After the attack, Geraldine becomes a shell of her former self. The round house, a significant place of worship and ritual for the indigenous community, remains a motif throughout the novel. In the novel's opening scenes, she is raped by an unknown man near the round house. Geraldine is Joe’s mother and Bazil’s wife. Though he attacks Linden in a grocery store out of anger, he is shocked and worried when he suspects that his own son could be responsible for Linden's death. Bazil cooperates with law enforcement officers, but he knows in his heart that Linden committed the crime. Bazil tries to maintain the home while Geraldine is recovering, but he often finds himself hoping his wife can get better and take over her domestic responsibilities. Although Joe respects his father for his profession and position within the community, his admiration falters as time progresses and Geraldine's case remains unsolved. He lives on the reservation and works as a tribal judge. Eventually, Joe decides to shoot Linden dead.īazil Coutts is Joe’s father and Geraldine’s husband. After the investigation is repeatedly butchered by the authorities, Joe takes matters into his own hands. As he witnesses his entire family suffer following the incident, he begins to think about how to bring justice to his family. However, once his mother is brutally raped and nearly murdered, his life changes forever.įollowing the attack on Geraldine, Joe is forced to take on the role of caregiver. He passes his time with his group of friends-Cappy, Angus, and Zack-and maintains strong ties to his family's Native American traditions. In many ways, the novel highlights Joe's typical adolescence-he is beginning to discover alcohol, drugs, and sexuality. At the time of the narrative, which is told in flashback and takes place in 1988, Joe is thirteen years old and lives with his parents on a Chippewa reservation in North Dakota.

Joe is the protagonist and the first-person narrator of The Round House.

The Round House by Louise Erdrich