The Diviners - Returning to Roots Essay

Once, there lived a boy; his grandfather migrated from Kenya during the First World War. He was raised among a diverse population. One day, at school, it was being announced that there was going to be a multicultural show. Being born in Canada, he never gave it much thought. Like everyone else, he attended this show. What he saw amazed him. He witnessed at least a dozen Kenyan cultural performances. That day he returned home, asking his parents if they could visit Kenya; he had never been there. His parents agreed and so they travelled to Kenya. It was then that the boy realized that that was where he belonged. The theme of this short anecdote is finding home and returning to ones’ roots. It seems that many Canadian literatures utilize this theme. The Diviners, by Margaret Laurence, illustrates this theme using many of the characters. The essay, Where the World Began by Margaret Laurence, and the film, Down the Road (1970) will be analyzed alongside The Diviners to comprehend the theme of home and returning to roots.
Morag, the main character in The Diviners, grew up hearing tales of Piper Gunn and his adventures from Scotland. She began to think that she must travel to Scotland in order to see it for herself whether the stories Christie tells her are true or not. During the period she stayed in England, she met Dan McRaith who was also from Scotland. He took Morag to his house, in Crombruach village, but Morag did not pursue any further; at that point, Morag had realized that her roots are in Canada. “But it’s not mine, except a long long way back. I always thought it was the land of my ancestors, but it is not.” Morag tells Dan, “Christie’s real country. Where I was born.” When she returned to England, she received a note regarding Christie’s health. She tell Pique that they will be going home, “Pique we’re going back home.”
Piquette Tonnerre Gunn is a very interesting character. The novel begins with her journey in search of living relatives on Jules’ side of