The Master Butchers Singing Club-Chapter 3-SPOILERS [View all]

This thread is set up for discussion of the book by Louise Erdrich, and will be posted chapter by chapter (as I finish them or if you want to participate, you can post an OP for the next chapter). This way, we can see how our opinions of the book and characters change or not over time. If you are joining the discussion, stop after each chapter and post before going on so you don't have more information than anyone else reading this.


Chapter 3 had a lot happening, and we got some insight into Fidelis and Eva, as well as the town of Argus ND. Although I had concern for how Fidelis would survive after running out of money on the way to Seattle in Argus ND, I should not have worried. He did very well. He got work at the local butcher's (Kozka's) shop and his sausages were a hit. He scrimped and saved, as I understand was usual, and was able to bring Eva and his son, Franz to America.

Eva arrives, and she is not pleased with the town. I don't blame her...I am sure that I would be, at the least, disappointed to be in some god-forsaken part of the country. We really don't hear anymore about her thoughts on it as they prosper and grow---does she get used to it, or is it going to be a thorn in her side?

Fidelis starts his own business and we learn a lot about more about his character. He is as fair as he can be, setting his shop as far as he can away from Kozka's business. There is not much tension between the two until the Kozka dog continues to come to visit Fidelis...and this makes Kozka jealous. Add to that an escalation of jokes by giving the dog grosser and grosser animal parts to drag back home with him. I am at a loss why it was a problem for Kozka, I can't figure out why he let all the parts accumulate until they were rotten and stinking----why didn't he throw them out at some point???? But he didn't. He really starts to get pissed that the dog seems to like to be around Fidelis and the resentment grows in him. He went too far by dumping all of it in the Waldvogel's bed one day. Eva apparently will hate him for the rest of her life, if she is like me.

Fidelis gets injured by a pig that he is to butcher---apparently a pig that is not so dumb and intended to go down fighting. He blames the dog for getting the pig riled up, and I don't blame him---I have a feeling the dog didn't help matters. We find something else about Fidelis when he is injured---he finished the work of slaughter and butchering the pig before he goes to the doctor, even with a broken kneecap and bites from the pig. I have the feeling that it was revenge against the pig that kept him going, as well as a work ethic that would not let him leave a job unfinished.

While at the doctor's office, the two of them end up singing together---and Fidelis realized how much singing used to make him feel better. He puts together a group of men who meet weekly to sing.....and the plot thickens when one of the members is Delphine's father, the town drunk. So we see some connection, finally, between these two stories.

Kozka happens to love music and singing too, but he can't bring himself to join in, at first. Then one day he just shows up at the meeting, and another peek at Fidelis' personality is that he doesn't mind and they become friends again through the singing.

I have to wonder how Eva feels about Kozka being around. It seems that she is not the type to forget the sacrilege that he did went he entered their house, and their bedroom, and ruined her bed linens---brought with her from Germany.

Fidelis seems to be a very good-natured and even tempered man, as well as a meticulous worker. Almost too even-tempered. Will this last? I don't know how he can be so forgiving.