The Night Watchman: The Star Powwow Summary & Analysis

Patrice and Zhaanat go to Thomas’s house, seeking advice. Patrice tells him about the dog she found in the empty house, empty rooms with chains fixed to the walls, the slashed leather collars. Thomas thinks for a while and then says they have to go to the police. Zhaanat and Patrice are both disappointed by the response. Zhaanat says the police won’t help them, and Thomas says he’ll sleep on it to try and think of another solution. At work that night, Thomas thinks that what Patrice has told him has shaken his fundamental beliefs about people. He thought that people did bad things out of ignorance, drunkenness, or weakness. He had never heard of such extreme evil.

Thomas falls asleep and is woken up by the sound of the owl again. He goes outside, and the door slams shut behind him. He realizes he doesn’t have his keys. He goes to his car and starts the engine to keep himself warm. He hears drumming, coming from outside. He exits the car and falls down. The drumming grows louder. Then he sees “the beings.” They float down from the heavens, wearing ordinary clothes made from a glowing fabric. One of the people is Jesus Christ. They dance counterclockwise, like spirits in the land of the dead, waiting for him to join them. He begins to sing the song they gave him. When the drumming stops, Thomas climbs on top of his car and uses a wire he found in his trunk to get back into the building through the window.