-286.
Leeming, David Adams. “Introduction: The Dimensions of Myth.” The World of Myth. New
York: Oxford UP, 1990: 3-9.
McCarthy, Conor. Modernisation, Crisis, and Culture, 1969-1992. Dublin: Four Courts Press,
2000.
McLoone, Martin. Irish Film: The Emergence of a Contemporary Cinema. London: British Film
Institute, 2000.
Newell, Mike. Dir. Into the West. Starring Gabriel Byrne. Channel Four Films. 1992.