Unfinished Masterpieces And The Mournful Loons example essay topic

The sorrowful crying of the loons in Margaret Laurence's "The Loons" as well as the delicate mud in Anita Scott Coleman's "Unfinished Masterpieces" symbolize the changes that the future brings and the inability to overcome stereotypes. "The Loons" deals with the detriment of Native American culture while "Unfinished Masterpieces" suggests that the future holds potential for everyone and each individual can control whether the changes in his life are negative or positive. The loons in Laurence's narrative are very symbolic of how white American culture overpowered the Native American culture that was familiar to Piquette. The structure of the narrative greatly contributes to the understanding of the symbolism.

The story can easily be broken into three sections. The first section is when Piquette is a young teenager and she is described as being quiet and having little emotion. The second section is when she becomes engaged to a potentially successful man and has suddenly gained confidence and hope. The last section is when Piquette dies in a house fire. This structure can be greatly compared to the presence of the crying loons. In the beginning, the loons can be heard as having a "plaintive" and "ululating cry" (p. 350).

This is when Piquette is upset about the stereotypes of her culture. For example, Vanessa's grandmother referred to Piquette as being a "half-breed" and her mother assumed she would have "nits in her hair" (p. 348). So, in the middle of the story when Piquette becomes engaged and is suddenly in the center of the circle of boys, she is trying to outgrow the stereotypes and change her life for the better. In the end, however, when Piquette dies the loons cry also disappears. Just as the loons were not able to adapt and change to the new settings on the lakefront, Piquette wasn't able to survive changing her culture. Instead, she fulfilled the expectations of those who had stereotyped her.

Therefore, the loons symbolize the inability for the Native American culture to survive. This is proven when Vanessa reflects "It seemed to me now that... Piquette might have been the only one, after all, who had heard the crying of the loons" (p. 353). Piquette was able to hear the loons crying, she just was not able to save them, or herself.

The mud in "Unfinished Masterpieces" symbolizes the potential that is within every human to become whatever they want to. Just as Dora played with the mud and kept moulding it, the narrator mentions that "the Master" will some day mould each individual (p. 336). The mud that is being moulded can become almost anything, it is just a matter of the moulder to make it happen. Mr. Williams, for example is given the nickname "A lump of mud" (p. 336). This is because he has accomplished nothing in his life, with the exception of never completing an honest day's work.

He is described as a lump because he has chosen not to change his form. Throughout his life he has remained the same - a bum. Like Piquette, Mr. Williams has attempted to change a certain stereotype. While Piquette was trying to avoid the stereotype of a Native American, Mr. Williams attempts to avoid the stereotype of a black male adult. By refusing to be a "cotton-picking nigger", he attempted to change his life for the better (p. 336).

What he doesn't realize however, is fifty-one years into his life he has accomplished nothing and is thereby a failure. He fulfilled the expectations of his stereotype just as Piquette did. The mud in "Unfinished Masterpieces" and the mournful loons in "The Loons" represent a very similar idea - the inability to overcome stereotypes and to change for the better. The biggest difference, however, is that the narrator in "Unfinished Masterpieces" places more blame on the individual because he / she had the mud to mould. Therefore, he had control over the changes in his life. "The Loons" places more blame on oppressors such as the white society that invaded the loon's home.

The mud in "Unfinished Masterpieces" and the crying birds in "The Loons" symbolize the difficulty in the task of overcoming stereotypes as well as the fact that the future brings inevitable changes. These two symbols are different only in who the authors place the blame on for the problems in the narratives.