Motorcycles and Sweet grass is mainly located in an aboriginal reserve by Otter Lake. The Lake is a very important aspect of this story. In the prologue a man and a woman swim together in the lake with fish which I'm assuming were Lillian the grandmother and Nanabush, the trickster. When the grandmother passes away Nanabush meets her daughter Maggie who he pursues. He takes her swimming in the Lake at night after a date. I think this shows how much people are interconnected in life and how each different person leads you to meeting new people. If Nanabush hadn't been associated with Lillian would Maggie have ever met him? When they meet it causes tension between Nanabush and Virgil. Virgil travels across the Lake to where Wayne, Maggie's brother, lives. I think the distance that Wayne lives from them could also symbolize their emotional distance. It shows in real life that even your loved ones will begin to lose contact, and you'll struggle to keep close with them. The Lake in this book creates a lot of connections to the real world.
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