Iron Lake

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses suicide, murder, and alcohol use disorder. In addition, the source text depicts racism toward Indigenous cultures and people, and uses outdated and offensive terms for Anishinaabe and Dakota people, which are replicated in this guide only in direct quotes.

“He gave Cork a canvas pack with bedrolls, cooking utensils, cooked wild rice, coffee, salt, and deer jerky. Finally he put in several long cords so that if they were given the bear, they could lash its body to a travois and cart it to the road where he could retrieve it with his truck.”

Fourteen-year-old Cork is going hunting with Sam Winter Moon, just over a year after Cork’s father died. Sam has become a father figure to Cork. With Sam, Cork learns to hunt bears using many of the traditional Anishinaabe methods, reflected by the contents of his pack and the way they plan to take the bear home. Framing a successful hunt as being “given the bear” reflects Anishinaabe attitudes toward nature.

“He knew he should probably just leave and close the door behind him. But there had been the shot, and now he felt something in the stillness of the house from which he couldn’t turn, a kind of responsibility. As he stood with the door wide open at his back and the wind blowing through, he glanced down and watched the tendrils of snow creep across the bare, polished floor and vine around his boots like something alive. He knows that a terrible thing had happened. He knew it absolutely.”

The image of snow growing and entrapping Paul as he is going into the judge’s house reflects his sense of foreboding. Krueger firmly locates his characters in the very specific environment of Minnesota—its harsh constraints are elements in the plot, and the environment often reflects the moods of the characters. Here, the environment is actually reaching into the house as snow blows through the open door. Paul’s perspective gives this phenomenon life, creating suspense and unease.

“He walked away and stood staring at the rows of legal books, tomes that attempted to spell out justice, something he no longer believed in. He fought against the hopeless, cornered feeling they gave him.”

From the beginning of the novel, Cork struggles with the way justice intersects with law enforcement. His faith in the law’s moral compass has been shattered by the spearfishing protest violence. Throughout the story, Cork’s loss of faith causes him to nearly commit murder as revenge.