Eli Stands Alone Character Analysis

Eli had never seen someone so angry. It was hot in the car and the man was sweating, but it wasn’t from the heat. Eli could see the muscles on the man’s neck, could hear the violent, exaggerated motions with which he unloaded the camera and passed the film through the window to Orville.

They had lived together for two years before Eli met Karen’s parents. Karen assured him that her mother and father would love him as much as she did, and Eli was sure that she was wrong.

“Mom and Herb are going to the cottage we have in the Laurentians. You’ll love it.”

Eli knew he was not going to love it, but he smiled and pretended that he was looking forward to the trip.

The cottage was not a cottage at all. It was a four-bedroom house set on a lake.

And in a rather perverse way, Eli had come to enjoy the small pleasures of resistance, knowing that each time Duplessis opened the gates a little too much or turned on the light a little too late, it was because he was there.

After the first few years, Karen stopped talking about the Sun Dance and mentioned it only on those occasions when the trip appeared in conversation. It was a silent place in their lives. Eli knew Karen wanted to go back to Alberta, but he also knew she could sense his reluctance. At first Karen suggested that perhaps he felt uncomfortable about taking her along since she wasn’t Indian.

Sifton felt it first, a sudden shifting, a sideways turning, a flexing, the snapping crack of concrete and steel, and in that instant the water rose out of the lake like a mountain, sucking the cars under and pitching them high in the air, sending them at the dam in an awful rush.

And the dam gave way, and the water and the cars tumbled over the edge of the world.

Lionel waited until Charlie’s car disappeared down the road. “So,” he said to Alberta, “you in town for the weekend?”

“That’s right,” said Alberta. “Figured I’d give Norma a hand.”

“With what?”

“With the cabin,” said Norma. “You can help, too.”

Lionel stopped what he was doing and looked at Norma and then he looked at the dam. “You’re not serious?”

“Sure she is, brother,” said Latisha.

“Won’t take much,” said Norma. “We’ll get Harley’s truck and drag as many logs as we can back up here, and what we’re short, we can cut and bring in.”

“That’s a lot of work,” said Lionel.

“My mother did it,” said Norma. “Did it all by herself.”

Alberta set her feet in the mud and put her hands on her hips. “You can help or you can sell televisions.”

Eli had never seen someone so angry. It was hot in the car and the man was sweating, but it wasn’t from the heat. Eli could see the muscles on the man’s neck, could hear the violent, exaggerated motions with which he unloaded the camera and passed the film through the window to Orville.

They had lived together for two years before Eli met Karen’s parents. Karen assured him that her mother and father would love him as much as she did, and Eli was sure that she was wrong.

“Mom and Herb are going to the cottage we have in the Laurentians. You’ll love it.”

Eli knew he was not going to love it, but he smiled and pretended that he was looking forward to the trip.

The cottage was not a cottage at all. It was a four-bedroom house set on a lake.

And in a rather perverse way, Eli had come to enjoy the small pleasures of resistance, knowing that each time Duplessis opened the gates a little too much or turned on the light a little too late, it was because he was there.

After the first few years, Karen stopped talking about the Sun Dance and mentioned it only on those occasions when the trip appeared in conversation. It was a silent place in their lives. Eli knew Karen wanted to go back to Alberta, but he also knew she could sense his reluctance. At first Karen suggested that perhaps he felt uncomfortable about taking her along since she wasn’t Indian.

Sifton felt it first, a sudden shifting, a sideways turning, a flexing, the snapping crack of concrete and steel, and in that instant the water rose out of the lake like a mountain, sucking the cars under and pitching them high in the air, sending them at the dam in an awful rush.

And the dam gave way, and the water and the cars tumbled over the edge of the world.

Lionel waited until Charlie’s car disappeared down the road. “So,” he said to Alberta, “you in town for the weekend?”

“That’s right,” said Alberta. “Figured I’d give Norma a hand.”

“With what?”

“With the cabin,” said Norma. “You can help, too.”

Lionel stopped what he was doing and looked at Norma and then he looked at the dam. “You’re not serious?”

“Sure she is, brother,” said Latisha.

“Won’t take much,” said Norma. “We’ll get Harley’s truck and drag as many logs as we can back up here, and what we’re short, we can cut and bring in.”

“That’s a lot of work,” said Lionel.

“My mother did it,” said Norma. “Did it all by herself.”

Alberta set her feet in the mud and put her hands on her hips. “You can help or you can sell televisions.”