Saturday, September 11, 2010

The Pig Pen Battle

In the story “Fleur” the men stalk Fleur in the shadows waiting for the moment of attack. We have some unanswered questions in exactly what happened that night. What did Lily and the others do to Fleur? Was she rape? Or just beaten and battered around? The author gives some hint to in the pig verse Lily Battle.

The author tells us one of the jobs associated with Fleur duties was in the pig pen area. The pig here, in Battle with Lily seems to symbolically represent Fleur. Fleur and here battle with the men, in which we have no direct knowledge of. Fleur was a strong woman as strong as the sow but in the end couldn’t make it. But not long after a tornado that only seem to have damage the farm takes its revenge on those poor souls with swift retribution for Fleur.

1 comment:

  1. This is a great scene to discuss in more detail. However, I feel that there's more you could have said about the "pig pen battle," as you call it. You mention that Erdrich leaves what happened to Fleur on that night ambiguous, but that the battle in the pig pen gives the reader some clues as to what may have transpired. Based on the battle, what do you think happened to Fleur that night? Also, is the subsequent storm any indication of what happened as well?

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