Page 209... The Novel Thus Far

So far (page 209) I’m enjoying The Round House. Rape is definitely a tough subject to handle, but I think that Louise Erdrich does a great job. She expresses the gravity of the situation that Joe’s family is in while still keeping the book light enough that it’s not impossible to read. Most of the books that I've read that deal with such painful issues seem so dense, like it’s just a huge moral lesson about humanity. It really gets us readers down-in-the-dumps to read that stuff. Yet, Erdrich does not come across as preachy or like those Animal Shelter commercials with the sad little puppies. She paints a realistic picture of a young boy struggling with his place in his family. Joe may have gone through something that few of us (thankfully) will ever be able to empathize with, but we all understand how it feels to feel a little left out and insecure. Which I think is a big part of Joe’s problem, when it gets down to heart of it. He’s upset when his mother slaps him, and wants to know that his father remembers him and thinks he’s grown-up enough to handle the truth.

We would like to wish that Joe's situation was unique, but it isn't. My mom sent me these PowerPoint slides about Native American victimization. The data is the most recent available for the American Indian population. The first slide is pretty self explanatory. The second shows the race of the people who perpetrated the crimes against the Native Americans. As you can see, Caucasians are the majority of the offenders. And what's really interesting is that Native Americans themselves are counted in the lightest gray column. 

Something in The Round House (that isn't as depressing as rape statistics) that I really like is how silly Joe and his friends are. They're vulgar, but sweet. I have never been a preteen boy, but I imagine many are like Joe and his friends. Some readers might be offended by the author's liberal use of crude sexual jokes, but mostly they're in good taste, only the very old and very young discussing it. Joe's parents seem much above all that. Joe's father seems like a very good role model for his son, but after his wife's rape, he seems a bit broken on the inside. I guess it always seems to come back to the rape. That's why there is a novel, after all. If it was just young boys telling each other titillating jokes about their grandparents, there wouldn't be much of a story.