Narrative Point of View in Louise Erdrich's Tracks - MIUSE

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Anthony Piccolo It Comes Up Different Every Time: Narrative Point of View in Louise Erdrich‟s Tracks In her essay, “History, Postmodernism, and Louise Erdrich‟s Tracks,” Nancy J. Peterson writes: Both Nanapush‟s and Pauline‟s narratives suggest that history is not objective and impartial, as traditional documentary historians assert. It is always constructed in the interests of a particular party or ideology. (991) Erdrich‟s use in Tracks of two narrators with competing views, her insistence on the value of ambiguity in the text, and her refusal to tell the “truth” foregrounds the subjective and partial nature of the telling of events. Pauline‟s versions of what happened in Argus are colored by her own involvement and sense of responsibility and subsequent guilt. Fleur knows but isn‟t saying. The identity of Lulu‟s father is “officially” Nanapush. Given the choice between the two narrators, most readers will side with Nanapush. In the end we accept that Nanapush, as well as Pauline, has a particular agenda behind the stories he tells; it‟s just that most readers prefer Nanapush‟s agenda over Pauline‟s. Tracks shows us that the tale does, indeed, depend on the teller. For Native Americans, even more than most, the knowledge that the narrating of events is not objective and impartial continues to be especially relevant. Notes 1. Those novels generally considered part of Erdrich‟s interrelated “North Dakota” novels are indicated here with an *. Shadow Tag (2010) The Red Convertible: Collected and New Stories 1978-2008 (2009) *The Plague of Doves (2008) The Painted Drum (2005) *Four Souls (2004) The Master Butchers Singing Club (2003) *The Last Report of the Miracles at Little No Horse (2001) - 133 -
The Antelope Wife (1998) *Tales of Burning Love (1996) *The Bingo Palace (1994) Anthony Piccolo It Comes Up Different Every Time: Narrative Point of View in Louise Erdrich‟s Tracks *Love Medicine: New and Expanded Version (1993) The Crown of Columbus (with Michael Dorris) (1991) *Tracks (1988) *The Beet Queen (1986) *Love Medicine (1984) In addition, Erdrich has also written young adult and children‟s literature, nonfiction, and three volumes of poetry. 2. The appropriate choice of terminology can be confusing. Chippewa, Chippewe, Chippeway, Ojibwa, Ojibwe, and Ojibway are all acceptable Anglicized versions of the name used to refer to the various bands of Native peoples living throughout the northern United States (primarily Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and Montana) and southern Canada (primarily Ontario, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan), with Ojibwa used more in Canada and Chippewa more in the United States. The word used by Ojibwe people to refer to themselves, though, is the autonym Anishinabe (plural Anishinabeg) or, roughly, “First People.” However, for the sake of clarity and consistency and because it is the term that Erdrich herself seems to prefer most often in her fiction (although she refers to herself as Chippewa), I will refer to the people and their language as Ojibwe throughout this paper. 3. References to Tracks will be cited throughout this paper as: T. 4. Although Eli will be generally acknowledged and accepted as Lulu‟s father, we never know for sure who her father is. In Tracks, Pauline offers contradictory testimony. On one hand, she relates that Lulu‟s “green eyes and skin the color of an old penny have made more talk, as no one can decide if the child is mixed blood or what . . .” (31). Yet, on the other hand, she tells us that “[Lulu] had the Kashpaw‟s unmistakeable nose, too wide and squashed on the tip” (70). When Lulu reappears as an old woman in The Bingo Palace and her grandson, Lipsha, asks her directly who her father was, she “turns, arches her thin black eyebrows, and gives the pan [of simmering berries] a sudden, annoyed shake” (129). She refuses to say. Lipsha never finds out and neither do we. - 134 -
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Narrative Point of View in Louise Erdrich's Tracks - MIUSE

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