Magical+Realism


 * Magical Realism **

As a literary term, “magical realism” refers to the genre or aesthetic style in literature where the seemingly supernatural bleeds into reality and is presented as a real occurrence. Many instances of “magical realism” can be found within //Tracks// which may be due to the fact that the novel centers around the Native American Ojibwe clans and their beliefs. Upon the subject of Native American spirituality, Paula Gunn Allen writes: “We think that life is all real—//all// of it. The personal, the spiritual, the supernatural, the “cosmic”. . . Our traditions tell us that when someone meets a supernatural on the road (or in the kitchen), that is real. . . To Native thinkers, the mythic is not a trick of the human mind but a pulsating fact of existence. . .” (Allen). Below are some examples of occurrences in the novel that are seemingly fantastic and supernatural yet depicted as reality.



**Incidents Caused by Fleur**
 * Edgar Pukwan dying after helping Nanapush to rescue Fleur in the beginning of the novel.
 * An unnamed man wandering off, Jean Hat being crushed by a cart, and Many Women drowning in his tub following each trying to save Fleur from drowning.
 * A tornado forcing three men—Lily Veddar, Tor Grunewald, and Dutch James—to take shelter in a freezer after they raped Fleur. Dutch James was left an amputee while the other two froze to death.
 * Sophie becoming paralyzed outside Fleur’s home due to her affair with Eli.
 * Lazarre dying once he falls into traps as Fleur looks on.
 * The trees falling around Fleur’s house killing many lumberjacks at the end of the novel.

**Pauline’s Abilities and Encounters**
 * Seems to be invisible through majority of the novel (i.e. men do not notice her while they assault Fleur nor do Sophie and Eli as she watches their sexual encounter) until she is blamed for not helping enough to save Fleur’s second child.
 * Somehow able to possess others or feel what they sense (seems to experience the sexual encounter with Eli through Sophie and later feels Bernadette’s beatings of Sophie).
 * Speaks to God/Devil who visits her on a stove and another time comes to her dressed as a peddler.



**Influences and Power of Misshepeshu, The Lake God**
 * Responsible for the drowning of people in the lake, especially young girls.
 * Supposedly wants Fleur as his wife thus he continually tries to drown her.
 * Suspected to have impregnated Fleur once she returns from Argus and then again when Eli reveals his suspicions to Nanapush after the affair.
 * Struggles with Pauline in the form of Napoleon, causing her to kill the old man.

**Use and Effectiveness of Medicine and Shamanism**
 * Pauline uses medicine to trick Sophie and Eli into having an affair.
 * Fleur spreads bad medicine around the Morrissey household to avenge the assault on Margaret.
 * While Eli struggles during a hunt in the snow, Nanapush helps him keep a safe walking rhythm with his drum despite the two men being quite a distance apart.

**References**

Allen, Paula Gunn. ""Indians," Solipsism, and Archetypal Holocausts." //Genocide of the Mind: New Native American Writing//. By MariJo Moore. New York: Thunder's Mouth/Nation, 2003. 311. Print

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