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Lipsha's Perspective Of Materialism In Bingo Van By Louise Erdrich

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Through the character Lipsha in the story “Bingo Van”, Louise Erdrich describes her perspective of Native Americans. Lispha and they story show that Native Americans are becoming materialistic because of the gambling, many of them are treated badly and stereotyped, and that they are improving as a society which gives Erdrich hope for their future.

Many Native American communities face a huge problem with gambling. Because casinos are very popular in reservations, there is a lot of gambling going on. More specifically bingo, which is one of the main events in the story. Through gambling, Native Americans are concentrated more on materialistic things instead of their nature culture. We can see this in the quote “ To get my van, I had to shake hands with greed. I got unprincipled.” In bingo once he laid his eye on the vans, all he lived for was getting the van. This changed him, so much that his gift of healing started to disappear because of all the greed he had in his heart. He use to use his power for good and heal people free of charge. According to the the quote “But I never realized I would have to give up my healing source once I started charging for my service.” It seems like Lispha healing power is connected to his heart and desires. If …show more content…

I think this is a hint from the author that when you give in to materialism you are giving in to greed and letting go of your humanity or your heart. Lipsha is so

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