the night watchman louise erdrich review

However, what engages the reader most deeply are Erdrich’s characters: people, ghosts, even animals. The Night Watchman is indeed historical, thoroughly researched, rich with cultural and topical detail. But this is not a “problem novel,” not the superficial dramatization of historical tableaus performed at national parks, nor an allegory populated by stereotypes. His recognition of the problem posed by the bill sets the story in motion. “The author of the proposal had constructed a cloud of lofty words around this bill - emancipation, freedom, equality, success - that disguised its truth: termination. Perusing the bill, he immediately sees through its language and recognizes its true intent:

In the dark hours of his shift, he reads, reflects, and is visited by memories and the occasional spirit.

He is also chair of the Turtle Mountain Band’s advisory committee, the unofficial watchman over the entire tribal community and its way of life. Thomas is night watchman at the factory on the reservation where “jewel bearings” are made for ammunition and watches. Her grandfather’s response to the threat inspired The Night Watchman, and he is the model for its protagonist, Thomas Wazhusk. His committee had no legislative leverage, nor financial resources, but mounted a strategic resistance to the termination proposed by the bill. Her grandfather was the chairman of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Advisory Committee to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The author’s afterword explains she was recovering from a winter virus, short of writerly confidence and inspiration, when she reread her grandfather’s letters written in 1953 - the year of her birth.Īt that time, a bill before Congress threatened to terminate the tribe’s rights to the reservation land and enforce involuntary resettlement in cities. Louise Erdrich, in her 16th novel, returns to North Dakota, to the Turtle Mountain Reservation of her tribe, the Chippewa.

The night watchman louise erdrich review