Presentation of the Characters

Beautiful Losers (p.3 to p.70)

Beautiful Losers, p.3.

Beautiful Losers is not a conventional novel. The chapters do not have a link between them, they each tell a different story or the narrator's thoughts on some subjects. For example, Chapter 23rd is about I. "talking" to God, but chapter 24th is about I. burning his hand. 

Main Characters:

• I.

I. is the narrator. He tells his own story, but he never says his full name. Until now, we know that he considers himself a scholar and loves to study a tribe named the A---s. We also know that him and F. are good friends and that he was married to Edith, who died. Also, we learned that he loves Catherine Tekakwitha.

• F. 

F. died in a padded cell. He was I.’s best friend. They have known each other since they were young, and they grew up in the same orphanage. F. often gives advice to I. about his relationship with Edith and many other things. To resume, F. is kind of I.’s mentor.

• Edith

Edith was I.’s wife, but she had an affair with F. She passed away. Although not much is said about Edith during the first quarter of the story, we know that she was a native from the A---s. 

• Catherine Tekakwitha (or Kateri Tekakwitha)

Catherine Tekakwitha was a Mohawk Saint in the late 1600s. She was born in 1656. Her parents and her little brother passed away when she was very young, so she had to be raised by her aunts and her uncle. Her aunts wanted her to be married. Catherine Tekakwitha was very good at embroidery and handicraft. 

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha

Main Events That Happened From p.1 to p.70: 

After reading the first quarter of the book, we realized that this novel is not a continued story, it is more about small events that are related to the main characters. Here are most of them:

• F. slept with the main character’s wife. 
• I. refused to wear a disguise for his wife. 
• I. did sexual things with F. when he was younger. 
• Catherine’s parents died in a forest fire in 1660. 
• F. tells the main character that he is lucky to have Edith. 
• We learn that Edith likes to have thing in her belly button. 
• F. tells the main character the details about his relationship with Edith, he is mad, but F. is the only person that loves him in his life. 
• I. hates his job and his life, and he is blaming everything on the church. 
• When Catherine was younger, her aunts tried to have her sleep with a hunter, but she fled. 
• Edith was raped in the woods at 13 years old.

What We Think Will Happen Next:

Like we said, the book does not tell a long story, it is more a compilation of small events, so we do not really know what will happen next. I. will probably explain the other characters' lives a little bit more, and we will learn about who they are or who they were. In addition, we think that we will gain an understanding of I. and Edith's relationship more and more through the novel. Finally, I. will surely talk about what he knows of the Mohawks (particularly of Catherine Tekakwitha), so we will know new things about this tribe and what they did in the 17th century.

Pictures and Other Informations:

In the novel, it is said that Catherine Tekakwitha lived in a longhouse.

Example of the inside of a longhouse

Mohawk's territory

Catherine Tekakwitha's family lived in Ossernenon.

List of references: (for the pictures)

1. R. GADACZ, René. Longhouse, site consulted on 18/09/2020, [online], https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/maison-longue.

2. K. BENINGTON, Dale. Ossernenon Historical Marker, site consulted on 18/09/2020, [online], https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=88249.

3. Mohawk, site consulted on 18/09/2020, [online], https://native-land.ca/maps/territories/mohawk/.

4. Sanctuaire Sainte-Kateri-Tekakwitha, site consulted on 18/09/2020, [online], http://sanctuairesdufleuve.com/sanctuaire-sainte-kateri-tekakwitha/.

5. SERVICE NATIONAL DU RÉCIT DE L'UNIVERS SOCIAL. Les Iroquoiens vers 1745, site consulted on 18/09/2020, [online], https://primaire.recitus.qc.ca/sujet/organisation/iroquoiens-1745/content/vivre-dans-une-mission.

6. Beautiful Losers Leonard  Cohen First Edition Signed, site consulted on 18/09/2020, [online], https://www.raptisrarebooks.com/product/beautiful-losers-leonard-cohen-first-edition-signed-1966-rare/.