The Night Watchman

The Night Watchman

by

Louise Erdrich

The Night Watchman: The Wake-Up Shave Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
Thomas, tired at work, sees Roderick again perched on the band saw. He takes out his shaving kit, which he’d brought from home as a kind of experiment. Maybe shaving might wake him up, he thinks. It works. And that morning, and every morning after, he greets the morning shift with a perfect shave and combed hair.
This chapter shows Thomas’s ingenuity and also reveals his optimism and the humor he uses to address challenges. Instead of lamenting where he is, that he has to stay up all night for his job and is having a hard time doing it, Thomas looks for a novel solution, which ends up working.
Themes
Humor and Pain Theme Icon