How Does Tim Gautreaux Reflect Cajun Culture In Floy's Woman

Option 1
Tim Gautreaux used his flair for writing short story narratives to reflect Cajun culture in Louisiana. This essay explicitly focuses on analyzing his works: “Floyd’s Girl” and “Easy Pickings” and how they convey the same root message: cultural preservation. Gautreaux’s emphasis on religion, food, language, community cohesion, and devotion to the land of Louisiana all serve to endorse cultural preservation amongst Cajuns. In addition, his ability to present Cajuns and Southern-Americans as polar-opposites stresses an “us versus them” framework, which discourages assimilation into American culture. The polarization between the two is emphasized by his representation of Southern-American people as belligerent aggressors, who are prone to stealing due to their low appreciation for hard work, as opposed to Cajuns who are portrayed as non-threatening and value hard work. Ultimately, it

Cajuns have a proud lingual history rooted in French, and although Gautreaux could have simply translated this entire story about them in English, he chooses to keep the French dialogue to preserve this. Doing this, he presents a more authentic, unassimilated representation of their culture. There is a similar image in both stories in which and older woman speaks to her chickens in Acadian French. In “Floyd’s Girl” Mrs. Boudreaux is introduced speaking to her chickens “Chick-chick-chick-chick, venez ici. Mangez ça.” (Floyd’s Girl 167) The text explains that she uses the same tone she used when her children were young at breakfast. Insinuating that the same way she speaks to chickens in the same language she once spoke to her children, and is now preserving this by speaking to them in the language. In “Easy Pickings,” Mrs. Landrenaux speaks to her chickens in that native language because “nearly everyone else who could speak it was dead.” (62) This stresses the importance of preserving one’s