Growing Up In The Round House By Louise Erdrich

Growing up can be an extremely complicated process. The changes that occur are physical, emotional, and mental. All aspects of growing up can be triggered by puberty, or possibly traumatic experiences that happen in that person’s life. In a traumatic event, not just the person being attacked or traumatized can be affected. According to the Australian Institute of Family Studies, “Diagnostic descriptions of what constitutes a traumatic event ... clearly suggest that mere knowledge of the exposure of a loved one to a traumatic event can be traumatizing as well.” (Kleber). In Louise Erdrich’s novel, The Round House, one can see the how Joe was forced to grow up before he was ready because of the trauma he had experienced. His brain wasn’t fully

developed to make the decisions he made that could’ve affected him throughout his life. Another reason is the childish actions Joe made during this time. These actions by Joe prove he wasn’t mature enough to “grow up” when he did.
Joe was only thirteen years old when his mother Geraldene was brutally attacked, raped, and nearly killed. For anyone, that puts an extreme toll on their mind, witnessing that happen to a loved one. As a kid, Joe didn’t really quite understand the concept of rape. He understood it briefly, but never truly understood the meaning of it. All he knew was that it was a bad thing, and wanted to get revenge for his mother. According to the National Library of Medicine, “Longitudinal neuroimaging studies demonstrate that the adolescent brain continues to mature well into the 20s” (Johnson). Joe’s frontal lobe in his brain wasn’t even fully close to maturing. According to Livestrong, “Their primary job is to allow us to think things through and determine how to use information that is located elsewhere in the brain”(McAdams). Joe’s main decision-making part in his brain hadn’t even finished developing yet, so deciding to kill his mother’s attacker proves how this experience made him “grow up” in a sense. The frontal lobe is basically there to manage emotions, problem solving, reasoning, and planning. Everything about these functions dealt with Joe’s whole plan to kill Linden Lark. If Joe were to have been in his mid twenties, his brain would’ve most likely came up with a better solution than murder. This event probably stayed with Joe for the rest of his life. This underdeveloped frontal lobe in Joe’s brain was one of the main reasons he had to grow up and make a rash decision like this. Even after the killing, when Joe sees his parents celebrating the killer’s death, he says “I was the grown-up and the two of them holding hands were oblivious children. They had no idea what I had gone through for them. (Erdrich 305). Joe knows what he did, and is angered by the fact his parents fail to realize and recognize his well-doing in his mind. Joe feels as if doing this proves him to be an adult in his mind, even though murder wasn’t the answer.
Joe shows throughout the novel that he and along with his friends, are immature, and cannot prove themselves to be “grown up”.

There are many instances of sexual innuendos, talks about genitalia, and times of using drugs and alcohol, which they are all underage and hide from their parents. At one point in the novel, Joe is talking to his friends about their own genitals. They compare the circumcised and uncircumcised penises to characters in Star Wars. “Zack had a Darth Vader, circumcised, and I did too. Cappy and Angus still had their hoods, so they were Emperors.” (Erdrich 65). Talking about this seems very childish, proving Joe was still but a child during this time period. Another instance throughout the novel, was when Joe and his friends would steal beer and cigarettes and hide them from their parents. All of these traits and actions of Joe prove him to be too young to understand and make adult-like decisions and mull the consequences. Joe doesn’t quite have the mental strength to think about getting revenge for his mother, or to bring justice to him in another way. He makes a rash decision, and ends up committing murder, a very non-native like trait. The whole situation with his mother being attacked forces Joe to grow up in a way he is not ready for. At no point should someone be ready to take the life of another, but at the age of thirteen? Joe had no business needing to grow up like this. This event could scar him for life, as it more than likely did. He was too young mentally to have to kill a man at thirteen, and his actions throughout the book proved he was still just a

kid.
Growing up is long, and sometimes difficult. The changes that occur are physical, emotional, and mental. All parts of growing up are be triggered by puberty, or possibly scarring experiences that happen in that person’s life. Some kids are forced to grow up earlier than others. Many kids are too young and immature to actually grow up. In the case of a traumatic event, not just the person being attacked or traumatized can be affected. In Louise Erdrich’s novel, The Round House, one can see the how Joe was forced to grow up before he was ready because of the trauma he had experienced. His brain wasn’t fully developed to make the decisions he made that could’ve affected him throughout his life. The childish actions Joe made during this time are another reason to show he wasn’t ready to take on the responsibilities he did. These actions by Joe prove he wasn’t mature enough to “grow up” when he did. No kid should have to be forced to grow up because of a horrible event such as his case. It simply showed he was too young, and this could’ve scarred him for life.