Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Night Watchman, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Power, Solidarity, and Community Action
Oppression and Supposed Good Intentions
Humor and Pain
Sex, Violence, and Gender
Agency and Exploitation
Summary
Analysis
The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa was not terminated. Erdrich’s grandfather recovered from the stroke and went on to work on improving the reservation school system, writing a Turtle Mountain Constitution, and writing the first history of the Turtle Mountains. He worked at the jewel bearing plant until his mandatory retirement in 1970. In 1955, the women of the Turtle Mountain jewel bearing plant attempted to unionize. Unionization was voted down, but pay increases were authorized, the cafeteria completed, and workers regained their coffee break.
Erdrich connects her novel back to the actual history that inspired it and highlights the ways that acting as a community, in solidarity with one another, allowed Erdrich’s grandfather, the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, and the workers at the jewel bearing plant to overcome obstacles that seemed insurmountable.
Themes
