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Saint Marie Study Guide

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by Louise Erdrich
About 5 pages (1,413 words)
Saint Marie Summary

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Characters

The main character, fourteen-year-old Marie Lazarre, narrates the tale of her near transformation to Catholicism and sainthood fifty years after the event. Resisting her Native-American ancestry, Marie considers her skin "white" and seeks to escape her seemingly ill-fated life on the reservation through inclusion in the Sacred Heart Convent. In classes taught Old Testament style by Sister Leopolda, who later sponsors Marie at the convent, the nun recognizes Marie's desire for acceptance. She names her propensity for daydreaming as the work of the "Dark One," thus inspiring Marie to accept her (and Christ's) teachings.

In her efforts to reject the familiar, Marie begins to see her heritage as inherently tainted. Her layering of Native-American tradition with evil impels her to purge herself of both to achieve sainthood. As a result, Sister Leopolda acts as both.....

This is a free excerpt of 135 words. This section contains 387 words. This Short Guide contains 1,413 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page).

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Copyrights
Saint Marie from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction and Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults. ©2005-2006 Thomson Gale, a part of the Thomson Corporation. All rights reserved.



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