The Sentence

The final chapters of The Sentence are full of symbolism and resolution. Among the more interesting ones is how Laurent’s strange “rugaroo” heritage helps resolve his relationship with Hetta. Correctly written as Rougarou, this identity stems from a French story about Indigenous werewolves. The Rougarou people have human bodies and wolf heads and are known to be immortal. Laurent claims that he comes from a long line of Rougarou and was even born in a coffin. Tookie and Pollux find the story odd and nonsensical, but Hetta loves it. She finds Laurent more interesting because of this mystical background, or because of his storytelling abilities. Furthermore, she reasons, if Rougarou people exist, then Jarvis is Rougarou because of Laurent, so Hetta will never lose Jarvis.

The story of Laurent’s background parallels Erdrich’s point that while being born Indigenous American isn’t a choice, embracing Indigenous culture is a decision that should be celebrated, which emphasizes the book’s theme The Resilience and Importance of Indigenous American Identity. Pollux, for example, keeps his tribe’s practices alive through ceremony, volunteering with AIM, and living his true culture, while Tookie embraces her culture through her connection to the Indigenous American community and cultural institutions in Minneapolis and through her work at Birchbark Books. The other employees there, such as Asema and Pen, illustrate Erdrich’s point too, as they study Indigenous history and languages and practice centuries-old spirituality in modern American, honoring their ancestors and keeping their culture alive. Of course, Indigenous American identity is possible only for people born into it, excluding Flora. Her insistence on finding ways to be Indigenous demonstrates more than just guilt or appropriation; it shows that Indigenous American culture is interesting and worthy of admiration and desire.

In Chapter 15, Erdrich reveals the truth about The Sentence—and the sentence in it that killed Flora and threatened to destroy Tookie. Flora and Tookie’s connection transcends their modern narrative and pulls them back into history in a shocking coincidence. Flora, who so desperately wanted to claim Indigenous ancestry, discovers in The Sentence that her ancestors were white oppressors who abused Indigenous Americans. The shock of historical truth kills Flora, symbolizing the necessary reckoning with American history and implying that if white Americans confronted the reality of the past, their sense of self might be utterly destroyed. Tookie, who either truly doesn’t know her real name or has somehow repressed it, is forced to confront her name: Lily. Flora’s ghost has been dropping books containing the word “lily,” trying to send Tookie a message. Thus, Flora’s final act in spirituality is to make reparations by acknowledging her ancestral guilt and showing Tookie the truth about her past. This interconnectedness expresses Erdrich’s message about people’s reliance on one another. In Erdrich’s novels, she emphasizes that the essence of community is essential, which is why the systemized destruction of Indigenous American communities is psychically detrimental. Just as Tookie relies on Pollux, Jackie, Jarvis, and others, she must be open to interdependence with people who are essentially strangers to her. This plot twist is an important resolution to Tookie’s internal conflicts because it forces her to acknowledge her past and thereby make peace with her present. Flora’s ghost finally leaves with the help of the symbolism of doors. Flora enters the confessional, coaxed in by Pen and the open door of the confessional. Then she exits the bookstore through the front entrance. Birchbark Books has doors that are painted blue, a symbolic color for peace that is meant to keep out bad spirits. Flora’s haunting of the bookstore she loved therefore implies that her ghost was not a bad spirit but a good one. Flora’s attempts to spiritually communicate the truth to Tookie—and Tookie’s eventually forgiving Flora—underscore the theme The Power of Love as Redemption.

In Chapter 17, the white woman who told Tookie and Asema horrific stories about her ancestors’ treatment of Indigenous Americans and their bones unexpectedly drops off a box of those bones at the bookstore, illustrating the theme The Unpredictability of Life. Another full-circle moment occurs with the second transportation of human remains. The novel begins with Tookie moving a body and ends with Hetta and Asema moving bones. The first instance—Tookie’s moving Budgie’s body—is sacrilegious and criminal. However, the last instance—moving the bones of long-deceased Indigenous Americans—is a form of reparations and connotes hope for a peaceful future. In recovering the stolen and abandoned bones, the booksellers of Birchbark Books atone for Tookie’s past crime and fulfill a duty to their community.

Tookie has learned how to appreciate life’s challenges. Pollux’s battle with COVID was frightening but brought them closer together. Her relationship with Hetta began to heal, as Jarvis united them as a family. Although Tookie’s past crime and incarceration weigh heavily on her, she learns to embrace her bad memories as important chapters in her story. Flora’s ghost was psychically intimidating but led to resolution in Tookie’s family history. Now, Tookie is open to life in all its joys and sadness. She searches for another sentence to inspire her, and Erdrich writes about an open door. Doors again appear as symbols to imply that entering and exiting, actions of passing through, are instrumental to the human experience, regardless of whether they lead to happiness or sorrow.

The novel’s final chapter lists Tookie’s favorite books and notes the importance of independent local bookstores to communities everywhere. Erdrich’s novel is about many things, but at its core it’s a celebration of the independent bookstore as a space of love, community, and growth.