Introduction to Lulu Lamartine
Despite having various faults as seen from the social comments about and against her “as a flirt” with “Tongues less kind” (105), Lulu Lamartine reconnects the males in various indigenous Indian ways. She expresses it herself that “I was in love with the whole world,” (272) demonstrating the passion lying behind her supposed or real promiscuity. It has moved the tongues and stirred commentaries about her. Her feminine power, however, lies not in her promiscuity or loving nature; rather, it lies in that she has “never shed one solitary tear” and not felt “sorry” for what she has done (273). These moves reassure not only her but also others as she has demonstrated it when dealing with her different lovers and her eight sons who “were of one soul” (114) with her. She also demonstrates her sagacity in choosing her husband between Bev and Henry when they met the first time. The centrality of her role about different characters shows her multidimensional Indianness. In fact, not only does Lulu Lamartine provide necessary love medicine to different Indians by demonstrating her traditional Indian femininity and empowerment, but she also tries to reconnect the people when it comes to her relationship with Bev and Lipsha Morrisey.
Love of Lulu Lamartine
As far as love is concerned, Lulu Lamartine seems an embodiment of love who not only seeks love for herself but also showers love on others. In her narrative, Lulu asserts, “I was in love with the whole world” (272) including nature as well as men. She further adds that “I loved what I saw” (273). It means that she is hungry for love as she did it during her childhood when she could not win Nector. She demonstrates this love that attracts men, provides them comfort, reconnects them as well as heals them. When it comes to attracting men, she goes for Moses Pillager when she sees that Nector Kashpaw, her “first love” (273), has left her for another woman. She demonstrates this love again when she marries Henry, for she gets the reaction when dealing with both brothers in a card game (112). She demonstrates it again through her gestures which are “subtle magnets” (113) that Bev immediately forgets his mission of getting Henry back and enters her bedroom which is “the sacred domain of her femininity” (116). He even does not feel that he has lost his mission of dealing with her diplomatically (116) that he has come with determination. This is a specific Indian trait of loving that if you do not win one love in one way, you go after it another way. Although she becomes the talk of the town in this effort of her to find love, it does not matter to her. Therefore, it must have happened in the choice of her husband that she is pragmatically loving, for she must have seen her survival in marrying one after the other. In one way, this also shows her courage in dealing with them.
Courage of Lulu Lamartine
Where courage is concerned, it is Indian courage of femininity that Lulu Lamartine demonstrates in love as well as in providing a healing touch of love to others. For example, she has clearly provided this healing touch to Bev who almost forgets his mission when he visits her to bring his son but gets entangled in her love. He automatically enters her bedroom (113) after forgetting everything about his mission of taking his son. Again, when they talk about things and their first meeting, he is shocked when he hears that it was Lulu who decided to marry which brother and it was “bold even for Lulu” (111) herself. He again observes this femininity when he sees the boys. In the case of boys, this love mixes with respect as well as obedience and Bev sees that “the younger boys obey” her “perfectly” (114). This femininity also goes into providing a healing touch to Lipsha Morrisey who does not know his real mother but when Lulu drags him to tell this fact about who his real mother was, he says, “I’ll respect her from now on” (299). He comes to know her sincere and true motive after this. Not only is this a bold move on the part of Lulu, but also this provides real healing touch to Lipsha who has all along been entirely ignorant of his real father and mother. This entirely depends on the courage of Lulu and only Lulu could do it. It is also that Lipsha starts believing that Lulu has a “near-divine healing touch,” (299) the reason that she has provided it to him on time. This shows the courage that Lulu has due to her Indian femininity that reaches out to all others who encounter her.
Relationships of Lulu Lamartine
In both of her relationships with Bev and Lipsha, Lulu Lamartine also provides a link to them to reconnect to their families. In one way, these prove healing touches, and, in another way, both reconnect to their loved ones and their Indian roots. For example, in the case of Ben, she has waited for him for so long that when she hugs him as he enters, he feels this love. She proves this when he senses “some sweet apprehension of their kinship” (114) and when he seems to have “no plans at all” (115) for his son, Henry Juniors, though he has plans to take him with him before meeting her. This is purely her presence that reconnects Bev to his family of nephews and his son in a way that it “hardly mattered who was what” (116). For Bev, it is a reconnection as well as a healing touch. Almost the same is the case of Lipsha Morrisey who believes in her divine healing touch after he comes to know about his real father and mother. He becomes fully convinced of her divine powers like that of another lady, Germain, as he says, “If she had some kind of power, I wasn’t one to doubt” (299). Bev, too, sees that Lulu has connected all her sons into one soul as they act together. He enviously looks at them working and obeying her “bound in total loyalty” (114) like they were in their youthful period. This tradition of reconnection runs deep into the Indian femininity demonstrated by Lulu and identified as well as appreciated by Bev. He sees that they were also connected to their siblings in the same way though he does not mention the femininity that held them together – which of course is his own mother. Lipsha, too, appreciates the same when he comes to know about his family.
Conclusion
Putting it briefly, the pure Indian character of Lulu Lulu Lamartine or Nanapush proves her Indianesses when it comes to providing love, showering love, attracting men, asserting femininity, and reconnecting the Indians to their Indian roots. She has demonstrated her love for everything be it, men, or women. She has showered love on her first love, Nector, and turned to Moses when Nector flees. She, then, provides the loving comfort of a wife to her every husband even if it means a title of flirt for her with some additional comments against her. She has demonstrated this love toward her siblings, creating a sense of unity and love among them that they act like they are part of a single organism. She again demonstrates this love when she deals with Bev when he comes to take his son away. In a way, she has always shown love to attract men or patriarchy toward her feminine power. This feminine power emerges to unite the Indian males as well as inform them about their family and family roots. She reconnects both Bev and Lipsha to their families and both acknowledge it. This reconnection of people having lost family connection and consequently Indianness is in a way an Indian indigenous act of reconnecting the individuals to the organism – the Indianness. It proves a healing touch to those whom she connects. Bev feels it when he comes to meet her and sees the boy acting in unison with love as they have acted in their childhood. Lipsha feels gratitude for her when she reconnects him to his family. In short, Lulu Lamartine is a magnet around whom the entire Indian culture revolves, and she provides it necessary subtlety, resilience, and surviving power to overcome the deracination of modern US culture.
Works Cited
- How does Lulu Lamartine’s Ojibwe heritage and cultural background influence her relationships with other characters in “Love Medicine,” and what role does her Indianness play in shaping her identity within the story?
- Throughout the novel, Lulu Lamartine is depicted as a symbol of sensuality and allure. How does her Indianness contribute to the portrayal of her as a powerful, magnetic figure, and how do others in the narrative respond to her as a result?
- Lulu Lamartine’s character navigates the complexities of preserving Ojibwe traditions while existing in a world influenced by white American culture. How does her struggle to reconcile these two worlds highlight the challenges faced by Indigenous individuals in maintaining their cultural identity in a rapidly changing society?