The Round House Summary

Joe and Jane live at the new ranch for many years, but as they age Jane becomes increasingly worried about Joe getting hurt in his work. One of her recurring dreams depicts him being thrown from a horse. Soon after, Jane sees a black stallion in a corral that is

Joe gets angry at Simon as a negative result and tells him God has no plan for him, believing that his mother died for no

He does not understand why his own mother would do such a thing to him. During this moment, Joe begins to transition from precociousness to the confrontation stage. After he kills his mother, he is confronted by Shola, who tells him that his mother is good and she is not the devil. Joe arrives at the Church with his mother’s body being carried in his arms. He lays her at the alter and begins to pray for forgiveness and to say his final goodbyes. His father rudely suggests that he removes Nunu’s body from the church. Joe’s will for his mother and his emotions got the best of him when he confronted his father about the truth and him being his child. Joe was intensely outraged and sat the church on fire burning himself and his father. At the moment of Joe’s death, Joe was in the internalization stage of black consciousness. Joe began to have positive attitudes about his mother’s culture and beliefs.

had with his dad about Shoeless Joe himself. At the end of the book, they go back to that memory,

Joe didn’t really understand what his father was saying, because he was new to the experience of evil. He knew that killing people was wrong, but in his mind, there was nothing else that he could do to help his mother and make sure that his family stopped getting attacked. Joe saw that the only way that he could change the situation was to get rid of Linden Lark. Because he would only face the charges of a juvenile, and anyone else in his family would be tried as an adult, he volunteered to do it. If Joe hadn’t killed Linden, there might have been a good outcome. The court could have made him do community service or see a therapist to get better, but he didn’t have the chance before it was too late. Joe had good intentions in that he wanted to help his mother and protect his family, but the outcome was evil because he killed Linden.

Chapter 19: "The Most Critical Time on This Earth Is Now" Quote: "Joe walked away from the murder scene, dropped the knife in a nearby alley, and headed to a pay phone to call his father, but the police had beaten him to it. They'd told Day his son had killed a boy. Sonny and Lawrence told their father to get Joe to Clover, back to the tobacco farms, where he could hide from the law and be safe" (Skloot, 147).

“Why did Joe kill James?” No one knows. There is “no apparent reason,” but there certainly are reasons (Dixon 474). Dent depicts very dynamic reasons in the play, from family to social conditions that led to the murder. Joes’ teacher, Mrs. William, states in the play, “They come to class improperly dressed, from homes where they don’t get any home training, which is why they are so ill-mannered” (475-76). Is this true? Joe Brown Jr. comes from a broken family. His father lives with his other family, and he himself had not seen Joe for about four years before the event happened. His mother believes it's one of those things that often happen in a colored bar. It's like a disease, and the Lord is the only protection (478).

Joe Starks is an admirable person. He promises Janie beautiful material things and happiness unlike Logan who only tried to control her and offered her no love. Janie is overwhelmed by this proposal and believes that Joe may be the bee that has come to fertilize her and make her happy, but she is proven wrong. After she runs away from Logan, Joe and Janie travel to a new town that is only occupied by African Americans. There, Joe becomes mayor and is well respected by all. He gains wealth and gives Janie the material things that he promised her, but forces her to work in his local store all day long. He does not allow her to attend parties or have any fun and makes negative comments about her constantly. He says,

Lastly, her family betrayed her by not listening to her side of the story after her sister told lies about her, and they betrayed her when they acted as if they did not care if she moved out of the house. In all of these actions, the family itself and certain members of the family are portrayed as uncaring, unsupportive, disrespectful, conniving, deceitful, and hateful to Sister. Through every action of the family, Sister is treated harshly, and she tries to not let this bother her. Yet, anger and bitterness build up inside of her until she cannot take it anymore. Consequently, it built up so much inside of her that it severely affected Sister so profoundly that she moved away from her home to get away from her family.

Terrified and confused, the two greasers hurry to find Dally, the one person the think can help them. Dally sends them with a gun and some money to an abandoned church near Windrixvill, where they hide out for a week, they cut their hair to disguise their appearances. After a week, dally comes to check on them, and says that since bob died, the Socs and the greasers have become worse then ever, a giant rumble is to be held the next night to settle the matters once and for all. Cherry feels responsible for the whole problem, acted as a spy for the greasers. Johnny surprises Dally by declaring his intention to go back to Tulsa and turn himself in. Dally drives them back, but as they leave, the notice that the church has caught on fire and it had a large group of schoolchildren inside. Ponyboy and Johnny rush inside the church to save the children. Just when they get the last child through the window, the roof caves in and Ponyboy blacks out again.

With the lack of jurisdiction enforcement and Basil’s pitiful attempt on finding justice, Joe is forced to find vengeance himself. Furthermore, Joe is appalled that little action has taken place. Erdrich says, “I've had enough fear for my whole life. You will not add to my fear. You will not add to my sorrows. You will not be a part of this” (89). This exemplifies the loneliness and fear that Geraldine has after the rape. Although, Geraldine is telling joe not to pursue Lark, this only fuels his emotion to seek vengeance. “I'll do it. There is nothing to stop me. I know who he is and i’m going after him” (89). Joe’s passion is immense. Although Joe does not know the true identity of the rapist, he still is determined to avenge his

Hurston introduced Joe as a scrawny, small man who was afraid and scary. Joe was married to Lena but the narrator does not discuss what happened to their relationship. The reader can only assume that Joe and Lena had marital problems due to her being around another man. Joe became envious that his wife was with another man. Everyone thought that Joe could not stand up for himself. When Joe allowed Spunk to humiliate him in front of Lena, she was turned off by Joe. At first he was afraid to confront Spunk for taking his wife from him, but Joe was still in love with his wife Lena and wanted her back. After Joe heard that his wife was clinging on another man’s arm around town, he actually got the courage to confront Spunk. “Well, Ah’m goin’ after her to-day. Ah’m goin’ an’ fetch her back. Spunk’s done gone too fur.”(Joyce 1925, 502). Due to Joe being jealous and upset with Lena and Spunk’s relationship, Joe became violent towards Spunk and the guys started to fight. Joe’s goal was to get Lena back and get rid of Spunk. Joe ended up getting shot by Spunk because the author wrote, “See mah back? Mah close cut clear through. He sneaked up an’ tried to kill me from the back, but Ah got him, an’ got him good, first shot, said Spunk.” (Hurston, 1925, 504). After Joe died he started to haunt Spunk, coming back to life in a form of a bobcat. Joe wanted to get payback on Spunk because Spunk killed him and

The Round House delivers justice and redemption in unlikely ways. No healing comes without great suffering. Acts of violence reproduce further violence and calm is shattered by loss. This is painful material to be sure, but in the face of sorrow, Erdrich's characters are defined by quiet determination, courage and flexibility. We are kept going all the way to the last four words of this haunting story in which Louise Erdrich

When he was little his mom died, and his dad remarried to a woman named Thula. Thula did not like joe and she kicked him out when he was only ten years old. “She declared that she would not live under the same roof as joe, that Harry must choose between him and her. She said Joe would have to move out if she were to stay in a godforsaken place. Joe was only ten years old” (Brown 86,87). I never could understand how someone could kick a child out of the house and force them to live on their own when they are ten years old. As Joe grew up the more he needed his family, but his family was not there for him, at least not his biological family. When Joe made the rowing team that's the day that he got a new family, even if he did not know it at the time. So was Joyce, a beautiful girl who loved joe and they were going to get married and start a family of their own. “When joe stopped playing they talked about what it would be like when they were married and had a hoe and maybe kids” (Brown 102). Making the rowing team and meeting and falling in love with Joyce might have been the best thing that has ever happened to Joe. As soon as everything start going good for Joe, Thula gets an infection and dies. Not that it was a good thing that she died, it was very sad, but it brought Joe and his dad back together again. Harry wanted Joe to move back home with him and the kids. “I’m going to build a house where we can all live

Poor, sweet Carrie had predicted this. Why hadn’t I listened? A single tear streamed down Carrie’s face. Where was Nigel? I looked slightly to the left, and I saw him. His shirt was badly torn, and bright red blood was running down his back. Not only was he injured, but he was also handcuffed. No. Was he being charged for the murder of Rufus? He couldn’t be, this was my fault. I had to do something. I began to take a step, and as my foot hit the ground, I heard the snap of a branch, and Joe fell into my arms. He seemed to have fallen from the tree, and I immediately realized that it had been Joe who previously asked about my arm.