The Loons Sparknotes
Through out the story, the loons and their cries symbolize the aboriginal people and their attitudes towards the white settlers and their treatment not only towards native culture but, the stereotypical mentality pressed upon them. These feelings of ‘“despair, the unprootedness, the loss of the land”’ (Stovel 219) where caused by many generations of mistreatment, stereotypical, and racist mentality. The ethnocentric attitudes of the time, are none better portrayed than by the character of Vanessa MacLeod, a white, privileged, educated, stereotyping girl that tries to befriend Piquette Tonnerre, a Métis girl. Just like most people of that time, Vanessa didn’t realize the severity and lacked the understanding of the native’s struggles until she finally grew older, matured, and gained a new perspective on life.
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This realization helps Vanessa understand that not only Piquette, but also all other Métis people did not having a place of belonging due to the segregation at the time. This awareness of “the destruction both of nature and of aboriginal peoples brought about by white settlement” (Smith 364), shows that the more matured Vanessa “has developed an understanding for the Métis’ complex history and their mistreatment in Canadian culture.” (Rosenthal 229). Laurence allowed Vanessa to break through her “unfounded and destructive preconceived ideas” (Smith 363) but only to a certain extent. Even though Vanessa’s new found insight has allowed her “to understand that although they are the rightful heirs of the place and its ancestral history, the Métis have been alienated and disconnected from their origins and traditions” (Rosenthal 229) in effect, rendering later generations of indigenous people mentally affected by the choices of white
This realization helps Vanessa understand that not only Piquette, but also all other Métis people did not having a place of belonging due to the segregation at the time. This awareness of “the destruction both of nature and of aboriginal peoples brought about by white settlement” (Smith 364), shows that the more matured Vanessa “has developed an understanding for the Métis’ complex history and their mistreatment in Canadian culture.” (Rosenthal 229). Laurence allowed Vanessa to break through her “unfounded and destructive preconceived ideas” (Smith 363) but only to a certain extent. Even though Vanessa’s new found insight has allowed her “to understand that although they are the rightful heirs of the place and its ancestral history, the Métis have been alienated and disconnected from their origins and traditions” (Rosenthal 229) in effect, rendering later generations of indigenous people mentally affected by the choices of white