The Absence And Pursuit Of Justice ——An Interpretation Of The Round House From The Perspective Of Homi K.Bhabha’s Postcolonial Theory

Louise Erdrich is an outstanding contemporary American Indian woman writer.Her works manifest her profound reflections on Native Americans’ life in America.The Round House,her 14 th novel,which along with The Plague of Doves and La Rose is known as “Justice Trilogy”,attracted lots of attention as soon as it was published.Taking the period of the reservation in North Dakota as the background,the novel tells the absence of justice faced by Native Americans as the Other in American society through a rape case and shows their continuous efforts to pursue justice.Based on Homi K.Bhabha’s postcolonial theory,this thesis analyzes the absence of justice suffered by Native Americans in the position of the Other in the novel.The paper analyzes the injustices faced by Native Americans as the Other in geographical space,the Other in law and the Other in American society.First,the white occupied many Indian land through land invasion,and restricted movement of Native Americans through reservation policy.Native Americans were forced to be marginalized into the Other in geographical space.Second,the white restricted Native Americans’ rights by making unjust laws that are hard to enforce.So Native Americans had to face the absence of justice and become the Other in law.Furthermore,the discrimination of the white made Native Americans live in American society as the Other.What’s worse,Native American women suffered from both racial and gender discrimination.In such a social environment,Native Americans had a hard time getting grievances and pursuing justice for themselves.In the pursuit of justice,Native Americans also “hybridize” with white people in multiple dimensions.Firstly,the round house’s special location provides a place for the hybridity of Native Americans and whites.The church on reservation provides a space for the hybridity of Catholic and traditional Indian culture.Secondly,the process of settling Geraldine’s case and the final outcome of Linden also reflect the “hybridity” of legal justice and wiindigoo justice.In addition,as Native Americans and whites communicate more,they influence each other and learn from each other.Some whites do not discriminate Native Americans anymore and start to help them.Native Americans also begin to accept and learn from the advanced culture brought by the white.In a sense,they have achieved hybridity.From the perspective of Homi K.Bhabha’s the Other theory and hybridity theory,the thesis reveals the difficult living conditions of Native Americans under the discrimination of the white.Moreover,it also points out that,as the Other,Native Americans can pursue justice with some white people’s help.And this can be achieved through the hybridity with the white.