Everything out in the world is also in you. Towards the novel's climax, Father Travis tells Joe, 'in order to purify yourself, you have to understand yourself. What do their stories tell about the wider world of the reservation and about relations between white and Native Americans?ġ0. Talk about their interactions with Joe and his friends and parents. Secondary characters, including Mooshum, Linda Wishkob, Sonja, Whitey, Clemence, and Father Travis, play indelible roles in the central story. and the Ojibwe complicate the investigation? Why can't she lie to make it easier?ĩ.

How does the legal relationship between the U.S. After the attack, Joe's mother, Geraldine, isn't sure exactly where it happened, whether it was technically on Reservation land or not. What is the significance of The Round House? What is the importance of the Obijwe legends that are scattered through the novel? How do they reflect and deepen the main story? What can we learn from the old ways of people like the Ojibwe? Is Joe proud of his heritage? Discuss the connection between the natural and animal world and the tribe's spirituality.Ĩ. How does their closeness influence unfolding events?ħ. Joe is inseparable from his three friends, especially his best friend, Cappy. How does this knowledge empower Geraldine and how does it make her life more difficult?Ħ. 'My mother's job was to know everybody's secrets,' Joe tells us. How does it affect the relationship between his mother and father, and between him and his mother? Does it alter Joe's view of them? Can trauma force a child to grow up 'overnight'? What impact does it have on Joe? How does it transform his family?ĥ. Joe's whole family is rocked by the attack on his mother. In talking about his parents, Joe says, 'I saw myself as different, though I didn't know how yet.' Why, at thirteen, did he think this? Do you think the grown-up Joe narrating the story still believes this?Ĥ. Describe Joe's family, and his relationship with his parents. What is the significance of his age? How does that impact the events that occur and his actions and reactions?ģ. Though he is older as he narrates the story, Joe is just thirteen when the novel opens.

The Round House opens with the sentence: 'Small trees had attacked my parents' house at the foundation.' How do these words relate to the complete story that unfolds?Ģ.

The roundhouse erdrich