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
On the drive to Minot to see Wood Mountain fight, Thomas and his family debate how exactly he’ll beat Joe “Wobble” Wobleszynski. Joe Wobble’s family, years back, had encroached on the land of Wood Mountain’s grandmother. Patrice and Valentine watch the fight too. During the fight, Wood Mountain lets Joe Wobble’s punches slide off him without absorbing their impact. Wood Mountain senses an opportunity and lands a combination. With Joe Wobble dazed, Wood Mountain steps in, but the bell rings 15 seconds before the round is supposed to end. “Foul! Foul! Fifteen seconds left,” Barnes yells.
Joe Wobble’s family stealing land from Wood Mountain’s family highlights how deeply-rooted, and intimate, exploitation of Native people at the hands of white people is in the region, going back generations between families who still know each other. The injustice carried out by Joe Wobble’s ancestors is then echoed when someone rings the end-of-round bell 15 seconds early, an unseen authority acting unjustly on behalf of Joe, saving him from potential defeat.
Themes
On the ride home, Thomas remembers a trip south he took with Wood Mountain’s father, Archille, and the discrimination and racism they faced. He then starts to talk to Archille, who died years ago, and tells him how well Wood Mountain fought. He also tells Archille that he’s trying to fight the bill coming out of Washington. He doesn’t know what it is, he says, but he knows that it’s not good.
On a trip south with Wood Mountain’s father, Archille, Thomas also faced racism, showing how racism against Native people has permeated United States culture, regardless of region. That racism, then, has led to governmental policy, like the Termination Bill, which aims to eliminate Native tribes.
Themes
