Fleur

Pauline makes it clear through her narration that she is figuratively invisible. She notes she is “not much to look at” so the men at Kozka’s “never saw” her (181). However, her plainness and meek stature also allow her to fit into tight crevices in the shop and monitor the men and what they do. As a result, Pauline “[knows] everything” including “what the men [say] when no one [is] around” (179). Pauline also narrates the story with heightened perception; she can see the men and Fleur for what they really are, including their respective animalistic natures. Pauline’s powers of observation extend both prior to and after the events of the story, allowing her to conclude from her greater knowledge of Fleur’s life that “power travels in the bloodlines” as Pauline recognizes in Fleur the “eyes of those in the bear clan” (189). Where others keep “turning the story over” and getting everything wrong, Pauline is confident in her own ability to tell the story of Fleur (189).

In “Fleur,” the power of invisibility extends beyond the mere ability to see and bear witness. Erdrich aligns Pauline’s invisibility with her greater knowledgeability while simultaneously suggesting a more ambivalent relationship between observation and agency.