Review of The Bingo Palace by Louise Erdrich, Part 5, Marriages

In “The Bingo Palace” especially two marriages, or rather the situation before the marriage, are portrayed closer – on the one hand the one of Shawnee Ray Toose and Lyman Lamartine and on the other hand the one of Zelda Kashpaw and Xavier Toose.

Shawnee Ray Toose and Lyman Lamartine

The relationship of Shawnee Ray Toose has started when Shawnee got pregnant. Lyman believes that the baby is from him while Shawnee is not sure about this. Since everybody thinks the child is of Lyman, he and Shawnee are “semi-engaged”, but in the end she tells Lyman, that she does not want to marry him.

And then there is Lipsha who loves Shawnee and also wants to marry her but in the end she decides herself for her career, goes to study and leaves the men alone although she actually loves Lipsha, too.

One can see that the women are not totally dependent from the men. You might think that women were engaged by their father, or would take someone only for his money. But as you can see – on the reservation this is not the usual way it goes.

Shawnee puts career higher than love. She tries to figure out what is more important for her.

Zelda Kashpaw and Xavier Toose

Zelda explains Lipsha about her relationship with Xavier Toose, when she goes to Lyman’s Bingo place, due to one of her life crisis.

Both had been deeply in love but she rejected him, because she wanted to marry a white man who would take her away from the reservation.

He asked her three times to marry him, but since she wanted a white man she always refused. The fourth time a man asks is the last time, as it was in the old days. The woman can accept or refuse forever. The last season he asks is winter and Zelda Kashpaw refuses. The desperate Xavier gets drunk in front of Zelda’s house and looses his fingers when his hand freezes.

They do not get married, but in the end Zelda realizes that it was her fault and goes back to him.

These examples show that it is often the woman who decide whether to get married or not. You can also see how the women tried to manage to get out of the reservation – by finding white men. For them it can rather be a marriage of purpose.

This also shows that women have a nearly equal standing in the tribe as the men.

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Review of The Bingo Palace by Louise Erdrich, Part 1, Introduction

Review of The Bingo Palace by Louise Erdrich, Part 2, Summary

Review of The Bingo Palace by Louise Erdrich, Part 3, Job Situation

Review of The Bingo Palace by Louise Erdrich, Part 4, Situation of Women in The Tribe