Supernatural Powers In Louise Erdrich's Tracks

Supernatural Powers

Thesis: One controversial issue in Louise Erdrich's Tracks concerns Fleur’s supposed supernatural powers. While some readers argue that Fleur’s powers can be explained scientifically, my own view is that her powers are supernatural.

Quote 1: “. . . he tried to burn the house down. But though he threw kerosene repeatedly against the logs and even started a blaze with birchbark and chips of wood, the flames narrowed and shrank, went out in puffs of smoke . . . The last won out. He finally dropped the tinders and helped me drag Fleur along the trail ” (Erdrich 3). When Fleur is found to be the only Pillager to survive the sickness, Pukwan attempts to burn down the house containing the bodies of those that did not survive. Many people said Nanapush and Pukwan should have done the right thing right away and buried the Pillagers. They said this because of fears that the spirits would cause issues in the future due to their unrest. Pukwan kept trying to burn the house down, using many different techniques, but failed

Why would someone use their supernatural abilities on something as simple as a card game? On the contrary, Russell would have been eventually caught by the other people playing if he were reading the cards, so he is not a viable option in the counterargument. Also, there is a high chance that Russell would have made a mistake in the amount of games that they played. Pauline even says that Fleurs winnings were ‘too consistent for luck’ which again supports that Fleur has supernatural abilities. Fleur eventually breaks her consistency, but keeps her winning streak. Why wouldn’t you use your supernatural abilities when it came to winning? Many examples have been provided to display Fleurs supernatural abilities, and the extension of the powers through the