Summary Of Larose By Louise Erdrich

In the story, LaRose, by Louise Erdrich, the author tells the tragic tale of two families. The setting takes place in a modern Native- American community, where a man named, Landreaux, often goes hunting. One day when Landreaux is hunting a deer, he accidentally shoots his neighbor’s kid, and his entire world is changed. Devastated, Laundreax and his wife, Emmaline, decide to give their only son, LaRose, to their neighbor’s as a replacement for their lost son, Dusty; this is not uncommon for Ojibwe Indian customs. The name, Larose, is a name passed down through generations of Emmaline’s family meaning something holy, or a saint. As time passes by, LaRose’s family begins to miss him, and they want him back in their life, but their neighbors learn to love LaRose as they once loved Dusty, and do not wish to give him back; eventually, the two families decide on sharing

Many of the books I tend to read are written in first person, but Erdrich wrote, LaRose, in third person. An example of Erdrich’s diction is,” When Nola opened the door and saw Landreaux trying to utter her son’s name, she went down on her knees and pointed upstairs, where he was- but he wasn’t” (4). The type of diction that Erdrich used throughout her book made it harder to read, but in the end, it ended up being helpful because I got more out of the book by having to think more about everything that was happening. As for the mood, the story was overall morose and hopeful at the same time. On pg. 18, as Dusty’s sister spends her first night with LaRose instead of Dusty,” maggie lay next to him in bed, feeling his misery, which made her own misery stop at her heart.” Although Erdrich has many low points in her story such as this one, she makes it up with her miraculous character LaRose, who gives hope to the entire family and eventually heals their