Piquette felt the need to prove herself to Vanessa because she returns years later boasting about getting married to an English man. She felt like she did not belong to the society because she was neither Indian nor White, she is mixed. When she was engulfed with flames with her children, “Piquette did not get out, neither did the children” (Laurence, 203). Vanessa’s mother described how deteriorated Piquette became, suggesting that Piquette wanted to die because she was miserable. Even her family was unsupportive of her and treated her badly. The only person that Piquette admired was Ewen. “Your dad was the only person in Manawaka that ever done anything good to me” (Laurence, 201).
In “The Loons” Piquette was a trapped young girl who did not have an identity. In “Borders”, the mother was Blackfoot and struggled to keep her identity. Before the people were Canadian or American, they were Blackfoot. When she tries cross the Canadian border to visit her daughter in America she is asked what is her citizenship and replies Blackfoot. This answer is unacceptable to the immigration offer because there is either Canadian or American citizenship. The mother shows her persistence by continuously driving to the border after being rejected repeatedly. The boy thinks that the mother should just say that she is Canadian and get over with it and does not realise the principle. “It would have been a lot easier if mom had just said Canadian and been dong with it, but I could see that she was not going to do that”(King, 188). Just by his reaction it could be seen that the mother was serious and was vehement about her culture. The guard consults a few people and it is determined that they have Blackfoot on both sides of the border and for “legal technicalities” (King, 189). The mother would have to shun her identity and adopt a new one. She does not question her ethnicity and does not care about being Canadian. The boy, on the other hand, tells the officer that they are Canadian, but because he is a minor, they do not listen. The boy does not follow the same principle as his mother does, although he seems to understand her nature.
The mother is blatantly tested when the other guard gives the choice of being Canadian or American. When they encounter the other guard she says, “I know, said the woman, and I’d be proud of being Blackfoot if I were Blackfoot. But you have to be American or Canadian.” (King, 191) The mother’s pride caused her to leave and return. She refused to say that she was Canadian, because she was not and the boy was too young to understand this.
The mother and son are faced with the media, which made the issue into a racial one. The boy is asked a demeaning question which he could not understand because to him, he had a home.
Every so often one of the reporters would come over and ask me questions about how it felt to be an Indian without a country. I told them we had a nice house on the reserve and that my cousins had a couple of horses we rode when we went fishing (King,193).
Eventually, the persistent mother won her struggle and she was able to cross the border as a Blackfoot. Piquette eventually just gave up and she died, but the mother and son, just kept on trying. The mother and son were as isolated as Piquette was. Although, Piquette wanted to be associated with the whites, she did not accept herself.
In the two stories, the title is a representation of the situations they face. Margaret Laurence’s story about Piquette is called “The Loons” because they became extinct because of man. Piquette is like a dying breed similar to the loons. Society discarded Piquette’s ethnicity; similarly, the loons disappeared because of same people. “It seemed to me now that in some unconscious and totally unrecognised way, Piquette might have been the only one after all who had heard the crying of the loons” (Laurence, 203).
Piquette does not care about the loons, Vanessa does. Vanessa’s intuition suggests that Piquette’s race is a dying breed just as the loons are; she must experience them when they are alive. “It seemed to me that Piquette must be in some way … a kind of junior prophetess of the wilds who might impart to me… some of the secrets which she undoubtedly knew”(Laurence, 199) . Vanessa believes that only someone of Piquette’s race would possess such knowledge of the wild; therefore, she tries to exploit Piquette’s supposed wisdom. Vanessa, ultimately, saw Piquette as useless to her because she did not tell her any secrets and was not interested in nature or the loons. “It became increasingly obvious that, as an Indian, Piquette was a dead loss” (Laurence, 200).
In the story, “Borders” the symbolism is that the Blackfoot people are on the border. They have to choose whether they are Canadian or American. This choice was unacceptable to the mother because she considered herself as Blackfoot and nothing else. The son on the other hand, recognised that he was from Canada. The mother was proud because when she spoke to Laetitia, she had them tell the story many times and they did so because they were proud of themselves. “She had se tell her the story over and over again” (King,194).
The mother was seen as an inspiration of strength and Piquette could be seen as weakness. They had to face their own battles and Piquette just gave up. The authors prove that the First Nations and Metis people different approaches to various scenarios, yet they are dejected by society because of their ethnicity. The white man has been superior in both cases, although the mother’s pride and allowed her to rise above and show society that she can overcome the struggles. Piquette, a young and immature girl, did not have the strength or the confidence to face anyone, including herself.
Works Cited
Geddes, Gary. The Art of Short Story Fiction. Canada: Addison
Welsey Longman Limited, 1999.
King, Thomas. “Borders.” Geddes 185-194.
Laurence, Margaret. “The Loons.” Geddes 195-203.
