The Salt Path

Raynor Winn is the author and central figure of The Salt Path; the memoir is told from her perspective. Her initial experience in the book is one of intense loss, so much so that she does not know how to process it. The few times that she does openly weep, she characterizes it as indulgent self-pity. Her response is simultaneously an emotional struggle with acceptance and denial and a stubborn refusal to accept things as they are. Both point toward The Struggle to Overcome Adversity. She initially proposes that she and Moth hike the South West Coast Path, despite Moth’s recent diagnosis with a degenerative disorder.

Central to her character arc is learning to come to terms with her new circumstances, Moth’s illness in particular, while moving in the right direction. Part of this is about coming to terms with her age and recognizing that others see her as old, even if she demonstrates that she is capable. She feels that her relationship with her college-age children has been challenged by these new events. She eventually conveys that she has allowed herself to become distant from them because of her struggles with denial.