Who Is A Good Person In Louise Erdrich's Tracks

I would like to talk to you about some of the opinions you have about the book Tracks by Louise Erdrich. During our class discussion the other day I noticed that you strongly supported the idea that Pauline is a good person in the book. Your opinion was based on, the idea that she makes the transition to death easier for people. I am sorry to say I completely disagree with you, and think that if anything she is a evil person in the book. The three pieces of evidence that supports my claim are the death of Mary Pepewas, and how she reacted, her actions towards Eli even though he is with Fleur, and the way she doesn’t help Fleur when the men are attacking her. In chapter four we are introduced to Mary Pepewas, she has the lung sickness and it had taken a toll on her body. During the night Pauline enters the house to watch over Mary when she starts to notices something, “She let it fill her like dark water and then, a narrow-bottomed boat tied to shore, she began to pull away” (67). After this Pauline continues to describe Mary’s last moments with a sense of eagerness. Then once Mary is gone it seems as as if she found happiness in the death,“If I took my hands away from

In the town she meets Fleur another character in the book, and grows close to her. She begins to follow her around everywhere and they develop a friendship. One during Pauline is watching Fleur play a card game with the men when things get ugly. Fleur wins the card game and this makes some of the men angry, “Lily looked once, again, then he squeezed the dog like a fist of dough and slammed it on the table” (23). Then as Fleur is walking out the men are so angry they decide to follow her, and then chase her. Pauline is watching all this happen and even says, “That is when I should have gone to Fleur, saved her” (26). Again she is given the opportunity to help someone and be a good person, but instead she does