Coming of Age
Throughout The Round House, Erdrich juxtaposes Joe's adolescent friendships and behaviors with his forced maturation. At the beginning of the story, Joe's life is marked by trivial pursuits with his friends—namely, his first sexual experiences and his experimentation with substances. However, following the attack on Geraldine, Joe comes to recognize the senseless evil that exists in the world. Joe experiences a shift in focus: he pursues justice and aims to track down his mother's attacker.
Joe's journey to finding and avenging Linden Lark is filled with events that continue to alter his naive understanding of the world. Joe's experiences with Sonja show the darker complexities of sex, sex work, and exploitation. Later in the novel, Joe's discovery of the money stashed in the doll's head leads him to evaluate his own morality and reflect on the nature of greed and poverty. Finally, Joe's decision to kill Linden is a climactic point in which he must ponder both the motivations and the life-long effects of revenge.
The Pursuit of Justice
Throughout The Round House, Erdrich explores both the concept of justice and its converse, injustice. In the opening pages of the novel, the audience is introduced to Bazil Coutts and learns that he works as a tribal judge. Due to his father's profession and his distinguished role within the native community, Joe has a heightened legal and moral understanding of justice. However, Joe is simultaneously aware of the disenfranchisement of the indigenous population and the insidious injustice embedded in the American legal system.
As the novel progresses, Erdrich makes various historical allusions that address indigenous justice. She opens by mentioning United States v. Forty-three Gallons of Whiskey, a court case that decided that Congress has the power to regulate the possession and sale of liquor in land belonging to and near Native American tribes. Erdrich's inclusion of this case in the novel's introduction speaks to borders and the complications therein, particularly as it affects indigenous life in the United States. This historical understanding allows the reader to better understand the actions and motivations of the characters in the story, with particular attention to the sociopolitical dynamics at play.
Joe's nuanced understanding of justice affects how he approaches the crime against his mother. Although legally speaking the attack should be prosecuted by the state, Joe has a deep distrust of how the authorities will handle the case. For this reason, Joe is motivated to take matters into his own hands. Joe's actions prompt the reader to further consider the themes of both justice and morality. Is it morally just for Joe to kill Linden? Or is Joe merely reproducing the acts of violence he tries so hard to escape?
Gender-based Violence
The central conflict in The Round House is Geraldine's rape. While the novel is a work of fiction, Erdrich sheds light on an issue that has long affected Native communities. According to the Indian Law Resource Center, "more than 4 in 5 American Indian and Alaska Native women have experienced violence, and more than 1 in 2 have experienced sexual violence." For many decades, United States law has prevented Indian nations from having criminal authority over non-Indians. As a result, Indian nations have been unable to prosecute non-Indians, "who reportedly commit the vast majority (96%) of sexual violence against Native women."
Erdrich's portrayals of native women reveal the grief, pain, and violence they experience on account of their gender. In addition to Geraldine, Mayla is another character in the story that falls victim to gender-based violence. Her murder occurs because Linden is jealous of her relationship with Curtis Yeltow.
Sonja, Joe's aunt, is yet another character whose womanhood affects how she is perceived and treated by those around her. Sonja, a sex worker, has scars that show the physical abuse she endured while working at a strip club. Ultimately, the men in Sonja's life—including her partner, Whitey, and her father-in-law, Mooshum—have sexual expectations of Sonja as a result of her work. As Joe grows into his adolescence and begins to explore his own sexuality, he takes out many of his desires on Sonja—she becomes the object of his affection. Joe's decision to watch Sonja perform her dance for Mooshum forever alters their relationship dynamic. Sonja grows abrasive once she realizes that Joe is no longer a child she can nurture. Instead, he reproduces the repressive conditions of his patriarchal society.
The Structure of the Indigenous Family
Throughout The Round House, Erdrich explores the familial structure and the dynamics therein. Erdrich particularly sheds light on the role of families in Native American culture, as compared to the Western concept of the nuclear family.
Many characters throughout the novel are members of "unconventional" households. For example, Mooshum lives with Clemence and Edward, and both Zack and Angus grow up without two parents. The relationship dynamics of Mooshum, Clemence, and Edward are in stark contrast to how the elderly are generally looked after in Western households. Instead of being placed in an elder care facility, Mooshum is nurtured by Clemence and Edward as if he is their child.
Joe's family is one of the only families on the Chippewa reservation that has a more conventional, "nuclear" family structure. This is part of the reason why the crime against Geraldine has such far-reaching consequences. In the days following Geraldine's attack, the reader observes how much Bazil and Joe depended on their matriarch—they are unable to feed themselves or care for their home accordingly once Geraldine is bed-ridden. As both Joe and Bazil fall apart, we see how the reservation steps in to care for them. Sonja becomes a mother figure for Joe, and many friends check in on Bazil to ensure his wellbeing. In this way, the reservation acts as a family unit that looks after members of their community and shares responsibilities.
The differences between Western families and Native American families are perhaps most apparent in the case of Linda Lark. Linda tells Joe and Bazil about how the Lark family was weary of her birth defects and ultimately decided to put her up for adoption. A nurse at the hospital, an indigenous woman, could not believe that a family could consider their own daughter "undesirable" due to her disabilities. This woman ultimately adopted Linda and raised her as her own daughter. In this portrayal, Erdrich demonstrates how Native American families adopt a more fluid, community-based system of care.
Native Spirituality versus Catholicism
The round house, from which the novel gets its title, is a gathering place for members of the Chippewa tribe. In addition to its significance as a central location for the modern practice of native rituals, it carries an important historical meaning for the community. Linden's attack on Geraldine and Maya at the round house can be interpreted as an allegory for colonization and the erasure of Native American spiritual tradition.
While many members of the Chippewa tribe also practice Catholicism, Joe and his friends reject the church and perceive its heightened presence as a threat to their own indigenous practices. To Joe, Cappy, and Angus, Catholicism is "personified" by Father Travis, the new priest on the reservation. For this reason, it is no surprise that Joe initially suspects Father Travis is the perpetrator of the crime against his mother. Joe's speculation is rooted in his understanding that indigenous life is continually the subject of Western erasure, and Catholicism follows Western hegemony.
Christianity reappears in the form of temptation with Zelia, a teenage missionary. After Cappy falls in love with Zelia, he begins to reject his traditions in favor of discussions surrounding the rapture and confession. Cappy and Zelia's love is forbidden, and it is interesting to note that Cappy dies while on his way to visit his long-distance lover. The circumstances of Cappy's death can be interpreted to symbolize the connection between Christianity and colonialism, as well as the historical weaponization of religion for political and economic gains.
Ancestral Ties
Ancestry and generational interconnectedness are important aspects of indigenous families, and they play an important role in the narrative. In The Round House, Erdrich showcases these aforementioned motifs through her characterization of Mooshum, the patriarch of the Coutts family. Mooshum's more corporeal aspects, such as his age or physical appearance, are unknown. Instead, he is revered for his knowledge and wisdom.
Mooshum is not only admired by his family, but by his greater tribal community. Because Mooshum has lived on the Chippewa reservation for many decades, he has a wealth of knowledge surrounding tribal history and traditional practices. Erdrich's careful choice of detail renders Mooshum into a mythical figure–he is a direct line to the native ancestors that came before him.
Mooshum's stories surrounding Chippewa history deeply affect Joe. Over time, Joe notices the patterns that emerge from Mooshum's tales. Mooshum's stories about the history of the round house and the wiindigoos allow Joe to realize the enduring colonial violence that his indigenous community continues to experience. Ultimately, this realization prompts Joe to actively pursue the murder of Linden Lark: Joe's actions are an act of resistance that connect him to his heritage.
The Importance of Storytelling
For many indigenous communities, oral storytelling is a long-held tradition that has enabled tribal history to be passed down for centuries. These stories teach lessons and remind tribe members about the origins of their traditions. Erdrich draws upon the cultural importance of stories and storytelling in The Round House. As Joe navigates his life following his mother's attack, he often turns to stories to inform him of his past and guide him through the present.
Mooshum's stories profoundly influence Joe, and they inform his decision-making processes. Joe finds comfort in Nanapush, a character in one of Mooshum's stories. According to the mythology that Mooshum references, Nanapush was a loyal son who defended his mother after she was attacked by her own husband. Through this story, Joe learns about the concept of wiindigoo justice. The story about wiindigoos provides Joe with a moral framework that allows him to justify his planned attack on Linden. In this way, stories—and their connectedness to ancestral tradition—are inextricably tied to the actions of the present day.
In addition, storytelling profoundly affects the novel's style and tone. Joe, the protagonist, is also the first-person narrator of The Round House. Joe tells the story in flashback, recounting a series of tragic events that took place decades prior. The use of flashback can be interpreted as Joe reclaiming his story and using his voice after past events left him feeling powerless and silenced.
