39 pages • 1 hour read
Louise ErdrichThe Round House
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2012A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapter 7-Chapter 9Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 7
Still confused about the ghost he saw, when Joe visits his grandfather, Mooshum, he asks the old man about the visage. Mooshum suggests that the ghost is trying to warn Joe about something, and that Joe needs to go and find his luck. When Clemence returns home, Joe sets off, returning to the scene of the crime. At the round house, he intends to find his luck from a heron. Standing near the lake, Joe spies a doll in the water and, though briefly thinking of getting Cappy, he jumps in and retrieves the doll. When he removes the doll’s head, Joe finds money inside. Joe takes the doll to Sonja, who irons the money and counts it out. They find forty thousand dollars inside the doll. Sonja and Joe open bank accounts at several banks, bury the bank books, and agree not to tell anyone about their findings. Sonja implores Joe to make good use of the money. Instead of wasting it, she wants him to use it for something meaningful, such as a college education.
Joe returns home after his outing at the round house and his adventure with Sonja. At home, he is approached by an FBI agent and Bazil. Both men want to know more about what he and his friends found at the round house. Joe explains what happened again, detailing what they found, including the clothes and the beer. Though these items all seem to point to Linden, and though to Joe they seem like clues that can indict Linden, the agent reveals that the beer and clothing belonged to someone local, a strange man named Bugger. Bugger is not a suspect, and the items have no bearing on the case of Geraldine’s attack. Joe goes to his room, numb and sullen, and watches as a crane casts a shadow on his wall that looks like an angel on fire.
Chapter 8
The FBI agent returns to the Coutts house. This time, he wants to speak with Geraldine about the events which took place on the day she was attacked. Specifically, he wants to know more about the phone call she received and the file she went to retrieve. Geraldine, however, is still in a state of trauma. She refuses to speak with the officer, who finally leaves.
Bazil is at a loss for how to help his wife, but soon comes up with a plan to try and help her heal. He moves a table into their bedroom, at the foot of the bed, and the family has dinner there each night. Joe finds it strange and difficult, especially as his mother still does not eat anything and does not engage in conversation with them. It is mostly his father having a conversation at her, not with her. They continue in this fashion until the night Bazil mentions a case about the South Dakota governor attempting to adopt a Native American child. At the mention of the case and the child, Geraldine’s countenance changes, and she eventually begins to speak.
Geraldine reveals that the call she received on the day of her attack was from Mayla Wolfskin. Mayla had wanted to register her child as Native American and wanted the file which indicated this. The file also indicated who the biological father was. Geraldine had retrieved the file from her office and went to the roundhouse to meet Mayla but was attacked as soon as she got out of her car. Her attacker wanted the file, most likely to blackmail the South Dakota governor as he was having a relationship with Mayla. The inference is that Mayla’s child is from her relationship with the governor and that the attacker wants to blackmail the governor with this information. During the attack, Geraldine’s face was covered by her attacker. She was raped outside and then brought inside the round house where Mayla and her infant child were also bound. The attacker asked Mayla where she hid some money, and then poured gasoline over her and Geraldine. Realizing what her attacker was intent on doing, Geraldine managed to get the matches wet by peeing on her attacker. When the man left to retrieve more matches (which he had in his car), Geraldine managed to free herself and escape, though she did not have time to aid Mayla. Bazil and Joe now realize that the file has been in the car the entire time. Geraldine’s trauma, then, stems partly from the fact that she was not able to help Mayla and her child escape. Also, her attacker told her that if she said anything he would kill Mayla and the child. Though Bazil implores his wife to let the authorities know about the events of her rape to identify her attacker, Geraldine will not say anything until she knows that Mayla and her child are safe.
Later, Bazil and Geraldine go to a hospital so that Geraldine can get a check-up and rest. With his parents out of town, Joe stays with Whitey and Sonja until they return. Joe likes the set-up as he can see Sonja, and he works for Sonja and Whitey. Though things seem great, Sonja begins wearing expensive accessories, leading Whitey to think that she is having an affair. In his drunken anger, Whitey hits Sonja and they quarrel. Joe breaks up the fight, though he later quits his job assisting at the gas station and leaves for Clemence’s house. At his aunt’s house, Joe hears a story from Mooshum, who is talking in his sleep. The story is about Akii, a Native American woman accused of being a wiindigoo by her tribesmen. The tribe tried to kill Akii but she did not die. She fled into the woods instead, with her child, Nanapush. Akii catches a fish one day and the fish tells her that there is a buffalo in the woods that can save her and her son. Akii sends Nanapush to find the buffalo.
As Mooshum does not finish his story, Joe must wait until the next day to ask his grandfather about the tale. Mooshum has no recollection of it, yet when they go to sleep that night, Mooshum continues the story. Nanapush finds the buffalo, but when a storm arises, he must take refuge in the carcass of the buffalo. When he is frozen inside the buffalo, the buffalo’s spirit enters him. Is it Nanapush who built the old round house to speak with the Creator and commune with nature during times of crises.
Later, Joe and his friends return to the lake to swim. A Christian camp is also using the area, and when two kids from the group ask Joe and his friends to leave, they refuse. One of the Christian kids has a seizure; Joe and Cappy help him while Angus and Zack find help. Joe and his friends agree to join the Youth Encounter Christ program partly because they feel guilty, though really because of Zelia, the beautiful girl who first told them to get out of the lake.
Geraldine is in better spirits now. When the lake is emptied to search for more evidence, the police find Mayla’s car. To Joe’s surprise, there is a dress in the car that resembles the dress worn by the doll he retrieved, linking the doll to the crime and to Mayla.
Chapter 9
Clemence throws a party for Mooshum, and he accidentally catches his hair on fire. The day after the party, Bazil informs Joe that his mother’s attacker, Linden Lark, has been arrested. The news is welcome and reassuring. Geraldine is relieved as well, and she seems to be in better sprits as she returns to some of her former tasks. She even returns to work. Bazil also reveals to Geraldine, and later to Joe, that Mayla’s child is indeed safe. She was left at a Goodwill and is the same child that the South Dakota governor is attempting to adopt. This news invigorates Geraldine and she agrees to testify against Linden Lark. Bazil and Geraldine eventually leave to take part in the case against Linden. The case is being tried in Bismarck, and while his parents are away, Joe stays with Clemence again. As with other nights, Mooshum again talks about Nanapush. This time, he relates how the old round house was created.
Sonja arrives at Clemence’s house one day, and both she and Mooshum want Joe to leave. He refuses, and though reluctant, Sonja performs a striptease for Mooshum. Joe is ashamed of watching, but because of his crush on Sonja, he is also delighted to see the striptease. Mooshum eventually falls asleep, and though Joe is excited about the turn of events, Sonja tells him that he is just like all the other men in her life who use her for their sexual fantasies. The rebuke chastises Joe and makes him feel horrible.
When Joe and Cappy hang out later, Cappy reveals that he and Zelia have been sleeping together. Despite their mutual affection, Zelia has returned home to Montana. Cappy is saddened at being parted from Zelia, whom he believes himself to be in love with. Joe’s parents return from Bismarck, and Joe learns that Linden has been freed because there is not enough evidence to tie him to Geraldine’s attack. Joe is angered at the law, especially tribal law, a law he once held in high regard. His father eventually gets him to see, however, that tribal law is all they have. They must take the good and the bad to ensure that they have something to work with. Joe and Cappy find ways to deal with their anger over Linden’s release, including working at a construction site.
Cappy confesses his love for Zelia and his carnal relationship with her to Father Travis, who chases him out of the church. Joe finds out that Sonja has left Whitey due to his abuse and rude behavior. He and Cappy rush to where the bank books are hidden and find that Sonja has taken all but one. She left an apologetic note to Joe, explaining that she needs the money to start over. Saddened, Joe splits the remaining money with Cappy.
Chapter 7-Chapter 9 Analysis
Joe finds himself involved more with his ancestry and his mother’s case. He visits the lake and, while looking for his luck, finds a doll with forty thousand dollars hidden inside. Though this might not have been the luck he was looking for, the doll is instrumental in tying the pieces of Geraldine’s rape together. The money inside the doll also speaks of promise and hope. Joe and Sonja put the money in banks, with the purpose of using the money for good. The money symbolizes that good can come from evil. Joe’s time at the lake also connect his deeper to his ancestry. Joe mentions that he does not like prayer. He also is not in tune with his Native American ancestry, even though he helps his friend at the roundhouse during religious ceremonies. At the lake, however, Joe always feels a presence that seems to guide him. This presence also allows him to see his mother’s attack as if he was there. Joe’s emotions and visions at the lake and roundhouse symbolize a deeper, inherent connection to his ancestry, and suggest that Joe is connected to this past by the history of his people despite his lack of belief. In fact, this connection underscores Joe’s history for him, thereby altering his views perhaps on Native American religion, just as his trust of law is questioned due to his mother’s case and ultimately grows in favor of tribal law.
The section also marks a turning point in the narrative. Geraldine’s trauma forces the family to change its tactics in relation to her apathy. Bazil takes matters into his own hand by placing a table in Geraldine’s bedroom so he and Joe can have dinner with her and feel like a family again, though it does not work initially as Geraldine still will not eat or speak. This is one of the first times that Bazil has intruded upon Geraldine’s space. In previous chapters, he instructed Joe to let Geraldine heal on her own and to give her space. By bringing the dining table into the bedroom, Bazil has upped the stakes in the narrative. Indeed, when Bazil mentions a case about the South Dakota governor wanting to adopt a Native American child, the plot thickens. Geraldine’s admission about what happened on the day of her rape reveals most of the remaining pieces of the plot puzzle. Her confession also underscores how violent people can be, perhaps due to a warped sense of love or honor. Linden did not have to rape Geraldine or abuse his former girlfriend, Mayla. He did these things because he is a troubled person, an evil person. Geraldine’s confession also highlights just how difficult it is to move forward after such pain and hurt.
As with previous chapters, coming of age is a powerful theme in this section and witnessed in different ways. One such way is in the form of love. Cappy meets Zelia and falls in love with her. He wants to do right by Zelia, whereas in the past he has not been “in love” of infatuated with any one girl. On the other hand, Joe’s infatuation with Sonja ends when he watches her do a striptease. Though he feels grownup at being allowed to watch, when she tells him he is just like all the other men in her life who objectify her for sex, Joe is heartbroken. His infatuation takes on a guilty air as he is grouped with the other men in Sonja’s life. Sonja eventually leaves, stealing the money Joe had found in the lake. Heartbroken and ashamed, Joe reaches a new level of maturity when he finally understands that his lust has objectified Sonja. Other themes, such as racism, are prevalent. Linden wants revenge for the way his family was treated by those on the reservation. He also wants revenge from his former girlfriend for having a relationship with the South Dakota governor. At his heart, Linden is depicted as a racist and sexist individual who is capable of great cruelty.
The plot’s progress also moves forward exponentially in this section. One major break comes when the lake is drained and Mayla’s car is found. In addition to this crucial piece of evidence that underscores foul play, there is a girl’s dress in the car that matches the fabric on the doll Joe found, thus linking the doll to Mayla and the crime circumstantially. Joe also realizes that the money inside the doll most likely belonged to Mayla; she had been using the doll as a hiding place for the large amount of money. With these events, Linden is finally arrested as the clues thus far implicate him for the crime. Geraldine is told that Mayla’s child is safe and so agrees to implicate Linden as her attacker. Due to there being no hard evidence, however, Linden is eventually set free. The circumstantial evidence is enough in the eyes of the Coutts family, but the law requires proof (Geraldine’s face was covered during her rape, so she cannot prove where she was raped). Though a major setback, Joe learns a crucial lesson—ready to give up on tribal law, his father helps him to see that tribal law is all they have and must be upheld as a foundation for them all. The battle between tribal, state and federal law plays out throughout the narrative, but it is seen most tragically perhaps in Linden’s release from jail. He is guilty, and yet the system that is supposed to avenge Geraldine is also the system that maintains innocence until proven guilty. Joe must grapple with the concept of right and wrong, morality and immorality, and what justice means for all sides caught up in the legal system, including the guilty, the innocent, the victims, and those who hold power.
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