The Game of Silence

In The Game of Silence, Erdrich emphasizes the importance of family. Omakayas deeply loves her parents, siblings, and grandmother. She relates her identity to them and is devoted to their communal living. A major motivator of Omakayas’s character development is her desire to grow out of childhood and contribute more fully to her family’s wellbeing. Omakayas’s family is connected through their shared experiences. For example, the loss of Omakayas’s youngest brother still haunts the family, but it also brings them closer together. As the narrative states, “Nobody said the names of those who had died [to avoid] attract[ing] the spirits of the dead. […] It was better to let even the most loved ones go along on their journey into the next world” (8). Therefore, no matter how much they miss their lost family member, they honor his passing and respect his spirit. This unspoken dynamic suggests that the family has sacrificed their own sense of comfort in the effort to let the spirit of their lost loved one go on his way. Just as they honor the dead, they also commit to nurturing new life in the family, as is demonstrated when Yellow Kettle adopts