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.
Symbols & Motifs
The Round House
The round house, an old sweathouse used by Native Americans on the reservation, had long been abandoned when Geraldine was attacked, raped, and then brought to the round house to be murdered. It is symbolic of Native American spirituality and its collective past leading Bazil to suspect the crime may have taken place there. As a judge, Bazil knows that the round house is a source of grievance for some of the white men who live off the reservation due to earlier court cases. He also knows that the round house is isolated and abandoned, making it the perfect place to commit a crime.
When Joe visits the round house, he feels an odd presence several times. The narrative suggests that Joe is tapping into a force that allows him to feel what took place, thus connecting Joe to his past and providing him with insight into his mother’s attack. That the attack takes place at a sacred space also indicates that those off the reservation, most notably white men, care nothing for the past or sacred spaces of Native Americans.
Saplings
When the novel begins, Joe and his father are pulling out saplings from their yard. The saplings are destroying the foundation of the family home, and they must exert a lot of strength and energy to unroot the saplings. The saplings foreshadow the damage to the family’s foundation when Geraldine is raped and nearly murdered. The saplings represent difficulty and tenacity, symbolizing both natural and unnatural forces that seek to harm. The saplings also symbolize Joe and his growth in the narrative. Despite his youth, he shakes his family’s foundations by killing Linden; though his aim is to set the foundation right, his actions are morally questionable.
Flowers
Flowers symbolize growth and patience. When the novel opens, Geraldine’s flowers are representative of her. She has planted them, taking great care to cultivate them each season. After the rape, the flowers begin to die and must be replanted. As Geraldine withers, withdrawing into herself, so do the flowers wither and die. When Joe and Bazil rip out all the dead flowers and plant new ones, they are attempting to restart Geraldine’s growth in a symbolic gesture.
Tribal Law
Tribal law weaves through the lives of those living on the reservation. Joe’s father, Bazil, is a judge, and so tribal law is not only his “bread and butter,” it is what makes him a respectable person in the eyes of others. Joe, too, thinks of tribal law as sacred, idealizing his father for his devotion to tribal law. As the novel unfolds, however, Joe, Bazil, and others’ beliefs in tribal law are tested. Tribal law must contend with off-reservation law, culminating in Geraldine’s attacker, Linden Lark, going free. Though Joe takes the law into his own hand by killing Linden, his father shows him that they must hold on to the law, and that the good parts of the law also include bad parts, but that the two parts must exist together so that the whole exists. Joe later realizes that tribal law is indeed good and necessary.
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By Louise Erdrich
