Book Club Guide

The Night Watchman

by Louise Erdrich · 2020 · Literary Fiction

Key themes

The termination bills of the 1950s and what they were designed to do
The specific love of a man fighting for what he knows is right, without drama
Thomas Wazhashk's quiet heroism — and the community he protects

About this book

Thomas Wazhashk, a night watchman on the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Reservation in 1953, leads the fight against a congressional bill designed to terminate the tribe's legal status. Erdrich's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is based on her own grandfather's resistance to termination and is one of the defining works of Native American literature.

Published in 2020, The Night Watchman won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Erdrich based it on letters and records from her grandfather Patrick Gourneau, who led the resistance to the 1950s congressional bills aimed at terminating the tribal status of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa.

Discussion questions

The novel is based on Erdrich's grandfather Patrick Gourneau's actual resistance to the termination legislation. What does basing a novel on a family member's real story add or require?
Thomas works as a night watchman and writes letters to Congress in between watch rounds. How does Erdrich develop this quotidian heroism — and what does she say through the image of the man who fights by writing letters?
The 'termination' legislation was designed to end the legal existence of Native American tribes. How does Erdrich explain this to readers who may not know this history — and does she do this gracefully or with didactic heaviness?
Patrice's storyline — her search for her missing sister in a predatory city — runs alongside Thomas's political thread. How do the two storylines illuminate each other?
The Night Watchman won the Pulitzer Prize. What does it do that earns this recognition — and how does it fit within Erdrich's larger body of work on Native American experience?