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2018 Journey's End Winery The Night Watchman

• Red Bordeaux Blend
• South Africa
• > Coastal Region
• > Stellenbosch

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• Vintage 2018
• Producer Journey's End Winery
• Variety Red Bordeaux Blend
• Designation The Night Watchman
• Vineyard n/a
• Country South Africa
• Region Coastal Region
• SubRegion Stellenbosch
• Appellation Stellenbosch
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Journey's End

The night watchman stellenbosch cabernet sauvignon blend.

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Murray Tarvis

Medium ruby colour. Rich dark fruit aromas with a hint of spicy currants. Tastes of smooth black fruit. Elderberries. Dusty and mellow with marzipan hints. Nice tannins. Bold and lovely.

Winery Journey's End The Night Watchman Red Blend

Taste structure of the the night watchman red blend from the winery journey's end.

In the mouth the The Night Watchman Red Blend of Winery Journey's End in the region of Western Cape is a powerful with a nice balance between acidity and tannins.

Wine flavors and olphactive analysis

On the nose the The Night Watchman Red Blend of Winery Journey's End in the region of Western Cape often reveals types of flavors of earth , oak or black fruit .

Food and wine pairings with The Night Watchman Red Blend

Pairings that work perfectly with the night watchman red blend.

• Potjevleesch
• Chicken and onion quiche
• Pastilla with chicken (moroccan pie with brick sheets)
• Chicken tagine
• Chicken fajitas
• Teriyaki chicken
• Beef tournedos with boursin
• Simple baked roast beef
• American fillet (belgian-style beef tartar)
• Beef with onions chinese style
• Beer goulash
• Duck breast in the oven
• Duck confit
• Auvergne potée
• Duck breast with peaches and spices
• The garbure

Original food and wine pairings with The Night Watchman Red Blend

• Lamb chops with honey and spices
• Thiebou yappe from senegal (rice with lamb)
• Lamb colombo
• Leg of lamb in a casserole
• Thomas's shoulder of lamb
• Tajine with broad beans and artichokes

The The Night Watchman Red Blend of Winery Journey's End matches generally quite well with dishes of beef , lamb or game (deer, venison) such as recipes of spaghetti bolognese , moroccan lamb stew or venison stew to be prepared the day before .

Details and technical informations about Winery Journey's End's The Night Watchman Red Blend.

Discover the grape variety: cabernet franc.

Cabernet Franc is one of the oldest red grape varieties in Bordeaux. The Libourne region is its terroir where it develops best. The terroirs of Saint-Emilion and Fronsac allow it to mature and develop its best range of aromas. It is also the majority in many blends. The very famous Château Cheval Blanc, for example, uses 60% Cabernet Franc. The wines produced with Cabernet Franc are medium in colour with fine tannins and subtle aromas of small red fruits and spices. When blended with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, it brings complexity and a bouquet of aromas to the wine. It produces fruity wines that can be drunk quite quickly, but whose great vintages can be kept for a long time. It is an earlier grape variety than Cabernet Sauvignon, which means that it is planted as far north as the Loire Valley. In Anjou, it is also used to make sweet rosé wines. Cabernet Franc is now used in some twenty countries in Europe and throughout the world.

Last vintages of this wine

The best vintages of The Night Watchman Red Blend from Winery Journey's End are 2018

Informations about the Winery Journey's End

The Winery Journey's End is one of of the world's great estates. It offers 40 wines for sale in the of Stellenbosch to come and discover on site or to buy online.

The wine region of Stellenbosch

The wine region of Stellenbosch is located in the region of Coastal Region of Western Cape of South Africa. We currently count 582 estates and châteaux in the of Stellenbosch, producing 3443 different wines in conventional, organic and biodynamic agriculture. The wines of Stellenbosch go well with generally quite well with dishes .

The wine region of Western Cape

The Western Cape is home to the vast majority of the South African wine industry, and the country's two most famous wine regions, Stellenbosch and Paarl . The city of Cape Town serves as the epicenter of the Cape Winelands, a mountainous, biologically diverse area in the south-western corner of the African continent. A wide variety of wines are produced here. Wines from the Shiraz and Pinot age">Pinotage grape varieties can be fresh and juicy or Full-bodied and gutsy.

News related to this wine

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Sequence from the video « At the heart of the Mâcon terroir » which offer a stroll at the heart of the Mâcon terroir. It offers a focus on Mâcon-Verzé, one of the 27 geographical denominations of the Mâcon appellation. Travel through the terroirs of the Mâcon appellation by watching the full video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF20y1aBZh8 Both are available in French and English. Our social media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BourgogneWines​​ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BourgogneWines ...

The Mâcon plus appellation seen by Théo et Hugo Merlin

Théo and Paul Merlin are winegrowers at the Domaine Merlin, they emphasizes the characteristics of the appellation Mâcon La Roche Vineuse. This video is taken from the “Rendez-vous avec les vins de Bourgogne” program (March 2020). Our social media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BourgogneWines Twitter: https://twitter.com/BourgogneWines/​​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vinsdebourgogne/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bivb​​ Find out more on our website: https://www.bourgogn ...

Chablis: #locationmatters by Yang LU

On December 10, 2020, four Hong Kong personalities discussed Chablis wines on a live webinar: Yang LU, Master Sommelier and Official Bourgogne Wines Ambassador, Debra MEIBURG, Master of Wine, Ivy NG, Official Bourgogne Wines Ambassador and Rebecca LEUNG, wine expert. In this first 90-second clip, Yang LU explains how location is the key to understanding “Why Chablis is special”. #Chablis #PureChablis ...

The word of the wine: Tranquil (wine)

Refers to a non-sparkling wine.

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Night Watchman Shiraz Malbec

This wine has a deep purple ruby colour. Finely crafted to portray layers of cherry, soft prune, blackcurrant, and hints of black pepper spice. The aromatics continue into the palate with added blueberry, a hint of roasted black olives and soft-spoken sweet spice. A versatile, vibrant medium-bodied dry wine.

Technical Notes

All grapes are handpicked and chilled overnight in a cold room. All bunches were hand sorted and destemmed before the whole berries were transferred into stainless steel tanks. Before the fermentation starts the grapes undergo 4 days of cold soaking in 5,000 L stainless steel tanks. Fermentation lasted 15 days between 18 – 25˚C. During fermentation a carefully planned pump over and punch down schedule were followed to create a wine excellent fruit and structure. Once fermentation is complete the skins are pressed in a traditional basket press and the wine is transferred to 500L second and third fill French oak barrels. Malolactic fermentation occurs in the barrel and helps to soften and enhance the natural wine flavours. The wine will spend 16 months in barrel to improved maturity and expose more flavours. Post oak maturation only the best barrels are selected for bottling.

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Mount Rozier Shiraz

Mara tamu rosé 750ml.

Journey’s End – The Night Watchman

KSh  2,305

A Red wine from Stellenbosch, Coastal Region, Western Cape, South Africa. Made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot – a bold and structured red wine.

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The Night Watchman: Summary and Character Analysis

By: Author Luka

Posted on Last updated: March 31, 2024

Categories Book Summary , Character Analysis

This post may contain affiliate links. Read more here .

The following is a complete summary and character analysis for The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich .

The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich, which won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, is her 17th novel.

The story unfolds in 1953 on the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa reservation, focusing on the resistance against House Concurrent Resolution 108. This bill aimed to end tribal autonomy.

The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich

In this guide, we will go through the complete summary and character analysis for this novel.

Note: the following guide contains spoilers, so proceed with caution.

Summary  |  Character Analysis

The Night Watchman Summary

The novel is set in 1953, following Thomas Wazhashk, who works as the night watchman at the Turtle Mountain Jewel Bearing Plant and serves as the tribal chairman for the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. Thomas, inspired by Erdrich’s real grandfather, encounters the ghost of Roderick, a former schoolmate who suffered a tragic fate at Fort Totten, a boarding school.

Patrice “Pixie” Paranteau is another central character, employed at the plant assembling jewel bearings. She supports her family financially, which includes her alcoholic father Pogo, younger brother Pokey, knowledgeable mother Zhaanat, and her sister Vera, who mysteriously vanished after moving to the Twin Cities.

Early in the story, Thomas discovers House Concurrent Resolution 108, a bill intending to cut off federal support for the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. This financial aid has been vital for the community. Senator Arthur V. Watkins from Utah sponsors the bill, being a Mormon. Driven by the haunting memories of boarding school and Roderick’s death, Thomas strives to thwart the bill’s passage.

Barnes, Pokey’s math teacher and boxing coach, harbors feelings for Patrice. He also coaches Wood Mountain, who engages in a confrontation with Joe “Wobble” Wobleszynski. As Patrice travels to Minneapolis in search of her missing sister Vera, she meets Wood Mountain on the train, marking the beginning of their friendship.

In Minneapolis, Patrice faces a bizarre twist of fate. Kidnapped, she ends up at Log Jam 26, a quirky bar with a Paul Bunyan theme, complete with a nightly water show featuring a woman as Babe, the blue ox. Reluctantly, Patrice takes a job there under pressure from the owner. She also investigates addresses provided for Vera, discovering a neglected dog and suspecting Vera’s confinement. With Wood Mountain’s help, she escapes, finding Vera’s baby but not Vera. They return home.

Back on the reservation, the Turtle Mountain tribal committee strongly opposes the Termination Bill. In a vote, 47 members reject the bill, with none in favor. Patrice shares Vera’s plight with Thomas, deeply troubling him. Distraught, Thomas accidentally locks himself out of the factory in freezing conditions, fearing for his life. Encountering spirits, he regains the strength to re-enter.

Thomas suggests a boxing rematch between Wood Mountain and Joe as a fundraiser for a Washington, DC trip concerning the Termination Bill. He involves Millie Cloud, who conducted an economic survey, in the hearing. Barnes persuades both boxers to participate. Wood Mountain becomes attached to Patrice and the baby, crafting a cradle board traditionally made by fathers. The chaotic boxing match successfully raises funds.

Patrice and Pokey sadly discover their father dead in the cabin after his prolonged drunken wandering. They bury him, feeling a sense of relief. Thomas, Juggie, Moses, Millie, and Patrice embark on a trip to Washington to present their case. On the return journey, Thomas survives a stroke.

During the delegation’s absence, Vera returns, rescued by Harry and his dog Edith. She bonds with Wood Mountain over their son. When Patrice returns, she selflessly encourages Wood Mountain to pursue Vera, setting aside her own feelings. Millie seeks a grant to compensate Zhaanat for research assistance and support Patrice’s college education.

The Night Watchman Character Analysis

Thomas wazhashk.

Meet Thomas Wazhashk, the night watchman and tribal committee chair of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, a character deeply rooted in the novel’s narrative and drawn from Erdrich’s own grandfather.

Thomas, instrumental in coining the term “Termination Bill” for House Concurrent Resolution 108, goes beyond his official roles. His introspective moments unveil the profound importance he places on his responsibilities. Themes of survival struggles and the haunting legacy of Native American boarding schools shape his character. The specter of Roderick’s ghost lingers, a reminder of the tuberculosis tragedy in their school’s cellar.

As Thomas evolves, his energy becomes a driving force against the Termination Bill. A stroke during the return journey from Washington, DC, post-hearing, highlights the toll of his unwavering fight. The novel’s conclusion finds Thomas grappling with speech, a poignant aftermath of his enduring struggle.

Derived from his grandfather, the “original Wazhashk,” Thomas’s name signifies “muskrat.” This creature, sacrificing everything to remake the earth, resonates deeply with him. The novel’s end sees Thomas embracing this identity, signing off as “the muskrat” with a small creature sketch in his letters.

Vera Paranteau

Vera serves as both a character and a symbol, embodying the specific dangers faced by Indigenous women. Her ordeal, from the squalid conditions in a house with chains to being repeatedly raped on a ship and left to die on the streets, sheds light on the perilous experiences Indigenous women endure. Patrice and Zhaanat grapple with the lack of concern for a missing Indigenous woman. Even seeking help from the relocation office proves unproductive, and Thomas’s suggestion to involve the police is dismissed, knowing the blame would fall on Vera as an Indigenous woman.

Patrice “Pixie” Paranteau

Leaving the reservation to find her sister, sleeping next to a bear, advocating for her people, embracing her sexuality, and embarking on the path to college, Patrice undergoes profound growth in this novel. A consistent challenge is her role as the primary breadwinner for her family. Early in the novel, Erdrich depicts Patrice’s sense of vulnerability, feeling like she’s stretched thin and fearing the fragility of her family’s stability.

Economic instability is a driving force, compelling Patrice to negotiate with co-workers to search for Vera. Her stint as a waterjack provides financial relief but exposes her to the risks of human trafficking in the cities, contrasting with the perceived safety of the reservation labeled as “savage” by the rest of the country.

Upon returning, Patrice faces consequences, now responsible for Vera’s baby. She debates pursuing Wood Mountain, eventually engaging in a relationship with him despite realizing his deeper connection with Vera. Understanding Vera’s need for healing, Patrice supports their bond.

Connected to nature, Patrice walks barefoot through the forest and sleeps in a bear’s den, feeling rejuvenated and liberated. The novel concludes with her standing with Zhaanat, drinking sap, and being metaphorically lifted into a cloud. This signifies Patrice’s spiritual connection with the earth and a sense of transcendence.

Millie Cloud

Millie, Louis Pipestone’s daughter, conducted an economic study on the reservation. Initially raised away from the reservation due to family disapproval of Louis, Millie finds fascination and connection within her father’s community. As she immerses herself, Millie recognizes the detrimental impact of government legislation on Indigenous peoples. Awkward and intrigued by Zhaanat’s knowledge, Millie hints at a possible romantic interest in women, adding depth to her character.

Wood Mountain/Everett Blue

Everett Blue, known as Wood Mountain, is Archille and Juggie Blue’s son, born in Wood Mountain. He accompanies Patrice at the beginning and end of her Minneapolis journey. As a boxer, he symbolizes the rivalry between the Blue and Wobleszynski families, rooted in a long-standing land dispute. Wood Mountain’s fights against Joe “Wobble” Wobleszynski reflect the ongoing feud, with the second match turning increasingly violent.

Wood Mountain becomes one of Patrice’s love interests, proposing marriage. However, upon her return from Washington, she discovers his newfound affection for Vera. His attachment to Vera’s son, named Archille during her absence, further complicates the situation. Wood Mountain’s crafting of the baby’s cradle board, typically a father’s task, reflects his emotional investment. As Vera returns, he fears losing time with the child.

Lloyd “Hay Stack” Barnes

Barnes, the local math teacher and Wood Mountain’s boxing coach, is one of the few white men on the reservation. Infatuated with Patrice, he attempts to gain her attention by offering gifts to her brother Pokey. Barnes’s failed pursuits contribute to his questioning of his own masculinity. Representing the perspective of a white character, his initial stereotypical views of Indigenous people evolve as he becomes more aware of the negative impact of dominant culture and government on the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa.

Arthur V. Watkins

A real-life senator from Utah, Watkins is a staunch advocate for House Concurrent Resolution 108, attempting to end treaty rights with Indigenous peoples. His Mormon background aligns with the religion’s historical inclination to assimilate Indigenous people into white culture. Watkins’s brief chapter reveals his upbringing on land stolen from the Ute people and the Uintah and Ouray reservation. He follows in the footsteps of Mormon leaders who attempted to eradicate Indigenous populations, utilizing legal means to achieve his goals.

Zhaanat Paranteau

Zhaanat, Patrice and Pokey’s mother and Pogo’s wife, is a guardian of Turtle Mountain’s traditions. Sheltered from boarding schools to preserve traditional knowledge, she is described as “capable and shrewd.” Zhaanat maintains faith in Vera’s return, sharing dreams with Patrice about Vera reaching out to them. Her connection to Turtle Mountain’s ceremonies and teaching stories underscores her role as a preserver of cultural heritage.

Happy reading! ❤️

The Night Watchman Summary, Characters and Themes

Set against the backdrop of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa reservation in 1953, Louise Erdrich’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, “The Night Watchman,” brings to life the story of Thomas Wazhashk and his community’s struggle against the Termination Bill, formally known as House Concurrent Resolution 108. 

This legislation threatens to strip the Chippewa of their sovereignty by terminating federal support – an act that forms the crux of the book. 

Thomas, the night watchman at the Turtle Mountain Jewel Bearing Plant and the tribal chairman, is also based on Erdrich’s own grandfather. Haunted by his boarding school past and the ghost of his classmate Roderick, who succumbed to tuberculosis after enduring severe punishment, Thomas embarks on a mission to halt the bill championed by Senator Arthur V. Watkins.

Parallel to Thomas’s political fight, Patrice “Pixie” Paranteau, a key breadwinner for her family through her work at the plant, embarks on a personal quest. Her sister Vera has vanished in the Twin Cities, leading Patrice into a dangerous search that results in her own kidnapping and forced participation in a waterjack show at Log Jam 26, a bar with a Paul Bunyan theme.

In Minneapolis, Patrice’s ordeal intertwines with that of Wood Mountain, a boxer and friend, who aids her escape and search for Vera’s baby, though Vera remains missing. Back at the reservation, the community unites at a hearing to unanimously oppose the Termination Bill.

The narrative oscillates through personal and communal struggles, culminating in a delegation’s journey to Washington, D.C., to present their case against the bill. Amidst these pivotal events, personal relationships evolve—Patrice and Wood Mountain grow closer, yet Patrice steps aside for Vera, who returns, allowing for new beginnings and hopes.

Thomas’s leadership and the community’s collective action underscore the resilience of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. 

Despite personal sacrifices and hardships, they confront the forces seeking to erase their sovereignty, illustrating the power of unity and the enduring spirit of a people fighting for their rights.

Thomas Wazhashk

Based on Louise Erdrich’s grandfather, Thomas Wazhashk serves as the heart of “The Night Watchman.” 

As the night watchman and tribal chairman of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, Thomas’s deep connection to his people’s history and struggles against injustices shapes the narrative. His efforts to combat the “Termination Bill” highlight a life dedicated to preserving tribal sovereignty. 

Haunted by the ghost of his classmate Roderick and the traumatic legacy of Native American boarding schools, Thomas embodies resilience. 

His evolution throughout the novel, culminating in a stroke that underscores the personal cost of his fight, mirrors the muskrat’s sacrifice in his ancestral stories, making him a symbol of perseverance and sacrifice for the greater good.

Patrice “Pixie” Paranteau

Patrice’s journey encapsulates a profound coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of her community’s fight for survival. 

As the main provider for her family, Patrice’s resilience is tested through her search for her missing sister, Vera, leading her to face the dangers of the city and the dark realities of human trafficking. 

Her growth is marked by her experiences outside the reservation, her encounters with violence, and her ultimate decision to pursue higher education . Patrice’s deep connection to the earth and her cultural roots, symbolized by her moments of unity with nature, highlight her strength and the indomitable spirit of her people.

Vera Paranteau

Vera represents the perils facing Indigenous women, symbolizing the broader theme of vulnerability and neglect by society. Her harrowing experiences, from being kidnapped and subjected to abuse, to the indifference shown by authorities towards Indigenous women’s plight, reflect the novel’s critique of systemic failures. 

Vera’s story, intersected with Patrice’s search and eventual return, underscores the resilience of Indigenous women and the community’s struggle for justice and recognition.

Arthur V. Watkins

Representing the political and ideological opposition, Watkins embodies the systemic challenges faced by Indigenous communities. 

His advocacy for the Termination Bill and his background in a religion that sought to assimilate Indigenous peoples into white society represent the historical and ongoing struggles for sovereignty and recognition faced by Native Americans.

Wood Mountain/Everett Blue

Wood Mountain, a boxer with deep ties to his community’s land and history, embodies the competitive spirit and the personal connections that bind the community together. 

His rivalry with Joe “Wobble” Wobleszynski, set against a backdrop of family and territorial disputes, and his evolving relationship with Patrice and Vera, illustrate the complex interplay of personal and communal identities. 

His care for Vera’s son and his role in the community underscore themes of responsibility, love, and the enduring bonds of family and tradition.

Zhaanat Paranteau

Zhaanat stands as a guardian of tradition, her deep knowledge of ceremonies and stories embodying the cultural heritage of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. Her role in the community, coupled with her resilience and wisdom, provides a vital link to the past and a guiding light for future generations. 

Her belief in Vera’s return and her efforts to maintain cultural practices amidst external pressures highlight the importance of cultural preservation and the strength of maternal figures in Indigenous communities.

Millie Cloud

Millie’s role bridges the academic and the personal, her study on the economic conditions of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa serving as a crucial element in the fight against the Termination Bill. 

Her personal journey of connection to her heritage and the community’s struggles highlights themes of identity, belonging, and the power of knowledge in enacting change.

Lloyd “Hay Stack” Barnes

As one of the few white characters, Barnes’s journey from ignorance to a deeper understanding of the Indigenous community’s struggles reflects a broader narrative of reconciliation and awareness. 

His initial stereotypical views evolve as he becomes more involved in the community’s life, illustrating the potential for change and the importance of allyship in the fight for Indigenous rights.

1. The Struggle for Sovereignty and Identity

Central to the novel is the fight against House Concurrent Resolution 108, a legislative effort aimed at “emancipating” Native American tribes from federal support and recognition. Through the lens of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, Erdrich delves into the broader implications of such policies on tribal sovereignty and identity. 

This theme is not only a reflection of political and legal battles but also an intimate portrayal of how these external forces threaten the very fabric of cultural and personal identity. 

The characters’ efforts to counteract these measures, led by Thomas Wazhashk, underscore a collective resilience and an unwavering commitment to preserving their heritage, rights, and autonomy.

2. The Legacy of Historical Trauma

Erdrich poignantly addresses the lasting effects of historical injustices, particularly those inflicted by the boarding school system designed to assimilate Native American children into white society. 

The haunting presence of Roderick, a ghost from Thomas’s past, serves as a stark reminder of the brutal realities faced by those who passed through such institutions. 

This theme extends beyond individual sorrow, reflecting on the community’s collective memory and trauma. 

Erdrich does not merely recount these injustices but also illustrates their enduring impact on the characters’ lives and the community’s psyche, highlighting the strength found in remembering and confronting past atrocities.

3. Community and Interconnectedness

Throughout the novel, the sense of community within the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa is palpable. 

Erdrich celebrates the intricate web of relationships that sustain and enrich the characters’ lives, from familial bonds to friendships and communal solidarity. 

This theme is vividly portrayed through the characters’ collective actions against the Termination Bill, the support network that rallies around Patrice in her quest to find her sister, and the communal rituals and traditions that provide spiritual and emotional sustenance. 

The novel underscores the importance of community as a source of strength, resilience, and identity, suggesting that interconnectedness is essential to both survival and flourishing.

Final Thoughts

“The Night Watchman” is a powerful blend of historical fiction and personal drama, offering a profound look at the struggles and resilience of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. 

Louise Erdrich masterfully creates a story that is both a tribute to her grandfather’s legacy and a universal tale of community, identity, and resistance. The novel not only educates about a pivotal moment in Native American history but also resonates with current issues of sovereignty, rights, and the power of collective action. 

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The Night Watchman

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Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Louise Erdrich's The Night Watchman . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

The Night Watchman: Introduction

The night watchman: plot summary, the night watchman: detailed summary & analysis, the night watchman: themes, the night watchman: quotes, the night watchman: characters, the night watchman: symbols, the night watchman: theme wheel, brief biography of louise erdrich.

Historical Context of The Night Watchman

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• Full Title: The Night Watchman
• Where Written: Minneapolis, Minnesota
• When Published: 2020
• Literary Period: Native American Renaissance
• Genre: Novel
• Setting: The early 1950s, on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in North Dakota; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Washington, D.C.
• Climax: Thomas, Patrice, and others travel to Washington, D.C. to testify against the Termination Bill authored by Senator Arthur V. Watkins.
• Antagonist: Arthur V. Watkins
• Point of View: Third Person

Extra Credit for The Night Watchman

Congressional Testimony Much of the dialogue from the congressional hearing in the novel is based on the actual record of that hearing, and everything that Senator Watkins says in the hearing scene is a direct quote from the congressional record.

Pulitzer Prize The Night Watchman won the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction in 2021. Erdrich’s novel The Plague of Doves was previously nominated for the prize in 2012.

Louise Erdrich’s ‘The Night Watchman’ is a Stellar Return

Inspired by her grandfather's activism, the award-winning author tells the story of a Native American fight against Termination.

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Louise Erdrich’s leapt onto the literary firmament with her debut novel “Love Medicine,” in 1984. Since then she has brought stories of Native Americans, and their lovers and enemies, to bestseller lists in more than a dozen books. Her latest, The Night Watchman , is a stellar return.

The book is partly based on the life of her grandfather — he was a night watchman at a North Dakota factory — but it’s equally a young woman’s coming-of-age story. At the same time, it’s also a collage of voices from across an entire community — old, young, even a ghost — at a critical moment in the 1950s.

Let’s start with the woman, Pixie. She’s 19 and trying to get people to call her Patrice, unsuccessfully. She has finished high school and is working at the factory alongside her best friend, Valentine, and Doris, a white girl who drives them to work each day. They can be generous but also have a kind of mean girl shifting alliance, with Pixie often the one left out.

Luckily, she’s got other things on her mind. Two men are competing for her attention: Wood Mountain, an amateur boxer, and Barnes, his coach. She thinks about them a lot, if not particularly sympathetically. She’s also fascinated by, but pretty much in the dark about, what might happen between a girl and her boyfriend, apart from what she’s seen animals do.

It’s one of the few things she hasn’t learned from her mother. Zhaanat is a woman of the old ways; she speaks Chippewa, makes tea from bark, taps birches and can render a bear’s fat for lotion. The two live with Pixie’s younger brother, Pokey, in a home that is barely more than a shack. They’re one of the poorest families we meet — many have a car — but Shaanat’s enterprise at living off the land keeps the family well-fed. They prefer it when their father is absent; a deep alcoholic, when he is home he swings wildly between pathos and violence. Pixie, fierce, waits for him with an axe.

She has a substitute father — the night watchman, Thomas. He’s one of the stalwart members of the prior generation — he managed to get through being taken away to a draconian boarding school, learning English and perfect handwriting and all the rest meant to divorce Native Americans from their culture. He lives with his wife Rose, who raises their children and whoever else needs help, tends their farm and cares for his elderly father. As Erdrich’s grandfather did, he holds down a job as a night watchman while also serving as a leader of their tribe.

The Night Watchman

It’s in that capacity that Thomas makes a discovery: Hidden in a bill that purported to be liberating for Native Americans, a Utah Senator proposed an end to the tribes’ treaties with the U.S. government. Known now as Termination, it was an insidious way to separate Native Americans from the landholdings and resources they’d secured, and the obligations the United States government had agreed to in removing them from their original homelands.

Back then, Erdrich’s grandfather Aunishenaubay, Patrick Gourneau, saw through Watkins’ manipulations and worked on behalf of the Turtle Mountain tribe to fight Termination. So, too, does Thomas — in the novel, he must figure out how to use his scarce resources to fight Washington.

The tribe is so poor that it’s a huge challenge. To get a handful of them to Washington to speak before Congress, Thomas decides to hold a fundraising boxing match, a face-off between Wood Mountain and a white boxer who’d beaten him before (with help from a biased referee). Between his job and his organizing, Thomas literally works day and night, with hardly any time to rest.

Even making and distributing copies of the bill takes a tremendous effort. Getting signatures on a petition — driving miles across icy roads in winter, or in a pinch, going by horse — is radically different from how we can now take action with the speed of a click.

On the Turtle Mountain reservation in 1953, life moves at a slower pace. Erdrich is masterful at detailing the unhurried, closely-observed natural world through the eyes of her characters. Here’s Pixie, walking home in the rain, trying not to ruin her shoes: “Going barefoot was not a problem. She had done that all her life, and her feet were tough. Cold now, half numb, but tough. Her hair, shoulders, and back grew damp. But moving kept her warm. She slowed to pick her way through places where water was seeping up through the mats of dying grass. Rain tapping through the brilliant leaves the only sound. She stopped. The sense of something there, with her, all around her, swirling and seething with energy. How intimately the trees seized the earth. How exquisitely she was included.”

Despite this connection, Pixie decides to journey away from home. She has an older sister, Vera, who went to Minneapolis as part of a program that should have helped her get on her feet, but no one has heard from her for months. With a hunch and a relative’s vision, they believe she’s in trouble, and Pixie heads there to find her.

Pixie’s naïveté puts her in danger. All she has to start with is a handful of addresses, and she’s soon swept up by men who offer to give her rides. Some are seedy; some are worse. There are drug addicts and pimps. She has a tremendous amount of grit, and a little luck, and then some help from home. She discovers that Vera has a baby and manages to get him and return safely to Turtle Mountain.

Vera, however, has been taken away, held prisoner by sex traffickers. (Like other parts of the book, this is based on real events). We get glimpses of what she’s experiencing, her denial and terror.

Hers is one of the many voices that rise up through the novel. Others we hear from include heartsick Barnes, eclectic scholar Millie, Wood Mountain, Louis whose son went to war, Mormon missionaries, Zhaanat, and Roderick, a ghost who is haunting, nicely, Thomas. The characters slip in and out again, in short sections or brief chapters, all mixed together in a blend that feels natural. Yes, it’s a story of Thomas’ political efforts and Pixie growing up, but it also tells the story of the community as a whole.

To make his case, Thomas rallies supporters to join him at a meeting in Fargo. “About twelve of the people there did not speak English, or understood it very poorly, and yet they had gone to great effort and expense to come to this meeting. As the words tapped like dry little hammers, Thomas thought about the places where his people lived…. pole-and-mud dwellings tucked into swales and hills, sheltered against the wind. They drew their water from sloughs or tiny springs, lighted their homes with kerosene. Yet here they were … As Indians had for generation after generation, they were attempting to understand a white man reading endlessly from a sheaf of papers.”

Success means next they must go to Washington; their survival depends on it. Thomas manages to pull together enough money and support to arrange for them to speak at a hearing. Pixie is among the small crew that makes the journey.

Erdrich has created these characters and their dialog, but she lets Termination supporter Sen. Watkins speak for himself, using his actual quotes. In the afterword, she notes, he “was indeed a pompous racist.”

One of the things that’s so wonderful about The Night Watchman is that it plunges us deeply and vividly into a natural world — the cold woods of the Turtle Mountain reservation in North Dakota more than a half-century ago, which serves as a rich escape.

So in some ways, I feel bad about pointing out that this lovely novel also has a contemporary political resonance. The message, though, is important and there from the start: Thomas’ fight is hard, he can’t see the finish line, and the forces against him have almost infinite power. But he plugs away. He takes care of his family. His community rallies around him. And they can win.

Carolyn Kellogg is the former books editor of the Los Angeles Times. She’s on Twitter @paperhaus .

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The Night Watchman

120 pages • 4 hours read

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Chapters 1-10

Chapters 11-20

Chapters 21-29

Chapters 30-40

Chapters 41-50

Chapters 51-63

Chapters 64-74

Chapters 75-85

Chapter 86-Epilogue

Character Analysis

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Important Quotes

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Summary and Study Guide

The Night Watchman , winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, is Louise Erdrich’s 17th novel. It is set in 1953 on the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa reservation in 1953 and details the fight against House Concurrent Resolution 108, a bill which sought to end tribal sovereignty.

This study guide uses the 2020 edition of the book published by HarperCollins.

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Plot Summary

The novel takes place in 1953. Thomas Wazhashk is the night watchman for the Turtle Mountain Jewel Bearing Plant and the tribal chairman of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa (he is also based on Erdrich’s real grandfather). At work, he periodically sees the ghost of Roderick, his former classmate at Fort Totten, a boarding school. Roderick died of tuberculosis after a brutal punishment in the boarding school.

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Patrice “Pixie” Paranteau also works for the plant; she assembles jewel bearings. She is the main income provider for her family. Patrice’s father, Pogo, is a person with alcoholism; Pokey is her younger brother; Zhaanat is her mother, who is seen as the keeper of knowledge for their community; and Vera is her sister, who has disappeared after moving to the Twin Cities.

In the early chapters of the novel, Thomas learns about House Concurrent Resolution 108, which seeks to “emancipate” the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa from the federal government. This means ending the financial support that the government provides, which has been crucial in helping the community. Thomas learns that the bill is sponsored by Senator Arthur V. Watkins from Utah and that Watkins is a Mormon. Haunted by the memory of boarding school and his friend Roderick’s death, he sets to work to stop the bill.

Barnes is Pokey’s math teacher and boxing coach. He has a crush on Patrice. He is also the coach for Wood Mountain, who has a fight with Joe “Wobble” Wobleszynski. Aboard the train on the way to Minneapolis to search for Vera, Patrice runs into Wood Mountain, and their friendship begins to grow.

When Patrice arrives in Minneapolis, she is kidnapped and taken to Log Jam 26, a Paul Bunyan-themed bar that has a nightly “waterjack” show in which a woman dressed as Bunyan’s companion Babe (a blue ox) swims in a large tank. Coerced by the owner, Patrice takes the job. She also goes to a couple of addresses she’d been given for Vera. At one, she finds a dog chained up and near death. Patrice eventually realizes that Vera was likely locked up there. Wood Mountain helps her escape from Jack; together, they find Vera’s baby but not Vera. They go home to the reservation.

The Turtle Mountain tribal committee holds a hearing to voice their objection to the Termination Bill. The tribal members take a vote, which will be conveyed to Congress. There are 47 votes against the bill and zero for it.

Patrice tells Thomas what happened to Vera, and it plagues him when he goes to work. He locks himself out of the factory in the cold and starts to worry he’ll freeze to death. He sees a group of spirits who dance with him and give him enough energy to try to pick the lock on the bathroom window again, and he gets inside.

Eventually, Thomas approaches Barnes about a rematch between Wood Mountain and Joe as a fundraiser for a delegation to travel to Washington, DC, for a hearing on the Termination Bill. He asks Millie Cloud , who conducted a survey on the economic state of the reservation, to participate in the hearing. Barnes convinces both boxers to participate. Wood Mountain has also grown more and more fond of both Patrice and the baby. He also makes the cradle board, a task typically completed by the father. He wins the boxing match, which descends into chaos but raises money for the trip to Washington.

Patrice and Pokey find their father dead in the cabin after he had been drunkenly wandering for months. They bury him, relieved in some ways to be free of him. Thomas, Juggie, Moses, Millie, and Patrice depart for Washington and present their case. On the way home, Thomas has a stroke, but he lives.

While the delegation is gone, Vera returns, having been rescued by a man named Harry and his dog Edith. She bonds with Wood Mountain over her son, who she can tell is very attached to him. When Patrice returns, she puts aside her feelings for Wood Mountain and encourages him to pursue Vera. Millie applies for a grant to pay Zhaanat to both help her with research and help Patrice attend college.

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‘The Night Watchman’ named next One Book selection

• School of Education and Social Policy
• University News

“The Night Watchman,” Louise Erdrich’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about a fictional tribal leader who stands up to Congress when, in the 1950s, the U.S. government sought to disband tribes and take their land, has been named the One Book One Northwestern (OBON) selection for 2024-2025.

The book tells the story of tribal chairman Thomas Wazhashk, a night watchman for a factory where women of the Turtle Mountain Band, his niece Patrice among them, make Bulova watches and Defense Department ordnances with drill bits made of gemstones.

Charged with guarding the gems from theft, Wazhashk spends his long shifts keeping up with his work as leader of the tribal council and comes to realize the hidden objective of a bill proposed by Congress. If passed, the “termination bill” would overturn long-standing Native American tribal rights.

School of Education and Social Policy Dean Bryan Brayboy and Professor Megan Bang, director of the Center for Native American and Indigenous Research, are this year’s OBON co-chairs.

“I am thrilled for the Northwestern community to be engaged with this book. It reflects many important rich dimensions of history, community, family and more broadly human experience on the 100-year anniversary of the Indian Citizenship Act,” Bang said. “I hope the book and the programming next year helps ignite our imaginations about what the next 100 years could and should be as we delve into all of the complexities Erdrich has masterly woven in her novel.” 

While fictional, Wazhashk’s character is based on the extraordinary life of the author’s grandfather, Patrick Gourneau, who was chairman of Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa from 1954-1958 and who himself was a night watchman of a plant that produced jewel artifacts and fought against the termination bill.  

“In this season of literary wildfires, when cultural borrowings have unleashed protests that have shaken the publishing industry, the issue of authenticity is paramount,” wrote author Luis Alberto Urrea in his New York Times book review. “Erdrich retakes the lead by offering the reader the gifts of love and richness that only a deeply connected writer can provide. You never doubt these are her people.”  

Interwoven into the narrative of “The Night Watchman” (HarperCollins, 2020) are memorable stories of other tribal members, all navigating the complexities of ambition, love, tradition and personal identity in an impoverished reservation community.  

“Louise Erdrich is not only an incredible writer, but she is also a remarkable storyteller,” Brayboy said. “All her books, and especially ‘The Night Watchman,’ help readers understand the human condition, the suffering and true stories of resistance attached to policies like termination. I love this book.”

The author of other best-selling novels such as “Love Medicine,” “The Beet Queen,” “Tracks” and “The Bingo Palace,” Erdrich has also won the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award (twice) and the Library of Congress Prize in American Fiction.

In the book’s afterword, Erdrich writes that the memory of termination “has faded, even among American Indian people,” which was part of the motivation for her to write it. Her father is German and her mother, like her grandfather, was Turtle Mountain Chippewa.

She told NPR in 2020, “I grew up knowing who I was and accepting all parts of myself. And this is a part that I realized would not have existed had my grandfather not fought for it.”

All incoming first-year and transfer students will receive a physical or electronic copy of the book. Students are encouraged to read the book to promote thought-provoking and authentic conversations across campus. There will also be a variety of University-wide programming surrounding the book.

“This is a wonderful book for the Northwestern community,” said Nancy Cunniff, OBON director, noting that OBON last selected a book centered on Indigenous people in 2015.

One Book One Northwestern is sponsored by the Office of the Provost and will include related films, lectures, field trips and other programming throughout the coming academic year. Contact [email protected]  for more information.

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‘Long Day’s Journey Into Night’ Review: Patricia Clarkson Illuminates an Uneven West End Production

By David Benedict

David Benedict

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No one, wisely, has turned “A Long Day’s Journey Into Night” into an opera — not least because, arguably, Eugene O’Neill’s most famous play already is one. It features extended solo arias mixing memory and pain, and, excluding the maid’s comedy high notes, the near-negligible plot operates as a vocal quartet. The job of the conductor — or, rather, the director — is to weave and build the sound to maximum dramatic effect. Led by Brian Cox (“ Succession ”) and Patricia Clarkson , Jeremy Herrin’s West End cast of soloists is definitely strong. Overall, however, his production doesn’t fully sustain the tricky balancing act.

Given the terrifying and delicious ease he deployed as vicious Logan Roy in “Succession,” Cox makes complete casting sense as tyrannical, self-serving James. At 77, he is a trifle old for the role, which latterly strains credulity when it comes to the physical relationship between him and his sons. But as his bravura final scene demonstrates, he is a commanding presence.

Descending, through drink and exhaustion, to the state that is the closest he ever gets to insight about his controlling, miserly failure with his family, Cox is in fine form in this scene. Furious at the truth-telling of his combative younger son Edmund (Laurie Kynaston) he allows us to see a man just about able — for brief moments only — to glimpse the truth of his own responsibility in the terrible family psychodrama.

But the slow-burn arc of the role isn’t quite within his grasp. His opening scene is pitched too high: The family is self-consciously acting happy now that matriarch Mary (Patricia Clarkson) is home and sober, but Cox’s overly-signaled brightness militates against audience engagement.

The consumption killing Kynaston’s nicely considered Edmund is, mercifully, underplayed. He gently indicates sadness without overstating it and in the final showdown with his father, his self-possession works in balance to his father’s chaos. But elsewhere, like most of the characters in this production except Louisa Harland’s beautifully judged, knowing maid, he seems too isolated, as if playing the end of the play from the beginning.

Neurasthenic, fluttering and fragile, Clarkson’s Mary positively glides through the day of the play with a sweetness that beautifully belies her pain within. Her level of denial is so absolute that she is able to maintain dignity throughout, no matter how upsettingly empty her illusions are.

Herrin knows about secrets and lies in dramas of addiction, having directed Duncan MacMillan’s scorching, award-winning “People, Places, Things.” Here, his pacing of Clarkson’s performance is the strongest line through this production. His handling of her final moments, ultimately placing her calmly sitting on the edge of the stage, is masterly.

Elsewhere, not all of his choices are helpful to so drawn-out a text. Lizzie Clachan’s self-consciously bald, wooden set over-emphasizes the lack of money that James gives to the running of a household. More of a statement than a helpful design, it leaves the creation of atmosphere to the actors and the lighting. Even a lighting designer as skilled as Jack Knowles struggles with the demand.

In a play that goes to some length to point out the intrusive sound of fog horns, it seems antithetical to have so noticeable an additional soundscape that loudly alerts the audience to approaching doom, or to the ethereal quality of Mary’s blissed-out-on-morphine state. This soundscape fires up some moments but flattens out the following scenes. The irony of this is that in so notoriously wordy a play, it’s absence and, crucially, silence which have proved so lethal in their lives.

The cumulative power of a still horribly recognizable journey through desperate, misplaced hope has ensured the longevity of O’Neill’s drama. Despite the unevenness of this production, Clarkson’s tender glow keeps it alive.

Wyndham’s Theatre, London; 780 seats; top £95 ($119), top premium £195 ($245). Opened, reviewed, Apr. 2, 2024; closing Jun 8. Running time: 3 HOURS, 30 MINS.

• Production: A Second Half Productions presentation of a play in two acts by Eugene O’Neill.
• Crew: Directed by Jeremy Herrin. Sets and costumes, Lizzie Clachan; lighting, Jack Knowles; music and sound, Tom Gibbons; movement, Polly Bennett, production stage manager, Laura Draper.
• Cast: Brian Cox, Patricia Clarkson, Laurie Kynaston, Daryl McCormack, Louisa Harland.

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Long Day’s Journey Into Night review – Brian Cox upstaged by Patricia Clarkson’s morphine fiend

Wyndham’s theatre, London Cox is thrilling as an overbearing patriarch but it’s Clarkson who steals the show in Eugene O’Neill’s agonising family drama

T he overbearing patriarch in Eugene O’Neill’s semi-autobiographical drama is an actor who feels his career has been straitjacketed by typecasting. Could James Tyrone be speaking for Brian Cox too who, playing him, steps almost seamlessly from Succession’s paterfamilias to O’Neill’s flawed father marshalling obstreperous sons?

Even if so, Cox is, as always, thrilling to watch. Yet it is Patricia Clarkson as his “morphine fiend” of a wife, just returned from a sanatorium and tumbling back into addiction, who steals the show. Clarkson exudes vulnerability along with hard denial. For all the play’s period elements – it is set in 1912 – hers feels like a true, infuriating, compassionate portrait of an addict.

Tyrone is less textured, a disgruntled and judgmental father switching between anger, flecks of wry humour and expressions of love.

First staged posthumously in 1956 against O’Neill’s instruction that it not be dramatised for 25 years after his death, it might represent the gruelling apex of classic American dysfunction family dramas. We spend a day with the Tyrones, during the course of which the source of Mary’s addiction is revealed along with the family’s points of weakness and pain, from James’s tight-fistedness and tendencies towards drink to wrangles between his sons, Edmund (Laurie Kynaston), a failed poet with TB, and Jamie (Daryl McCormack), a failed actor and drunk.

Under Jeremy Herrin’s direction, the production does not seek to leaven the drama’s gloomy spirit: it is a long, talking play with little action delicately well-crafted which slides between domestic exchange and accusation, anger, emotional conflagration.

Here it is stripped to its elemental state as the family convene in their summer home and vacillate between love and hate. Anger is tempered by anxious love that ironically seem to fuel each other’s various addictions: parents wring their hands over Edmund’s illness, sons wring theirs over their mother’s soul-sapping addiction.

In one pique, Mary tells James the family house has never felt like a home and Lizzie Clachan’s set, spare and wooden, reflects her sentiment. It has the look of early American puritanism, Shaker-like in its simple lines, severe colour palette and sleek lighting (by Jack Knowles). There are doorways within doorways, it seems, which gesture towards Mary’s sense of being spied upon too, although the set-up, as empty as it is, does not quite carry a sense of over-heated crowdedness.

“There’s gloom in the air you could cut with a knife,” says James. He is right. This drama is so stark it seems almost Beckettian, despite its naturalism. Yet there is forgiveness and tenderness between the hard edges, especially between Mary and James – Cox and Clarkson have a lovely, natural chemistry. And although characters spiral into resentment and rage, they always return to love and togetherness, which makes this distinct from the emotional desolations of a Tennessee Williams drama.

Louisa Harland, for her part, is so effective as the family maid, Cathleen, that you want more of her. She lifts every scene she is in, turning a functional role into a comic highlight.

Some scenes glitter with dark energy, and are truly tragic. Others feel protracted, the play’s old-fashioned exposition exposed, and the over-used device of characters narrating memories feeling like lengthy confessions. The circularity of family argument and accusation, are grinding too, and do not always absorb us, emotionally.

At three and a half hours it feels withering. Then again, that is the point here. This is the ultimate family reckoning, with some light, but mostly shade.

• Eugene O'Neill
• Patricia Clarkson

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