The Night Watchman

The Night Watchman

by

Louise Erdrich

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Roderick Character Analysis

Roderick is a former boarding school classmate of Thomas and LaBatte who appears in the form of a ghost to both men throughout the novel. He died of tuberculosis, which he contracted after he was locked in a cellar multiple times as punishment at the boarding school. Thomas feels guilty for not doing more to help Roderick when he was locked in the cellar, but Roderick tells Thomas that he visits the jewel bearing plant to haunt LaBatte; he was locked in the cellar the first time, Roderick tells Thomas, because he took the blame for something that LaBatte did. He also says that he probably only contracted tuberculosis the second time he was locked in the cellar. LaBatte travels with Thomas to Washington, D.C. and prompts Thomas to try and win over Arthur Watkins with flattery. When Roderick misses the train back home, he decides to stay among the Native ghosts in Washington, D.C.

Roderick Quotes in The Night Watchman

The The Night Watchman quotes below are all either spoken by Roderick or refer to Roderick. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Power, Solidarity, and Community Action Theme Icon
).
The Star Powwow Quotes

They had as good as killed Roderick down there.

Related Characters: Thomas Wazhashk, Roderick
Page Number: 223
Explanation and Analysis:
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The Night Watchman PDF

Roderick Quotes in The Night Watchman

The The Night Watchman quotes below are all either spoken by Roderick or refer to Roderick. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Power, Solidarity, and Community Action Theme Icon
).
The Star Powwow Quotes

They had as good as killed Roderick down there.

Related Characters: Thomas Wazhashk, Roderick
Page Number: 223
Explanation and Analysis: