Doctor Cordelia Lochren
Cordelia represents the outside perspective. As one of the few non-Native-American characters, her perspective the least influenced by the massive web of connections tying nearly all Native-American residents of Pluto to each other. In essence, her character is kind of like Neo from The Matrix, in that she can see and participate in the actions of Pluto, but she isn't exactly a part of it all. By being separate from the web of connections, her outside perspective allows her to see and interact with the town of Pluto, without dealing being involved by a deep connection. This relates to how Neo could live in and interact with the matrix pseudo-world, yet still see it as a computer program that he knew it really was. Her primary Native-American bias comes from her involvement as the baby in the Warren Wolde/ Lochren Family murder that begins the novel. This results in some isolation between her and the Native-American community, which only contributes to the "outside" aspects of her perspective. Shortly before Cordelia's only chapter of narration begins, Erdrich wrote:
"Geraldine then told me of several cases, over the years, where the doctor [Cordelia] had turned people down- even in a crisis- and how she had let it be known, generally, that she would not treat our people. They all knew why. It was more than your garden-variety bigotry. 'There was history involved', said Geraldine" (Erdrich 292).
"Geraldine then told me of several cases, over the years, where the doctor [Cordelia] had turned people down- even in a crisis- and how she had let it be known, generally, that she would not treat our people. They all knew why. It was more than your garden-variety bigotry. 'There was history involved', said Geraldine" (Erdrich 292).
The Matrix http://loveforlife.com.au/files/Matrix%203.jpg
