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Louise Erdrich's Tracks Essay example

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Louise Erdrich's Tracks

In Louise Erdrich’s “Tracks';, the readers discovers by the second chapter that there are two narrators, Nanapush and Pauline Puyat. This method of having two narrators telling their stories alternately could be at first confusing, especially if the readers hasn’t been briefed about it or hasn’t read a synopsis of it. Traditionally, there is one narrator in the story, but Erdrich does an effective and spectacular job in combining Nanapush and Pauline’s stories. It is so well written that one might question as he or she reads who is the principal character in this story? Being that there are two narrators, is it Nanapush, the first narrator, him being a participant in the story, who tells his story in the …show more content…

The unsuspecting lumbermen frightened by the mysterious falling of the trees around them while Fleur smiles on knowing that she is the catalyst of the falling trees.

With the importance of Fleur throughout “Tracks';, she can be symbolized as being the nucleus of an atom. Fleur, being the nucleus while the two narrators are like protons and electrons orbiting around Fleur. Without the nucleus of an atom, there wouldn’t be an atom; just as if there were no Fleur, the two narrators wouldn’t have someone to focus on. On the other hand, if the atom were missing some electrons or protons, there would be an imbalance, but there would still be some form of an atom. In other words, each narrator’s story can be considered a separate entity. It might not be as complete if the two stories were together, but because each story has a subject, a motivation and a conclusion. It can “survive “ on its own. But, because of Fleur’s importance in both stories, she cannot be excluded from either story without afflicting it detrimentally. If we relate this to the novel and eliminate Pauline and her story, we still have Nanapush telling the history of Fleur and the Chippewa’s to Lulu. However, what is the significance of Nanapush telling Lulu about the history of both her tribe and her mother?

The reasons are two-fold. First, to reunite Lulu and her mother, Fleur. It seems that right from the beginning, Nanapush tells Lulu, “Fleur, the

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