416 Erdrich, Louise
the baby with her, and after giving birth, she aban-
dons the child to Bernadette. Pauline’s refusal to be
touched by human connections is made all the more
tragic in light of Fleur’s struggle for those she loves
and loses.
In fact, the backdrop of the entire novel is
formed from Fleur’s familial losses, specifically
Lulu’s estrangement from her mother. Nanapush’s
narration is in the second person and is addressed to
an older Lulu in an attempt to help her understand
her mother’s choices. In other Erdrich novels, read-
ers learn that in her quest to regain her land, Fleur
is forced to send Lulu to an Indian boarding school,
and Lulu’s suffering there eventually causes deep
resentment. In explaining Fleur’s actions, Nanapush
conveys the tragedy of their estrangement: “I have
seen each one of you since then, in your separate
lives, never together, never the way it should be.”
Tracks shows the bonds of sacrifice and love that
connect Fleur, the mother, with Lulu, the child,
and in showing those bonds being severed, Erdrich
underscores the novel with the tragedy of family
loss.
David Allred
sur vival in Tracks
Survival is a central theme in Louise Erdrich’s
Tracks; in fact, the novel opens with a dramatic scene
of survival by one of its most resilient characters,
Fleur Pillager. Amid an epidemic of consumption
(tuberculosis), Fleur is discovered barely alive in the
cold home of her family, all of whom have died of
the disease. Nursed back to health, Fleur is believed
to be the last of the Pillagers, and she exhibits her
ability to endure many times as she grows older. In
Argus, a nearby town, she is assaulted by three men
after she repeatedly beats them at poker; however,
despite the emotional and physical trauma of the
attack, she shows no weakness: “[S]he was not
beaten, there was no sign of trouble.” Fleur also sur-
vives life-threatening childbirth and a winter-long
famine. Not one to suffer passively, Fleur also resists
one of the most serious attacks against her identity.
When her land around Lake Matchimanito, which
has strong spiritual and familial significance, is sold
to a timber company, she sabotages the trees so that
they fall on the workers clear-cutting the land. She
then leaves to take revenge on the man responsible.
Ultimately, her survival has its roots in her fierceness
and her connection to Ojibwe traditions.
Another main character in the novel, Pauline,
is a survivor in a different sense. The voyeuristic
Pauline takes pleasure in watching others’ struggles
for survival. She witnesses, without helping, Fleur
during both her assault in Argus and her premature
labor. She also becomes an undertaker, thrilled by
the power of witnessing the moment of death as
one living. She confides, “I alone, watching, filled
with breath, knew death as a form of grace.” At the
same time, Pauline possesses an instinct for self-
preservation. In the novel, she narrates her battle
with the lake monster, who in reality is Napoleon,
the lecherous father of her child. She also survives
her own religious mortification, resists Nanapush’s
mockery, and in the end is reborn in her life as a nun,
including taking on new name: Sister Leopolda.
Erdrich’s novel presents the idea of survival in
other characters as well. For example, Dutch James
is a tragic survivor. One of Fleur’s attackers, he is the
lone survivor of being locked in a freezer for days,
although, the frostbite is so severe that he endures
amputation after amputation. On the other hand,
after her son’s sexual indiscretion with Sophie Mor-
rissey, Margaret is kidnapped by Clarence Morrissey
and Boy Lazarre, who shave her head to shame her.
Rather than accepting the shame, she retains her
dignity and is buoyed by Fleur, who shaves her own
hair in solidarity. Dutch and Margaret both repre-
sent survival in the face of great suffering and the
endurance required to live through such pain.
Finally, in addition to portraying individual
characters who survive hardships in their lives,
Tracks also presents the resilience, efficacy, and con-
tinued relevance of tribal traditions. For example,
Nanapush uses traditional songs to guide Eli on
his moose hunt during a famine, and Fleur finds
strength from the sacred land on Lake Matchi-
manito. This tribal survival occurs in the face of
exploitation by timber companies, damaging gov-
ernmental oversight of tribal affairs, and intertribal
conflict.
The novel’s ending strikingly articulates this
central conflict of tradition’s survival in the face of
outside influences. The novel opens with Fleur’s