The Round House By Louise Erdrich

The unjustified legal system failing the Native American women by allowing the white men to take advantage of these women without any punishment results in silencing them. This affects the women heavily, which affects the people around them. The Round house, by Louise Erdrich shows a woman, Geraldine; that was taken advantage of by a white man, resulting in her to shut down and be silenced by the legal system that won't do any justice for her. Her son, Joe; notices the unusual behavior and wants revenge for his mom. By the system being corrupt, it allows the ugly acts to be done over and over again, hurting more and more Native Americans. If a white individual were to commit a crime on tribal land, the tribal legal system cannot persecute the

“1 out of 3 Native women will be raped in her lifetime” (219). The high raping rate of Native American women is discusting, feeling unsafe in their own tribe where they should be able to call “a safe home”. The white men have the courage to continue these horrible acts upon these women because they know that they will never be prosecuted by the tribal court and pay for the great deal of damage they have caused in a tribe. “The round house is on the far edge of tribal trust, where our court has jurisdiction…So federal law applies. But just to one side, a corner of that is state park, where state law applies” (196). This unjustified law that was made should be lawfully changed, a crime is a crime, no matter where the crime was committed. The person should be prosecuted

Joe is a 13 year old boy, and the amount of pain he has gone through witnessing the aftermath of his mothers attack. Joe's father also suffered greatly with this attack, changing Joe's mother forever. “Nobody else, not Clemence, not even my mother herself, cared as much as we did about my mother” (109-110), “My father did not move, did not take her hand or comfort her now in any way. He seemed frozen.”(158). The emotional toll of such an attack like this one can harm one's family immensely. This attack changed Joe's family, but it also changed his mother. “She slowed and then stopped. She turned to my father, staring out of the covers as out of a cave. Her eyes were black, black in her grey face. She spoke in a low, harsh voice that grew large between my ears. I was raped, Bazil.” (158). The slow movements, her deepened voice, and the hiding behind the covers will be her new lively-hood. Being scared of the world around her, being afraid of the people that live in this shared world with her. What once was Geraldine, will never come