Louise Erdrich is a writer who is of both Native American and French heritage. Story telling is a part of the Native American oral tradition. Edrich furthers this tradition in her novels and short stories. Upon reading her short story, Fleur, in which the central character is Fleur Pillager, Erdrich captures the reader’s attention immediately and forces her character upon the reader with the first line of the story. “The first time she drowned in the cold and glassy water of lake Turcot, Fleur Pillager was only a girl.”
Right away the reader knows there is something quite unusual about this dynamic and well-developed character. Erdrich also weaves into her storytelling, tribal mythology. No one courted Fleur even though she was very attractive because it was clear to the people on the reservation that Misshepeshu, the green eyed and copper skinned water monster wanted Fleur for himself.
Fleur’s speech in the story is spare, direct, and to the point. What she says is memorable. “You will take my place” (Baym 2571) is what she said to George Many Women the first person who touched her after she drowned the second time. Fleur is developed as a strong, daring character that studies ancient ways and half forgotten medicine. The people of the reservation where she lived felt that she changed into animals and practiced evil ways, so they were just about ready to run her out of town when she left.
She migrated to a small town south of the reservation called Argus where she stayed for a summer. At this time she meets a flat character. Pauline, who narrates the story. Even though Pauline tells the story she is an invisible, forgotten character. She comes to Argus when her mother marries “Dutch” James who works at Fritzie and Pete Kozkas’ Butcher Shop. Soon there after Pauline’s mother dies and “Dutch,” her step-father, takes her out of school to clean up at the butcher shop. She hears everything that goes on because the other characters forget that she is there.
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After living in Argus for approximately one month, Fleur asks to be dealt into the nightly card game with the stock characters. The stock characters of this story are the “good old boys” Pete, “Dutch” and the two other male employees at the butcher shop, Tor Grenewald, and “Lily” Veddar. Although joining the card game may seem like an ordinary occurrence, according to Pauline it was quite extraordinary for a woman to play cards with the men. “… it wasn’t just that she was a Chippewa or even that she was a woman, it wasn’t that she was good looking or even that she was alone that made their brains hum, it was how she played cards.” (Baym 2574) Every night for a month Fleur won exactly one dollar. In August when the weather became oppressively hot in Argus, Fritzie and Pete left on vacation for a cooler environment. The three bachelors decided they were going to expose Fleur as the card cheat they expect her of being and upset her consistent winning.
The men started drinking and upped the usual ante to a dollar, a sizable sum for the year 1920 when this story takes place. Fleur’s luck fluctuated, she won some and lost some, the pot grew round by round until it contained all the money. The final hand rode on one last card that made Fleur the winner. Even though Lily and the rest of the “good old boys” wanted to play another round, Fleur scooped up her winnings and went out back to slop the hogs. Fleur left the men who continued drinking which stoked the fire of their discontent. Their plot had been thwarted.
Eventually, Pauline saw the men follow Fleur outside and chase her at a dead run to the smoke house. Pauline was unable to help Fleur, she only heard the loud breathing, and cries in an ancient language. Pauline heard her name repeated over and over.
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The next morning Fleur was gone but the men were still there, hung over. That afternoon a tornado discriminately ripped through the town. “The good old boys” found shelter in the most secure building in town, the meat locker. While they remembered to take “Fatso,” “Lily’s” disagreeable bulldog in with them, they didn’t even think to bring Pauline into safety. Pauline banged on the heavy oaken doors to be let in while the shrill wind from the tornado whipped about her, spoke to her, and told her to “…put her arms out and slam down the great iron bar that fit across the hasp and lock.” (Baym 2578)
Though there was devastation throughout the town the butcher shop was the hardest hit. Days passed before the town went looking for the three bachelors. When Pete and Fritzie came home and began cleaning up the after math of the storm they found the three men frozen inside the meat locker. These stereotypical characters remained true to their mold in remaining stock throughout this short story.
Pauline is the flat character. Throughout the story she is invisible, forgotten and manipulated by the other characters. Even though she is manipulated, she provides the narrative voice of the story as well as becoming an instrument to showcase Fleur as a well-rounded protagonist. Pauline stays in touch with Fleur after her stay in Argus. Fleur lived on in a quiet area on Lake Turcot with her boat and her baby, a baby with green eyes and copper skin
Fleur is a dynamic character that remains an enigma throughout the story. Did she come back as a force of nature to extract retribution from the men who had wronged her? Is the father of her child one of the Argus “good old boys” or Misshepeshu, the water monster? Why did she drive the men of Argus to distraction by playing cards with them and winning one dollar every night?
While there are many questions left to the imagination of the reader, the author provides enough detail to make Fleur a full, lifelike and memorable character. She takes action by departing from the reservation when she realizes the reservation population is afraid of her powers and wants her to leave. She settles in a new community, finds employment, and enters an all male card game. Fleur discovers her ability to win at cards and does so in a consistent manner.
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Even Fleur’s name is symbolic. Fleur is a French word that means flower. The meaning of her last name, Pillage, is one who destroys, plunders, and obliterates. In the short story Fleur, the main character matches the attributes of both of these word meanings.
Works Cited
Edrich, Louise. “Fleur.” The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: W W Norton & Company, 1999. 2569-2580
