28 pages • 56 minutes 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.
Content Warning: This sections contains references to war-related trauma and systemic racism against Indigenous Americans.
The story establishes itself as a character study from the beginning. The title situates the Oldsmobile as the focal point of the story, and Lyman reveals the end of that narrative in the first paragraph: Henry “buys out” Lyman’s share on a cold night, and now Lyman walks everywhere. The anecdote about the Joliet Café’s destruction confirms that Lyman is someone who loses things, and he loses them “quick” (178). Because the author discloses the last event of the story before he really begins, the question driving the reader forward isn’t primarily what happens (though the narrator’s ambiguously metaphorical account of what happened to the car and his brother does leave room for surprise). Instead, this is a story about why things happen and how they affect the people they happen to. The narrator’s comments on the story as it happens augment this search for understanding, making connections and drawing meaning from the events.
The structure of the story reflects the main character’s Coming of Age. When the narrator recalls a fond memory, he leans hard into nostalgia, indulging in lush or repetitive language.
By Louise Erdrich
Antelope Woman
Louise Erdrich
Fleur
Louise Erdrich
Future Home of the Living God
Louise Erdrich
LaRose
Louise Erdrich
Love Medicine
Louise Erdrich
Shadow Tag
Louise Erdrich
The Beet Queen
Louise Erdrich
The Bingo Palace
Louise Erdrich
The Birchbark House
Louise Erdrich
The Game of Silence
Louise Erdrich
The Leap
Louise Erdrich
The Master Butchers Singing Club
Louise Erdrich
The Night Watchman
Louise Erdrich
The Painted Drum
Louise Erdrich
The Plague Of Doves
Louise Erdrich
The Round House
Louise Erdrich
The Sentence
Louise Erdrich
The Shawl
Louise Erdrich
Tracks
Louise Erdrich