Margaret Laurence's short story The Loons - Racism.

... The Loons: Racism Margaret Laurence's short story The Loons is a tale about the uneasy relationship of the female narrator with a French half-breed girl named Picquette. The narrator is a woman named Vanessa looking back on her youth and reflecting on her attempts to befriend Picquette who had a big chip on her soldier as a result of her minority status. The Loons is a tale that illustrates how racism exists in the guise of good intentions, intolerance and stereotyping. Good intentions can somehow result in conflicts. When Vanessa's good-hearted father Ewen decides to invite Picquette to stay at the family cottage, it is the narrator's mother Beth who puts up resistance. The family holds a discussion about Picquette joining them. Beth complains that Picquette presence might adversely affect the other children in the family. The narrator's father responds to his wife's concerns. "She's not contagious," my father said. And

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