Rhetorical Analysis of Fleur Essay

Divine Power

In Fleur, Louise Erdrich uses the two main characters, Fleur and Pauline, to convey the idea of female power. Fleur seems to draw this power from ancient Chippewa spirits and her sexuality. This may be the reason why the men rape her, to maintain what they perceive as their rightful control over her. In the end, they realize they cannot understand or control her. Fleur and Pauline connect during and after Fleur left Argus. They have two different kinds of female power, one direct and confrontational, the other indirect and secretive.

Erdrich creates Fleur as a lonely, bitter, and misunderstood character that drowns twice in the beginning of the story. The first drowning happen when she was little. Two men pulled fleur out of the water and eventually vanished from the town. The author gives fleur the power to hurt the townspeople who saves her from drowning. After she turned twenty, fleur went through a second drowning. George Many Women saw Fleur and saw her chest move. Fleur looked at him and recited the words youll take my place, and hissed. By staring into her eyes, Many Women later became afraid of Lake Turcot and his son brought him a new tin bathtub. George slipped, knocked his self out, and breathed water. This shows that Fleur has the power to control the men of Argus. All the men stayed out of sight from her fearing for their lives.

Pauline is the narrator of the story. She takes the readers on a journey through the life of Fleur and herself. Unlike Fleur, Pauline is meek and insecure, unable to stand up for herself or for Fleur at the crucial time. Her relationship to fleur is unusual. They make little connection in the beginning and middle of the story but at the end, Pauline visits Fleur at the lake. Erdrich focus most the power on Fleur but Pauline had enough power to lock the three men that raped Fleur in the meat locker. This indicated that she too has power, the ability to remain out of sight and then take revenge at the moment.

Fleur is direct and confrontational. When Fleur starts playing cards with Dutch, Tor and Lily, they are surprise how she ends up with one dollar each time. Throughout the whole part of the story, the men see they cannot guess Fleur winning streak. Erdrich describes the men facial expressions and movements as sexist and masochistic. The author use imagery to illustrate what the men was doing before they started to go after Fleur. After the incident with the men and Fleur, there was a tornado. The tornado represents the wrath of Fleur; her power torn down the whole town. Erdrich use this selection of detail to show the power of Fleur.

In conclusion, Louise Erdrich uses Fleur and Pauline to show the theme of female power. She use imagery, diction, and structure to help the readers see the power of the two characters.