The Salt Path

Moth is the deuteragonist of The Salt Path and Raynor’s husband. When the narrative first introduces Moth, he is broken to some extent but also a man of integrity. After they lose their court case, he approaches the opposing counsel, and though Raynor fears that he will hit him, Moth instead simply asks him, “[I]t was the wrong decision, you do know that, right?” (12). Moth is hence portrayed as a level character with quiet wisdom.

He suffers from chronic pain owing to his degenerative condition. As they prepare for their hike, Moth suffers an episode of paralysis and it takes him two weeks to recover, which begs the question of the wisdom of their plans. Given his diagnosis, which his doctor has informed him is terminal, Moth is prone to moments of depression, and thoughts of his mortality never seem to be far from his mind. He often openly wonders if he is dying in moments of intense pain.

The Struggle to Overcome Adversity is particularly relevant to Moth’s story, as he must come to terms with his mortality while also coming to terms with everything he and Raynor have lost. Hiking seems to improve his health immensely. He eventually decides to enroll in university to become a teacher. The amount of time he has left is vaguely defined, which makes it difficult to know how to make plans. Moreover, the way the condition progresses is unclear, making it difficult to know when he is suffering a temporary bout and when things have truly taken a turn for the worse.

As the story progresses, and Moth’s physical condition and mental health improve, Raynor portrays more and more the kind of person Moth is at his core—kind, charismatic, and hardworking. He is not an archetypal romantic interest, but Raynor finds a feeling of safety in him which lends pathos to the ambiguous end of their story and his imminent death. When Moth proposes that they put his ashes in a box and eventually add Raynor’s ashes so that they can “find the horizon together” (241), it is clear how deeply committed he is to Raynor.

Winn and Moth’s children, Tom and Rowan, appear in the story only a handful of times. Raynor and Moth are empty nesters. This means that they are learning to cope with a shift in their relationship with their children which is compounded by their other problems. Tom seems easygoing, and when Winn informs him of their plan to hike the South West Coast Path, he comments, “[t]hat’s so cool” (26). His response represents one side of their reaction to being evicted, which is to focus on the short term and enjoy life.

Rowan, on the other hand, is the worrier, and her response represents the need for a long-term plan. She fears that her father will fall off a cliff because of his health problems, and she forces them to take a phone that she provides. In other words, their dynamic sometimes shifts so that the parents are no longer the caretakers but the cared for. The changing dynamic between Winn and Moth and their children amplifies The Struggle to Overcome Adversity. When their children confront their own problems, as when Rowan gets stuck in Venice fearing that she has missed the bus, her parents are powerless to come to her aid, and she must work out her problems on her own.

When Moth and Raynor spend the night in Plymouth, the only time in their unhoused life that they sleep in a city, they come across Colin. Initially, Raynor is afraid of him, and she wonders if her fear is simply her bias against urban unhoused people. Colin is kind and offers them a beer and advice on where to sleep. Eventually, a young unhoused man, Dean, comes by and starts harassing Colin, who waves them away. The next morning, they see him again, bruised from the previous night, and they give him a sandwich.

Colin represents a side of being unhoused that Raynor and Moth with which don’t otherwise have much direct experience. They can identify with the story, as he claims to have once “had it all” but that now he is an embarrassment to his family (253). He also forces Raynor to confront her own biases against certain forms of homelessness. Moreover, Colin admires them for hiking and says that he might try to do it someday, but there is a clear sense that he never actually will. Through Colin, Raynor presents a wide spectrum of the problem of obtaining secure housing and conveys that it results in many people being stuck in dangerous circumstances.

When Moth and Raynor head out to backpack again, they come across David and Julie. They are fellow backpackers with whom the pair cross paths multiple times and with whom they strike up a temporary friendship. It is a friendship of circumstance and convenience to some extent, but David’s charisma and their kind spirits make it a genuine connection.

The friendship these couples develop contrasts with the strained friendships that they have with friends like Polly who have offered temporary support. Those other friendships have been tainted with a sense of guilt and The Stigma of Life on the Margins. While David and Julie are not in the uncertain situation Moth and Raynor endure, they nevertheless can appreciate their perspective and values.

A wealthy wine seller, Grant, invites Moth and Raynor to stay with them on a farm that he is renting. He is accompanied by three beautiful women—his wife, a personal assistant, and a nanny. Moth and Raynor come upon him when they are out of food and water, so his hospitality is especially welcome. They shower, eat lasagna, and drink alcohol. As the night at the farmhouse passes, they eventually come to realize that Grant has confused Moth for Simon Armitage, which happens throughout their hike. Moreover, two of the women massage Moth while Grant’s wife takes pictures for advertising for the blog.

Their interactions with Grant emphasize a subtext of the memoir—that people invent stories about themselves. Grant tries to provide a romantic backstory for himself to Raynor in which he backpacked through Europe as he learned his trade. She buys into this story until his wife tells her that it is false. For his part, Grant has convinced himself that Moth is Armitage, and he is not swayed even when they deny it. Through their interaction, Raynor contemplates how she and Moth learned to make their backstory more appealing, and she wonders if she is lying to herself about her husband’s condition.

John and Gave are two unhoused men whom Raynor and Moth meet on their second hiking expedition, and they invite them to spend the night in informal housing that they’ve established with other people in the woods outside of town. John believes that they are smart to hike while they are unhoused, as he feels that too many people stop and stagnate because “they’ve given in and accepted that the streets are their home” (232). This reinforces Winn’s point in the memoir that there is not enough state support to rehouse people.

The informal housing gives Raynor and Moth a view of The Stigma of Life on the Margins and The Struggle to Overcome Adversity that they haven’t encountered before. They have generally encountered other unhoused people isolated and looked down on by those around them. This group is organized (John and Gav were in town running errands), and they are trying to find ways to lift themselves up despite their circumstances. They know that the informal housing will be destroyed by government or private sector forces, but they persist in their efforts to organize themselves and support each other.

Josh and Adam are backpackers in their twenties whom Moth and Winn come across twice in their travels. The first time, they are in a group of four that quickly overtakes them, and Moth looks upon their youthful vigor with envy. The second time they come across them, they have lost two of their party who couldn’t take the rugged terrain and the heat. The two fell behind Moth and Winn because they had to drop off their friends. Josh and Adam are nearly done with their hike because of time constraints, and they describe Moth and Winn as “[l]ucky bastards.”

The two encounters with Josh and Adam highlight a shift in how Moth and Winn are viewed externally, which helps counter the sense of hopelessness they feel. At the start of their hike, they are often looked down on and described as “vagrants,” highlighting The Stigma of Life on the Margins. Though Adam and Josh do not know the details of their situation, their perspective that they are lucky to be free to hike the whole path is heartening for Moth and Winn. Moreover, even though they aren’t as athletic as these young men, their persistence has put them ahead of them, emphasizing The Struggle to Overcome Adversity.

Dillon is the author of the guidebook, The South West Coast Path, that Winn and Moth rely on throughout their journey. They chose the book largely for practical reasons—it has a waterproof cover, is small, and covers the entire trail. Because they depend on this book for their hike, Dillon’s imagined presence sometimes looms large over their activities. Winn tracks their progress, for instance, by noting how far behind they are on the timetable outlined by Dillon.

Winn often adopts an earnest persona in her writing, but when it comes to Dillon, she is often bitterly sarcastic. Early on, they recognize that Dillon is the “master of underestimation” (39), as he describes steep climbs as wandering trails, and he completes the path at what seems to them a dizzying pace. At one point, she says, “Paddy Dillon eats spinach for breakfast, wears a hair shirt, and sleeps on a bed of nails, obviously” (111). Because the challenging aspects of the path seem so easy to Dillon, he initially lends some credence to the idea that the two are way over their heads. He is a contrasting figure to Winn since her memoir prioritizes realism, suggesting that the memoir contributes to inclusivity in the hiking community and is addressing a wider readership than young, athletic, able-bodied people.

Moth and Raynor’s long-term friend, Polly, invites them to stay in her shed during the winter. She does not charge rent, but she does ask Moth to finish the shed. The relationship they have with Polly is strained and complicated because of these circumstances. They are grateful to have a roof over their head. Moreover, Polly is very supportive of them. In addition to providing shelter, she also helps Raynor find employment with the shearers. Even so, Moth and Raynor are still making sense of their circumstances and do not have a clear path forward. While they might appreciate the shelter, they also have many misgivings.

Polly is a foil for Raynor and Moth, as a representation of what their life had been like before they lost their home. She has a farm, which comes with all the financial responsibilities that Moth and Raynor once experienced. Eventually, they discover that Polly has plans to rent the shed out to a local man, Raynor’s team lead when she is working with the shearers. The news comes from the future tenant and not from Polly, who seems to be struggling to communicate her financial needs to the pair. Though they might feel somewhat betrayed, they also use this as an opportunity to transition again.