An 5 pages essay based on a book called “The Round House”
I already wrote something, please try to follow my outline because I already talked to my professor and this outline is what we discussed about. You can start new intro your own.
In the novel “The Round House” by Louise Erdrich, a thirteen-year-old boy Joe experienced the violence, a rape against his mother Geraldine and struggles to find ways to help his mother. Joe’s father, Bazil is a judge, however, due to the loophole of the law and Joe’s mother can not remember so he’s not able to prosecute the perpetrator. After the attacker is let go, it triggers Joe’s anger and led him to come up with plans to find the attacker Lindon and retaliate. The center of the story is based on Joe’s mother, Geraldine’s rape; but it is undeniable the secondary trauma is powerful and painful. From Joe’s perspective, readers able to see how Geraldine’s rape impacts Joe and the trauma put Joe into a helpless and powerless position, it forces Joe to make decisions to change. Through Joe’s changes, readers can see that even though these traumas are not immediate problems, it would change a young person’s entire world and leave the scars that can not be erased. Joe’s secondary trauma happened in sequence: from the beginning feeling of helpless impact Joe’s views about the world have changed; the loophole of the law is the main reason that caused Joe’s insecurity; he can not depend on others or law so that triggers his anger, Joe’s emotion has changed and that finally makes him changed his decisions.
The trauma of Joe’s mother is illustrated to impact the entire family and not just Geraldine, as a young teenager, Joe feels helpless when his mother is raped.
Through Joe’s eyes, readers are able to recognize not just the trauma but also began to recognize the loopholes of the law that leads Joe’s insecurity.
The helplessness of not being able to help his mother and insecurity of the legal system, it triggers Joe’s anger because there’s nowhere to seek for help, which leads him to feel like he has to do it all his own– to find the attacker and kill him. The burden of responsibilities seems like all on Joe’s shoulders yet Joe is only a thirteen-year-old kid.
The death of Lindon should be the final solution yet Joe still in pain, and the trauma will be there permanently. (The guilt, Cappy’s death)
Conclusion:
According to “The Round House” by Louise Erdrich, when analyzing it through the gender lens, the story based on young boy Joe’s perspective gives the story a unique view. He has a devotion to his mother and saying, “ her absence stopped time”(3) at the beginning of the story when Joe realized his mom was absent for a while. After he noticed that his mom was rapped, his personality turned darker: “ I wanted to know that whoever had attacked my mother would be found, punished, and killed.”(10) And Joe did it in the end, he finally killed Lark, the person who attacked his mother. When Joe’s parents ask him about this incident, Joe answer: “ If you’re telling me he’s murdered, then I ‘m happy. He deserved it. Mom is free now. You’re free. The guy who killed him should get a medal.”(292) Erdrich uses Joe as a narrator to show a male, teenager’s point of view, it allows readers to see the consequences of boy’s exposure to the violence, especially that happen to his family. According to research “Problems Associated with Children’s Witnessing of Domestic Violence” by Jeffrey L. Edleson. According to Edleso’s research: “Some findings point to different factors for boys and girls that are associated with witnessing violence. In general, boys have been shown to exhibit more frequent problems and ones that are categorized as external, such as hostility and aggression.” After witnessing the violence that happened to his mother, Joe’s changes are huge and following with trauma.
Works Cited:
Erdrich, Louise. The Round House. First edition. New York, NY: Harper, 2012.
Edleson, Jeffrey L. “Problems Associated with Children’s Witnessing of Domestic Violence.” VAWnet.org, Apr. 1999, vawnet.org/material/problems-associated-childrens-witnessing-domestic-violence.
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