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The Loons Symbols

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“Destruction Equals Death”; a Study of Alienation & Racism
In Margaret Lawrence’s “The Loons”
“I realized that the Tonnerre family, whom I had always heard called half-breeds, were actually Indians or as near as made no difference” (Laurence, 1970). Margaret Laurence’s short story “The Loons” explores the alienation of Aboriginal people in a Canadian setting. The Loons by Margaret Laurence is a story about the isolation of Aboriginal people in Canada and proves that the dominant white society acts prejudice and unjustly towards this particular ethnic group; which is communicated through the loons, representing Piquette, the dock representing family, and Piquette representing racism. Adapting to the lifestyle of your surroundings may cause one to lose touch with their culture and ethnic background. When Piquette is sitting on the dock with Vanessa, she expresses her apathy with life around Manawaka and those around her. She says: who gives a good goddamn (Laurence, 1970) when Vanessa expresses her concern for the loons and their habitat. Piquette does not care about her life in Manawaka and wants to adapt to a different life. The loons are compared to her because they both try and achieve new lives, only to end up failing in the end. Piquette marries a white man to try and gain a normal “white life” instead of being looked at as a “half- breed”. In the same sense, the loons are trying to adapt to a new environment closer to civilization, but they are rejected as Piquette was when she tried to blend; they are symbolic for a different type of culture that is frowned upon and not seen as “normal”, this shows us an example of prejudice tension between different types of people and animals. Growing up without a stable family can only bring hardship in the life of a child. When Vanessa is sitting on the dock with her father, we have an insight as to what their

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