English LiteratureISC Class 12 · The Medicine Bag

The Medicine Bag: Grandpa's Journey, Family Guilt and the Symbol of the Bag (ISC Class 12)

Updated 17 October 2026 · Fact-checked

When Grandpa travels alone to the family's home, Martin and his family feel guilty because they were his only living descendants, had not kept in close touch, had not realised how old and infirm he had grown, and had neglected their duty. The medicine bag he promises Martin is a symbol of Sioux heritage, and Martin's acceptance shows he embraces his cultural roots.

Notice that four separate failures all feed one effect, guilt, and give the exact reasons in an answer; Martin then accepts the bag and his heritage.

Illustration drawn for QuestionBuddy.

Understand Grandpa's Journey, Family Guilt and the Medicine Bag (The Medicine Bag)

A note on sources. The story is in copyright, so this page does not reproduce it. Points come from the CISCE 2025 specimen and marking scheme.

Grandpa's journey. Grandpa travels all alone to the family's home. His arrival makes Martin and his family feel guilty: they were his only living descendants, yet they had not kept in close touch, had not realised how old and infirm he had grown, and had neglected their duty to him. The 2025 reason-completion item asked for exactly this cause; the examiners found many answers 'indirect', so give the exact reason.

Details to avoid. The sources used here do not say why Grandpa came or what the medicine bag contains. Do not invent these; write only what your Prism text supports.

Grandpa as a person. Old and infirm, yet determined to make the journey alone; dignified (he dresses for the occasion); a storyteller who holds the boys in awe; a keeper of tradition who passes on the medicine bag.

The medicine bag as a symbol. Grandpa tells Martin, 'Tomorrow, when you come home, it will be time to give you the medicine bag.' The bag stands for Sioux heritage and the responsibility of carrying it forward. Martin feels 'a hard squeeze' near his heart and is scared, but answers 'OK, Grandpa.' Having learnt to value his grandfather, he accepts the legacy and the responsibility for his heritage.

The 2025 MCQ. It gave two statements: Grandpa's promise to give Martin the medicine bag, and Martin's feeling of a squeeze near the heart and his answer. The task was to decide how the statements are related: the second is Martin's reaction to the first.

Devices. First-person narration lets the reader share Martin's embarrassment, fear and growth. The medicine bag is a symbol. The contrast between television images and the real Grandpa exposes stereotype.

Themes. Duty to the old and family guilt; embracing one's cultural roots; stereotype against reality.

Key quotations

Short lines worth knowing by heart: who says them, when, and why they matter.

Tomorrow, when you come home, it will be time to give you the medicine bag.
Grandpa: To Martin; Statement I in the 2025 MCQ.
The moment of inheritance; it causes Martin's fear and acceptance.

Grandpa's Journey, Family Guilt and the Medicine Bag (The Medicine Bag): key facts

Why the family felt guilty: only living descendants
little contact
unaware of his age and infirmity
neglected their duty; Give the exact cause in one clause.
The medicine bag: symbol of Sioux heritage
responsibility to carry it forward
Martin accepts it; State symbol, then meaning.
Grandpa's traits: old and infirm
determined
dignified
storyteller
keeper of tradition; Use with one incident each.

How to answer Grandpa's Journey, Family Guilt and the Medicine Bag (The Medicine Bag) questions

Use this for reason items and for a 5-mark answer on the medicine bag.

1Give the exact cause in the first sentence.
2Name the symbol and what it stands for.
3Use the quotation about the bag.
4Show Martin's reaction.
5Link to cultural roots.

Grandpa's Journey, Family Guilt and the Medicine Bag (The Medicine Bag) in real life

The idea, met in an everyday situation. Answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.

Neglecting elders until they come to us

Suppose a family living in a city rarely phones an old uncle in a village, and one day he arrives alone by bus, tired and thin, and everyone suddenly realises how long it has been.

How does this resemble the feelings of Martin's family in the story?

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

They had little contact.
They had not realised his age and weakness.
His effort to come alone makes them guilty.

Answer: As in the story, his effort shows their neglect. Guilt comes from recognising a duty that had been forgotten.

Memory hook: Neglect is noticed when the old one arrives.

Tricks to remember Grandpa's Journey, Family Guilt and the Medicine Bag (The Medicine Bag)

Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.

O-C-A-N
Only descendants, Contact, Age unnoticed, Neglected duty.
Use it when: Why the family felt guilty.
Bag = Roots
The bag stands for roots and responsibility.
Use it when: Symbol questions.

Grandpa's Journey, Family Guilt and the Medicine Bag (The Medicine Bag): solved examples

Ordered from board level to HOTS. Try each one before you open the solution.

Example 1: The two statements · 1 mark · MCQBoard level

Grandpa tells Martin that it will soon be time to give him the medicine bag. Martin's reaction is best described as:
(a) indifference (b) fear mixed with acceptance (c) anger (d) boredom

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

He feels a hard squeeze near his heart and is scared (0.5).
He still answers 'OK, Grandpa' (0.5).

Answer: (b) fear mixed with acceptance.

Example 2: The guilt of the family · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonBoard level

Finish the sentence with the cause: Grandpa's lonely arrival makes the family uncomfortable because it shows that ____

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

They were his only living descendants (0.5).
They had not kept in touch or realised how old and infirm he was (0.5).

Answer: they are his only living descendants and had neglected him, not realising how old and infirm he had become.

Example 3: The symbol (5 marks) · 5 marks · Long answerHarder board level

What does the medicine bag symbolise in the story? How does Martin respond to Grandpa's promise to give it to him? (100-150 words)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Symbol: Sioux heritage (2).
Responsibility (1).
Martin's squeeze and 'OK, Grandpa' (2).

Answer: The medicine bag stands for Sioux heritage and for the responsibility of carrying that heritage forward. When Grandpa says, 'Tomorrow, when you come home, it will be time to give you the medicine bag,' he is naming Martin as the person who will continue the tradition. Martin's response is a mixture of fear and acceptance. He feels 'a hard squeeze from where my heart is supposed to be' and is scared, because the task is serious. But he answers, 'OK, Grandpa.' The reply shows that he has moved from the embarrassment he felt at the beginning to willing acceptance. The bag therefore symbolises his cultural roots, and his acceptance symbolises his growth.

Example 4: Family guilt (5 marks) · 5 marks · Long answerHarder board level

Why do Martin and his family feel guilty when Grandpa arrives alone? What does this show about their attitude to old people? (100-150 words)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Exact reasons (2).
Neglect of duty (1).
Attitude and lesson (2).

Answer: Martin and his family feel guilty because they are Grandpa's only living descendants, yet they had not kept in close touch with him. They had not realised how old and infirm he had grown, and his effort to travel alone makes them see how much they have neglected their duty. The guilt shows that they had taken him for granted, and it shows an attitude common in many families, in which the elderly are remembered only when they appear. The feeling also prepares the audience for Martin's later change: the family begins to see Grandpa's worth, and Martin learns to value him. The story thus teaches duty to the old.

Example 5: Is acceptance of the bag a free choice? (5 marks) · 5 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency

Do you think Martin accepts the medicine bag willingly, or because of circumstances? Give reasons from the story. (100-150 words)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Position (1).
Circumstances: peer pressure, guilt (2).
Willingness: awe and the answer OK, Grandpa (1).
Conclusion (1).

Answer: I think Martin accepts the bag willingly, but his willingness is shaped by circumstances. The marking scheme notes that it is peer pressure that makes him see his grandfather in a new light, and his family's guilt shows him how he has neglected Grandpa. Without these, he might have remained embarrassed. However, when Grandpa speaks of the bag, Martin is scared but still says 'OK, Grandpa.' The fear shows that he understands the weight of the responsibility, and his answer shows that he takes it up by choice. Circumstances opened his eyes; the decision to accept his heritage is his own.

Where students lose marks in Grandpa's Journey, Family Guilt and the Medicine Bag (The Medicine Bag)

The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.

Mistake: Giving an indirect reason for the guilt
The examiners called many answers indirect.
Wrong working
They felt sad because Grandpa was old.
Right working
They were his only living descendants and had neglected him.
Do this: Name the exact cause.
Usually costs: 1 mark
Mistake: Inventing what the bag contains
The sources do not say.
Wrong working
The bag contains sacred herbs and a stone.
Right working
The bag is a symbol of Sioux heritage.
Do this: Write only what the text supports.
Usually costs: 1 to 2 marks
Mistake: Reversing the two statements
The promise comes first and Martin's reaction follows.
Wrong working
Martin's fear makes Grandpa promise the bag.
Right working
Grandpa's promise causes Martin's fear and acceptance.
Do this: Ask which came first.
Usually costs: 1 mark
Mistake: Not linking the bag to cultural roots
The symbol needs its meaning.
Wrong working
The bag is a gift.
Right working
The bag is a symbol of heritage and responsibility.
Do this: State symbol, then meaning.
Usually costs: 1 to 2 marks

Exam tips

Give the exact cause in a completion item and do not repeat the question.
Name the symbol and its meaning together.
Quote the line about the medicine bag.
Do not invent details of the bag or the journey.
Link guilt and the bag to the central idea of cultural roots.

Practice questions on Grandpa's Journey, Family Guilt and the Medicine Bag (The Medicine Bag)

Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.

Q1 · 1 mark · MCQBoard level
The medicine bag in the story is best described as:
(a) a gift of money (b) a symbol of Sioux heritage and responsibility (c) a medical kit (d) a school bag
Hint
What does Martin accept with it?
Answer
(b) a symbol of Sioux heritage and responsibility.
Q2 · 5 marks · Long answerHarder board level
Describe Grandpa's character as it appears from the events of the story. (100-150 words)
Hint
Journey, dress, storytelling, bag.
Answer
Grandpa is old and infirm, yet determined: he makes the journey to his family's home alone. He is dignified, since he dresses for the occasion when Martin's friends come, and his appearance makes them murmur 'wow'. He is also a storyteller who holds the boys in awe as he tells how he killed a deer and that his vest is made from its skin. He is a keeper of tradition, who tells Martin that it will be time to give him the medicine bag. These traits show a man who values his culture and wishes to pass it on, and whose quiet pride finally changes his grandson's feelings.
Q3 · 5 marks · Long answerHarder board level
How does the first-person narration help the reader understand Martin's change? (100-150 words)
Hint
Inner feelings.
Answer
The story is told by Martin himself, so the reader sees events through his eyes. We share his anxiety when he hides Grandpa's picture, his embarrassment about the television image and the tar-paper shack, and his relief when his friends say 'wow'. His own words about the hard squeeze near his heart let us feel his fear when Grandpa speaks of the medicine bag. First-person narration also makes his growth believable, because we are given his honest feelings instead of an outside judgement. It allows the reader to relate to Martin, as the examiners wanted, and see his change as the result of real experiences.
Q4 · 5 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency
A reader says the story is about the respect due to the elderly more than about cultural identity. Evaluate this view. (100-150 words)
Hint
Guilt against the bag.
Answer
Both ideas are present, but cultural identity is the central one. The specimen key gives the central idea as embracing one's cultural roots. The family's guilt about Grandpa's lonely journey does bring out the duty to the old, and it prepares the change in Martin. However, the main movement of the story is Martin's change from hiding his Sioux grandfather to accepting the medicine bag, a symbol of heritage. Respect for the elderly is the means by which he discovers his identity: by valuing Grandpa he learns to value his roots. I therefore think the two themes are linked, with cultural identity as the larger one.
Q5 · 5 marks · Long answerHarder board level
Explain why the examiners asked students to relate the events to the lives of the children in the story. Choose one event and relate it to a modern student. (100-150 words)
Hint
The boys' visit; peer opinion.
Answer
The examiners found that candidates gave summaries instead of answering the question, so they asked teachers to connect the events with children's lives. This helps students to understand motives, not just actions. Take the boys' visit to Grandpa. Martin's friends are curious, polite and impressed, and Martin is afraid of their opinion. A modern student might hide an older relative or a tradition for the same reason, afraid of being laughed at in school. When classmates show interest or respect, as the boys do, the student feels relieved and proud. By linking the event to such experience, the answer shows the idea behind the plot: our fear of other people's opinion is often greater than their actual response.

Test your recall

Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.

1.How does Grandpa travel to the family?Show answer
Alone.
2.Why does the family feel guilty?Show answer
They were his only living descendants and had neglected him.
3.What does the medicine bag symbolise?Show answer
Sioux heritage and responsibility.
4.What is Martin's reply to Grandpa?Show answer
'OK, Grandpa.'
5.What does Martin feel near his heart?Show answer
'a hard squeeze'.
6.Which stories book has this story?Show answer
Prism: A Collection of ISC Short Stories.

Grandpa's Journey, Family Guilt and the Medicine Bag (The Medicine Bag): frequently asked questions

Who wrote The Medicine Bag?

Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve, a Lakota (Sioux) writer.

What is the central idea of the story?

Embracing one's cultural roots.

Why did the family feel guilty in 2025?

It was a reason-completion item; the answer is that they had neglected Grandpa, their only living relative.

Should I describe the contents of the bag?

No; use only what your Prism text supports.