The Night Watchman

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. How did you respond to Patrice “Pixie” Paranteau’s search for her sister Vera Paranteau? Did Pixie’s desperation to find Vera resonate with your sibling or family experiences?

2. The novel explores themes related to trauma and survival. Which aspects of these explorations did you find most moving or resonant, and why? Consider how characters like Pixie, Vera, and Thomas Wazhashk seek to heal from their fraught pasts.

3. Thomas is visited by the ghost of his late friend Roderick. Did you find Thomas’s grieving journey relatable? Do you believe it is possible to encounter a late loved one’s presence?

4. Consider the characters’ connection to their ancestral land. Do you have a strong sense of place or home? How does environment impact you in general?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. The novel is set in 1953 at the time of House Concurrent Resolution 108. How does Erdrich use these temporal and historical contexts to explore the Indigenous experience throughout United States history? 

2. The novel is Pixie’s coming-of-age story. How do Pixie’s coming-of-age experiences in 1953 compare to contemporary rites of passage? How do her experiences relate to the novel’s feminist explorations and examinations of Indigenous women’s experiences?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. The novel is written from the third-person omniscient point of view. Discuss how this narrative vantage point dictates the novel’s plot progression, themes, and stakes. How would the novel differ if written from Pixie’s first-person point of view?

2. Discuss Pixie’s evolution over the course of the novel. What conflicts and experiences cause her to change? How do her challenges and trials impact her character arc?

3. The novel is set on the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Reservation. How does this setting impact the characters’ relationships and understandings of themselves? How would their interpersonal dynamics differ if they did not live on the reservation?

4. The novel explores the trauma inflicted on Indigenous peoples by government boarding schools. Consider how a character like Thomas’s history at the schools continues to affect his psyche in the narrative present. How does Erdrich use references to the schools to fuel her explorations of the Indigenous experience?

5. The characters frequently encounter ghosts and spirits throughout the novel. Discuss the symbolic resonance of these presences.