Leaving no tracks, in this case, is a symbol of the advantages Fleur has in staying closely tied to the old ways. At the end of the book, it is said that Fleur is able to leave no tracks because she has performed a ritual in taking Napoleon’s tongue that allows her this skill. A trackless world, as when Fleur travels to the land of the dead, is a world unmarred by the effect of the imposing white population surrounding the reservation. Other times, when human and creatures fail to leave tracks, it could be out of foolishness, growing fatigued and forgetting to provide themselves a way back, or because they are able to hide evidence of their journeys, possibly because they are spirits or as a way of preserving themselves. At times in the book, pathways are trackless, showing that the place being traveled to has not been visited before. When Fleur is fifteen, she drowns again, but no one will touch her.

She is saved by two men who later disappear. Pauline follows in Bernadette’s “tracks,” learning how to prepare the dying.Īll of these are examples of the way the characters travel through their lives, looking for clues as to how to live. Tracks: Chapter 2 Summary & Analysis Next Chapter 3 Themes and Colors Key Summary Analysis Pauline, a second narrator, tells of the first time Fleur drowned as a child. For Nanapush, Eli, and Fleur, hunting requires following an animal’s tracks until it can be killed. In general, footsteps reveal some symbolic meaning about the nature of who they belong to. Fleur’s tracks look like those of a bear, indicating her connection to the spirit world, and Pauline’s tracks show that she wears her shoes on the wrong feet, in an offering to God (and as a sign of her cultural and spiritual confusion). Clearly the book has been named after this symbol, and we see the concept returned to again and again throughout. Tracks and trails, how they’re used and what they indicate, are an important symbol of the journey of the Anishinabe people.

Tracks louise erdrich free pdf