Bearing the Weight: Motherhood and the Echoes of Trauma in Louise Erdrich’s The Round House

Abstract:

Introduction: This paper explores the representation of motherhood and trauma in Louise Erdrich’s The Round House (2012), with particular attention to the impact of gendered violence on familial relationships and individual identity within Native American communities. It situates the novel within broader conversations on trauma, motherhood, and Indigenous literature. Methods: Utilizing Cathy Caruth’s trauma theory and narrative analysis, the study conducts a close reading of key scenes in the novel, focusing on the aftermath of Geraldine Coutts’s assault and its ripple effects on her role as a mother and on the cohesion of the Coutts family. Results: The analysis reveals that Erdrich disrupts conventional representations of motherhood by embedding personal trauma within systemic patterns of legal failure and cultural marginalization. The maternal figure is shown to be both silenced and symbolically central to communal endurance. The novel portrays healing as a collective, culturally rooted process rather than an individualized journey. Discussion: These findings demonstrate how The Round House critiques institutional injustice while affirming the resilience of Native communities through intergenerational solidarity and shared narrative. By foregrounding the intersections of personal suffering and historical violence, the novel reframes trauma as a site of both rupture and cultural continuity. Conclusion: This study contributes to trauma and literary studies by showing how Indigenous narratives like Erdrich’s reposition motherhood and healing within communal and cultural frameworks, challenging dominant Western paradigms of individual recovery and maternal identity.

Keywords:

Motherhood, Gendered Violence, Trauma, Native American.

Citation: M Amala Freeda and I Felicita Mary Praba (2025). Bearing the Weight: Motherhood and the Echoes of Trauma in Louise Erdrich’s The Round House. Horizon J. Hum. Soc. Sci. Res. 7 (1), 96–105. https://doi.org/10.37534/bp.jhssr.2025.v7.n1.id1306.p96