64 pages • 2 hours read
Louise ErdrichA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
“A few months before, his mom had worried about field chemicals. Ever since Diz had started using Gramoxone which contained parquat, she had been paranoid that he might slip up. A mistaken taste of the stuff would destroy your liver and kidneys. Even getting it on your skin was very bad.”
The environmental degradation caused by large-scale farming looms in the background of this novel. Hugo understands that corporate farming and the widespread use of pesticides destroy the environment, and he also reflects on how unhealthy sugar is and how problematic it is to allot so much of the earth’s arable land for its production. Through depictions such as these, the author draws attention to real-life conditions not only in the Red River Valley but in rural regions all across the United States.
“There was something mysterious and magical about Kismet and dating her helped Gary feel sane. He suspected it was her Indian, oops, Native American blood, though he never mentioned it again after the first time.”
Gary believes that he loves Kismet, but passages like these demonstrate that he sees her through the lens of difference. Because she is not white like he is, Gary exoticizes her. He uses words like “mysterious” to describe her just because she is Indigenous. It is clear that he perceives whiteness as “normal” and Indigeneity as “other.”
“Now, in the valley the aquifer was being tapped out to make perfect potatoes for McDonald’s fries. There were no more secret bubbling springs.”
Many of this novel’s critiques of the corporatization of contemporary culture come from Hugo. Here, he reflects on the death of small farms and how an increasing percentage of the United States’s farmland is dedicated to growing crops that do not provide healthy food to American people. Instead of growing vegetables and edible grains, much of the area’s land is dedicated to animal feed or genetically modified potatoes to sell to fast food chains.
By Louise Erdrich
Antelope Woman
Antelope Woman
Louise Erdrich
Fleur
Fleur
Louise Erdrich
Future Home of the Living God
Future Home of the Living God
Louise Erdrich
LaRose
LaRose
Louise Erdrich
Love Medicine
Love Medicine
Louise Erdrich
Shadow Tag
Shadow Tag
Louise Erdrich
The Beet Queen
The Beet Queen
Louise Erdrich
The Bingo Palace
The Bingo Palace
Louise Erdrich
The Birchbark House
The Birchbark House
Louise Erdrich
The Game of Silence
The Game of Silence
Louise Erdrich
The Leap
The Leap
Louise Erdrich
The Master Butchers Singing Club
The Master Butchers Singing Club
Louise Erdrich
The Night Watchman
The Night Watchman
Louise Erdrich
The Painted Drum
The Painted Drum
Louise Erdrich
The Plague Of Doves
The Plague Of Doves
Louise Erdrich
The Red Convertible
The Red Convertible
Louise Erdrich
The Round House
The Round House
Louise Erdrich
The Sentence
The Sentence
Louise Erdrich
The Shawl
The Shawl
Louise Erdrich
Tracks
Tracks
Louise Erdrich
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection