Fleur By Latina Blacknall Essay, Research Paper

?Fleur? a story written by Louise Endrich is a tale about a young Chippewa

Indian woman who is feared by all the people that live on her reservation,

Argus. They believed that she has been cursed by the water monster of Lake

Turcot who seeks her life for his own. Her general lifestyle is an awe to them

because she lives outside of traditional ways. She stirs things up with her

uncanny luck and the circumstances that surround her. I believe this is a good

story because I like the way that Fleur did things in her own way, she never let

the people dictate her life. The story begins with Fleur being rescued from Lake

Turcot after her boat capsizes and she goes down into the water. The two men

attempt to rescue her and shortly after they succeed their lives are

mysteriously taken. The second time that Fleur almost drowns in the lake a

similar scenario occurs and it is then believed that every man that saves Fleur

from the lake will replace her station in death. This causes the people of the

town to be very suspicious and weary of her. Everyone pretty much steers clear

of her just because she is a little different from them. They are too afraid to

try to understand her and get to know her. Fleur lives the life of a very modest

person, but she is hard working and strong. Despite the towns fear of her she

continues to live and do things as normal as she can. She really doesn?t have

many friends or any family so she spends most of her time at the butchery where

she works. She helps cut and load meat for the Kozka family and while there she

is able to mingle with some of the citizens in the town. She resides in an

unused smokehouse behind the butchery where she worked and owned pretty much

just the clothes on her back. Despite her apparent poverty she is very beautiful

and the men all look at her in awe. However, even though she is very wonderfully

attractive, the men of the town are too afraid of her and the curse to attempt

to date her. She lives most of her life alone which is unusual for women of her

age. I respect Fleur because she was never bothered by the fact that she lived

alone she acted as if her life was as full as she needed it to be. The people of

the town however did not believe that she was alone. The unusual events that

occurred with Fleur and the lake made people believe that her hand had already

been spoken for. Misshepeshu, the water monster of Lake Turcot had already

claimed her. This water monster was a well-known myth of the people living in

Argus. ?Our mothers warn us that we?ll think he?s handsome, for he appears

with green eyes, copper skin, a mouth tender as a child?s. But if you fall

into his arms, he sprouts horns, fangs, claws, fins. His feet are joined as one

and his skin, brass scales, rings to the touch. You?re fascinated , cannot

move. He casts a shell necklace at your feet, weeps gleaming chips that harden

into mica on your breasts. He holds you under. Then he takes the body of a lion

or a fat brown worm. He?s made of gold. He?s made of beach moss. He?s a

thing of dry foam, a thing of death by drowning, the death a Chippewa cannot

survive.? Fleur?s lifestyle is among one of the many topics of their

discussions surrounding her. The people on the reservation don?t agree with

the way that Fleur lives. She does many things that would not be deemed as

honorable by the traditional thinking of the people of Argus. ?After the first

time, we thought she?d keep to herself, live quiet, stop killing men off by

drowning in the lake. After the first time, we thought she?d keep the good

ways. But then, after the second drowning, we knew we were dealing with

something much more serious. She was haywire, out of control. She messed with

evil, laughed at the old women?s advice, and dressed like a man.? Fleur was

a mystery to the people. Her arrival gave them something to talk about,

something to gossip on to make the day pass by. They were especially amazed by

her card playing abilities. Women didn?t usually play cards with the men so

they were pretty stunned when she invited herself into a poker game with a few

of the men who she worked with. After sometime the men got used to Fleur and

continued to let her play. Another interesting contribution to her luck is that

each game she started with one dollar and ended up with one dollar. The

coincidence of her luck and the mysteriousness of her nature made her a very

interesting character. To finish up the amazing coincidents surrounding Fleur, a

huge tornado comes and almost destroys the town. Fleur?s last furry was caused

by her being attacked by three men who were sour over a lost a sum of money in a

poker game. These three men were found frozen in the meat freezer at Kozka?s

butchery. Is this just a freak occurrence or does Fleur hold some power that

allows her to reek her vengeance upon those that do her wrong? Maybe. I believe

that she does. The cosmic forces of the earth are truly a mystery and those that

have the power to control it is conceivably an enigma also. I really like the

end when Fleur goes off to live on the lake and gives birth to a child with

green eyes and a dark coppery skin complection. It leaves you wondering what

would happen next and allows you to create your own ending. I believe that Fleur

lives a happy life with her daughter and now she has someone to love and love

her back. The interesting circumstances that surround Fleur and the lake is a

mystery to all. Indeed she may have been cursed by the water monster of Lake

Turcot because every time she went out on the lake she found herself almost

being drowned, and the ones who saved her life eventually wound up taking her

place. I think there is tremendous irony in a situation when people try to save

others but really need to save themselves. Fleur Pillager is a very interesting

character in this story. I like her because she is strong, willed and determined

to live her life how she wants to. She never listened to the gossip about her

and let it get her down. I liked the fact that no one could quite understand

Fleur. She represented a puzzle that no one could solve, no one was meant to. No

one really knew where she came from, they just know that she appeared and with

her presence they knew that their lives would be changed forever.