The Round House by Louis Erdrich Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Round House by Louis Erdrich - Essay Example The question of justice on Indian reservation as narrated by Joe the son of an Indian woman who is raped by a white man is addressed in a rather scanty manner. Justice is not well delivered with regards to the case of the raped woman. Based on the plot of the novel Edrich turns the question of justice to relate to a powerful human story. Her novel focuses on a Native American woman who is raped in the set of a sacred round house and the quest of seeking justice for this inhuman act becomes really devastating more like the crime itself (Erdrich, 22). Justice on the Indian reservations is based on primitive laws which do not regard the value of human rights regardless of the origin of the offender. Justice is disregarded and is based mainly on the culture and policy of the region without giving attention to the victim offended or even the nature of the crime with regards to the society. The Round house the vicinity where the rape ordeal takes place is located on reservation land and th is is where the tribal courts are in control. However, the suspect of the rape case is white and according to the law of the land the tribal courts are not allowed to prosecute non-native people (Erdrich, 23). According to Joe’s narration years on later when he has become apublic prosecutor, he recalls the terrifying events he had to go through after his mother was raped and trying to get justice for the crime was fruitless. Joe tries to show how the issue of crime is surrounded by many roots. Justice in this case follows the tribal traditions and therefore it has its own rules which are regarded important despite the nature of crimes committed. Edrich tries to analyse the legal system with regards to the United States system which according to her has failed to protect the rights of the Indians who are living in the reservations. There havebeen many oaths which have been broken and the decisions of justice placed on the hands of the reservation authorities. The question of j ustice based on the unfolding of the story is treated with respect to the legal black holes. It is through this approach that the laws of the society where the case took place created a platform for predators to commit crimes and later escape without being punished or prosecuted. According to the plot of the story the justice that is portrayed is that of the kind of a vigilante. There are certain attributes of justice that are escaped and hence it is clearly seen that justice on Indian reservations is disregarded or in other words there is little that a victim can do in case a crime is committed against him/her and the culprit is not from the vicinity. The Round House generally addresses the perception of justice in the North Dakota where the Indian reservations are as well as its neighbouring communities. Justice in this context is based on old crimes as well as family dramas. A lot can be stated with regards to the level of justice that was given to the Indian reservations but one thing that stands out is the fact that there was a lot of discrimination in the way justice was administered on crimes committed in the society (Nielsen & Robert, 55). Joe narrates how he had to mature faster due to the fact that he took up the quest of finding justice for his mother. His role was not easy at all since all he got from the authorities was a cold shoulder and his plight fell on deaf ears. Does the novel suggest that justice was done in this case? The novel does not suggest that justice was received for the rape case. This is due to the fact that Joe at his tender age of 13 years decided to take revenge on the man who raped his mother after investigations on the case did not seem to