In the second semester of the class English 1201 Representative Literary Works, I read a short story called “The Loons” by Margaret Laurence. Published in a collection of stories, entitled A Bird in The House, published in 1970, “The Loons” is one of Laurence’s most controversial and talked about stories she has written. While Laurence claimed that her writing was influenced by her anger at the treatment of the Métis people by Canadian society, many still call the short story, and specifically the last line, racist. In this essay, I will discuss the representation of the Métis in the short story “The Loons” by exposing the way Laurence satirises and mockingly examines the stereotypes of the Métis people in society, by demonstrating the way
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Therefore, when older Vanessa looks back at her younger self she is able to be satirical when remembering that at one time in her life she did not know, or care to know, the difference between Métis and Indian people. “Unlikely as it may seem, I had only just realised that the Tonnerre family, whom I had always called half-breeds, were actually Indians, or as near as made no difference.” (Laurence, 1061) This demonstrates the ignorance and lack of respect of the younger Vanessa towards the Métis people in implying that all First Nations people are the same. Once again, this representative of the attitudes that still exist today in modern …show more content…
No longer did she seem shy, standoffish or aloof. She seemed outgoing and chipper, but Vanessa saw through the act that Piquette was putting on. Vanessa describes Piquette in a way that conveys her desperation to be someone who fits in and is valued, “Her face, so stolid and expressionless before, was animated now with a gaiety that was almost violent.” (Laurence, 1064) She finds out that, at somewhere around seventeen years old, Piquette is planning to marry to a white man and it is clear that this is how Piquette had planned to escape the life waiting for her at home and how she had planned to avoid living the life of the stereotypic depiction of a Métis woman painted by
Therefore, when older Vanessa looks back at her younger self she is able to be satirical when remembering that at one time in her life she did not know, or care to know, the difference between Métis and Indian people. “Unlikely as it may seem, I had only just realised that the Tonnerre family, whom I had always called half-breeds, were actually Indians, or as near as made no difference.” (Laurence, 1061) This demonstrates the ignorance and lack of respect of the younger Vanessa towards the Métis people in implying that all First Nations people are the same. Once again, this representative of the attitudes that still exist today in modern …show more content…
No longer did she seem shy, standoffish or aloof. She seemed outgoing and chipper, but Vanessa saw through the act that Piquette was putting on. Vanessa describes Piquette in a way that conveys her desperation to be someone who fits in and is valued, “Her face, so stolid and expressionless before, was animated now with a gaiety that was almost violent.” (Laurence, 1064) She finds out that, at somewhere around seventeen years old, Piquette is planning to marry to a white man and it is clear that this is how Piquette had planned to escape the life waiting for her at home and how she had planned to avoid living the life of the stereotypic depiction of a Métis woman painted by