120 pages 4 hours read

Louise Erdrich

The Night Watchman

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2020

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Chapters 21-29Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 21 Summary: “Log Jam 26”

As the train arrives in Fargo, Wood Mountain has Patrice write down two addresses in case she gets lost. Patrice doesn’t tell him about Bernadette’s address.

He tries to give her a romantic look, and Patrice wonders why he’s making such a face. After he gets off the train, she sees him walking toward a bar and she thinks she will never speak to him again if he goes in—he doesn’t.

When she arrives, she isn’t sure what to do but then decides to take a taxi. The driver has her sit up front. Patrice finds this odd, but he moves quickly and opens the door for her. He talks constantly on the drive, telling her he can help her find a job because he “know[s] the right people” (105).

He parks in front of a place with a sign reading, “Log Jam 26” and says she should come in with him. Patrice refuses to go in because it’s a bar, but he tells her it’s a camera shop. She gets out and tries to pay him, but he and another man who appears, force her inside. There, she collapses to the floor. She tries to fight the men away, and a third one gets up from his stool at the bar, wondering what the commotion is.