The Game of Silence

By Louise Erdrich

Erdrich, Louise. 2005. The Game of Silence. NY, NY: HarperCollins. ISBN:0-06-029789-1

PLOT SUMMARY:

Omakayas and her family live out on an island in Lake Superior.  It is the year of 1850 and a group of strange desperate people come across the lake and into the lives of the Ojibwe people. These people tell stories of the white ones coming in and talking away their land.  The people fled talking only what they had on them.  Some were left behind and captured.

CRITCAL ANALYSIS:

. Omakayas is just like any other young girl playing with her dolls and going out to her favorite place among the rocks.  We can see depth in her character through her experiences of the death of her younger brother and her attachment to the motherless child.  Omakayas is a passionate girl.

The plot of the story describes the time in history when the white people came in and changed the Native American’s way of life.  We can see the horror and pain it caused them.  The plot is not sugar coated, it is honest and real.

The author’s description of the area Omakayas lives in is beautiful and vivid.  Omakayas enjoys this place at the edge of the water where there are large flat rocks to step on.  The reader can picture that place and image what it would be like to visit there.  

CONNECTIONS:

*This book can be connected to a study on Native Americans

*It can also be read around Thanks Giving to give some background to the holiday.

*Research can be done to see what happened to the Native Americans when the pilgrims came over.

REVIEWS:

In addition to an abundance of details about life through the seasons, Erdrich deals with the wider meaning of family and Omakayas' coming-of-age on a vision quest. ~ Booklist