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
One night while Betty and Norbert are in the car, the door opens, and Norbert falls out. Someone outside then says, “Could I have a minute of your time to tell you about the Lord’s plan for your soul?”
After the chapter in which Thomas hears that Watkins doesn’t have a sense of humor, the novel pivots to a very funny scene in which one of the Mormon missionaries interrupts Betty and Norbert having sex to try and proselytize.
Themes
