The Round House

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     Reading The Round House, written by Louis Erdrich brought me to a very weird place in my mind, to say the least. It was remarkable to me that an author can produce a novel that is humorous and disturbing at the same time. Reading this novel through the eyes of a young boy really changes the perspective in your reading as well.
     One thing that stood out to me was the foreshadowing that happens to connect the middle of the novel to the beginning. The initial scene of the book gives the reader some figurative implication, as Joe evacuates trees that have begun to grow into the groundwork of his home. As the plot of the novel starts to unfold, it starts to become clear to the reader that this scene foreshadows Joe’s murder of Linden Lark to revenge his mother’s rape. Like the murder, evacuating the trees shields Joe’s childhood home, but both also make Joe act in a violent behavior that hurts him and reduces his goodness. I found this foreshadowing in the novel interesting, I enjoyed how the author made a connection back to the beginning of the novel, giving the relocation of the trees more significance.



     Erdrich also exemplifies how suffering and traumatic experiences can separate a family, but it also unashamedly shows how post-traumatic stress disorder brings danger and fear back to the mind of the victim. Erdrich does not sugarcoat or shine over any characteristic of the rape, strikingly declining to surrender and make violence pleasant or poetic to her audience. Every word is raw and painful, as it should be. If you want to highlight real trauma and make your readers’ uncomfortable, you must tell it like it really happened. Trauma shouldn’t be glamorized or sugarcoated in novels, it deserves to feel real. 

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