This Tender Land

This Tender Land

by

William Kent Krueger

Rosalee O’Banion (Odie’s Mother) Character Analysis

Rosalee O’Banion is the mother of Odie and Albert (though Odie later learns that Rosalee’s sister, Julia, is in fact his biological mother). She is married to Ezekiel O’Banion. Rosalee died when Odie was six years old, and he can barely remember her. Born deaf, Rosalee is the reason Odie and Albert are fluent in American Sign Language and able to teach Mose. Aunt Julia is Rosalee’s sister.

Rosalee O’Banion (Odie’s Mother) Quotes in This Tender Land

The This Tender Land quotes below are all either spoken by Rosalee O’Banion (Odie’s Mother) or refer to Rosalee O’Banion (Odie’s Mother). For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Family, Community, and Home Theme Icon
).
Chapter 56 Quotes

This was all my doing, all my fault. This was my curse. I saw now that long before the Tornado God descended and killed Cora Frost and decimated Emmy’s world, that vengeful spirit had attached itself to me and had followed me everywhere. My mother had died. My father had been murdered. I was to blame for all the misery in my life and the lives of everyone I’d ever cared about. Only me. I saw with painful clarity that if I stayed with my brother and Mose and Emmy, I would end up destroying them, too. The realization devastated me, and I stood breathless and alone and terribly afraid.

I fell to my knees and tried to pray to the merciful God Sister Eve had urged me to embrace, prayed desperately for release from this curse, prayed for guidance. But all I felt was my own isolation and an overwhelming sense of helplessness.

Related Characters: Odysseus “Odie” O’Banion (speaker), Albert O’Banion, Moses “Mose” Washington/Amdacha, Emmaline “Emmy” Frost, Sister Eve, Cora Frost, Ezekiel O’Banion (Odie’s Father), Rosalee O’Banion (Odie’s Mother)
Related Symbols: Tornado
Page Number: 388
Explanation and Analysis:
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This Tender Land PDF

Rosalee O’Banion (Odie’s Mother) Quotes in This Tender Land

The This Tender Land quotes below are all either spoken by Rosalee O’Banion (Odie’s Mother) or refer to Rosalee O’Banion (Odie’s Mother). For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Family, Community, and Home Theme Icon
).
Chapter 56 Quotes

This was all my doing, all my fault. This was my curse. I saw now that long before the Tornado God descended and killed Cora Frost and decimated Emmy’s world, that vengeful spirit had attached itself to me and had followed me everywhere. My mother had died. My father had been murdered. I was to blame for all the misery in my life and the lives of everyone I’d ever cared about. Only me. I saw with painful clarity that if I stayed with my brother and Mose and Emmy, I would end up destroying them, too. The realization devastated me, and I stood breathless and alone and terribly afraid.

I fell to my knees and tried to pray to the merciful God Sister Eve had urged me to embrace, prayed desperately for release from this curse, prayed for guidance. But all I felt was my own isolation and an overwhelming sense of helplessness.

Related Characters: Odysseus “Odie” O’Banion (speaker), Albert O’Banion, Moses “Mose” Washington/Amdacha, Emmaline “Emmy” Frost, Sister Eve, Cora Frost, Ezekiel O’Banion (Odie’s Father), Rosalee O’Banion (Odie’s Mother)
Related Symbols: Tornado
Page Number: 388
Explanation and Analysis: