the night watchman louise erdrich review

When it becomes clear that Vera is in grave danger, Patrice enlists the help of Wood Mountain in her effort to solve the mystery. Illicit and illegal businesses, drug and alcohol abuse, racism and crime are rampant. Leering, ogling, predatory men are everywhere. When Patrice strikes out to find her sister in the big city, the life she discovers there is tawdry and frightening. She hasn’t been heard from in almost five months rumors abound that she gave birth to a baby before she disappeared. Lured by the promises of the relocation program - “Good Jobs in Retail Trade,” “Exciting Community Life and Beautiful Homes” - Vera moved to Minneapolis. … That wasn’t going to be her life.īut her older sister, Vera, stands as a monitory figure for the dangers of seeking experiences outside the restrictions and traditions of the Native American community. She had seen how quickly girls who got married and had children were worn down before the age of twenty. Patrice fends off their importuning and fiercely resists the idea of becoming a typical wife and mother: Two men - Wood Mountain, a Native American boxer and recent high school graduate, and his former math teacher and current boxing coach, Lloyd Barnes, who’s had a fetish for “Indian maidens” since he was a boy - compete for Patrice’s affections. She yearns for more expansive prospects, accomplishment and love, a larger life.

Responsible and reliable, Patrice is also ambitious and romantic. “The first person in her family to have … a white people job,” and “the only barrier between her family and disaster,” Patrice works to support her mother and brother, who can’t count on her abusive, alcoholic father.

Thomas’s niece, 19-year-old Patrice Paranteau, was valedictorian of her high school class, but is stuck in a low-end job at the jewel bearing plant.

The night watchman louise erdrich review