How Does Geraldine Change In The Round House

History is a tough subject for some Native Americans to talk about today because of all of the traumatic experiences their ancestors suffered through. Every person has a different way of dealing with traumatic experiences, and so do cultures. People that share similar characteristics come together to form a culture. These culture characteristics can be shown through how Native Americans react to traumatic experiences and situations. In The Round House by Louise Erdrich, Geraldine’s character’s reactions to traumatic experiences reflect Native American culture. Geraldine’s character reflects Native American culture because of the characteristics she portrays in the novel. Geraldine reflects the characteristics of hopelessness, selflessness, …show more content…
When Mayla was going through her own traumatic experience, Geraldine offered to help. Geraldine says, “There was a call. It was Mayla [...] Mayla asked to meet me at the round house. She had no car. She said her life depended on it, so I went there” (Erdrich 159). Even though Geraldine knew Mayla was in a traumatic state, Geraldine still decided to go and help her. Geraldine’s characteristic of selflessness exposed her to her own traumatic experience. Geraldine was willing to put her life on the line to make sure that Mayla and her baby were okay. Selflessness can be seen as a characteristic in Native Americans because of their history. When white settlers came and forced Native Americans off of their land, tribal leaders needed to make a decision. They needed to make the decision to either let their people suffer or move onto a reservation to stop the devastation of their culture (Brown). Tribal leaders made the selfless decision to move onto reservations so their families would stop suffering from their own traumatic experiences (Brown). Native Americans have the characteristic of selflessness because they help others in times of need and put their personal needs to the side to help other people of their