Arguments Against Lulu Sparknotes

By looking at Lulu as the protagonist, there are many antagonists throughout the novel that work against her. For instance, the Native American society is an antagonist for Lulu because of the internal conflict it causes her. The novel states, “‘[Lulu] dyes her hair,’ I [Lulu] heard a voice behind me whisper. ‘Gray at the roots.’...By then there were near a hundred people in the room. ‘All those Lamartine sons by different father’” (280). As an antagonist, Native American society judges Lulu on everything she does because she is not a traditional “Native American wife.” The Native American society does not accept or approve of anything Lulu does, causing Lulu the conflict of society versus person. Another antagonist for Lulu could be the White …show more content…
Additionally, Nector plays the role of an antagonist against Lulu after their affair. He breaks her heart and causes her an emotional conflict, as the novel states, “I [Lulu] kept my grudge, although hard feelings were not as a rule my policy. But [Nector had] done the worst that anyone had ever done to me. I could do without my hair, without my house. My pride was what he pricked” (286). Nector ruins Lulu’s pride, which causes her great …show more content…
For instance, King, Lipsha’s half-brother, causes Lipsha a lot of physical and emotional conflict and could be an antagonist. Love Medicine states, “King once threatened to slice me [Lipsha] up with a bread knife. I didn’t hold that against him, since it was done during one of his frequent leaves of sense, but what I did hold against him was the manner he always took toward me” (308). This shows how terrible King was to Lipsha and that he causes him physical and emotional conflicts. King both physically hurt him, and he was always rude to Lipsha, which is one reason why King is an antagonist for Lipsha. Also, Marie, although his loving caretaker, can be considered an antagonist to Lipsha, as she makes him feel very guilty. The novel states, “For a while [Marie] used to call me the biggest waste on the reservation and hark back to how she saved me from my own mother...Sure, I was grateful to Grandma Kashpaw for saving me like that, for raising me, but gratitude gets old” (226). Lipsha is very thankful that Marie took him in and raised him when he was younger, but Marie constantly reminds him of this. She conflicts with him by making him feel guilty all of them time about her taking him in. In addition to this, the truth about Lipsha’s parentage is an antagonist, and even though it is not a character, it still causes him great conflict. The novel states, “I knew [Lulu] was