Questions About Future Home of the Living God

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Answered Questions (9)

Too many themes and unanswered questions. Not at all the Erdrich I've loved. I found that the entire book went nowhere. Can anyone tell me the meaning of the title?

Petergiaquinta If we can believe Erdrich, the title comes from a road sign she saw once, much like the sign that Cedar/Mary sees early in the novel...

To understand t…moreIf we can believe Erdrich, the title comes from a road sign she saw once, much like the sign that Cedar/Mary sees early in the novel...

To understand the sign, however, and its relevance to the novel, will take a little explanation here, and I'm not sure I'm up to it, but I'll give it a try and perhaps someone else can chime in and help me.

Christian fundamentalists and other assorted nut jobs believe that in the end times, believers will be raptured into heaven. (There is reference to this concept in the novel as well, with the bumper sticker that Cedar sees asking something along the lines of, "When you get raptured, can I have your car?") After the rapture, there will be the Tribulation, a time of terror on earth for the unbelievers left behind, and then Jesus will return to reign on earth as a living god for one thousand years, and this blessed, blessed time is called the Millennium.

Sounds crazy? Well, of course it is, but that doesn't keep a lot of wacky Christian fundamentalists from believing in it or from arguing at great length about how the Bible gives us clues as to when it will occur.

These are the same crazy fundamentalists, of course, who are screwing up our world right now, rejecting science in favor of scripture and ignoring what is happening in the world with our limited natural resources and global warming. They also voted for Donald Trump because, although he is no Christian, he and his fellow oligarchs are happy enough to prey on the limited intellects of these Christian fundamentalists and use their votes to gain political power. In the novel, these are the theocratists who seem to have overthrown the government and installed the reign of Mother and the Church of the New Constitution, or whatever Erdrich calls it.

So, without going on for too long, the great irony of the title is that this forsaken, damaged world of ours is viewed by Christian fundamentalists as the future home of their living god. And many of them believe that by depleting our natural resources and by overthrowing democratic institutions in favor of a fundamentalist theocracy, they are helping to hasten the arrival of the end times and the Millennium. That, of course, is a load of hogwash and only something that a maniac could truly believe.

But I think Erdrich is a rich enough author to provide us with a dual meaning to the title, one which is in direct opposition to the thinking of the fundamentalists. The future home of the living god is the community that we create among ourselves through love and the new family that Cedar finds to complement her earlier one; it is the womb where Cedar's child grows to maturity; it is the future that Cedar longs for at the end of her diary even though she knows she'll probably never see it, but she hopes her child will. It is that hoped for, beautiful future that one day will reestablish itself on earth, not through the magical efforts of a returning alien space god foretold in the Book of Revelation, but through the strength and good efforts of decent, loving human beings like those described in Erdrich's novel.(less)

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This looks a lot like Handmaid's Tale...?

Robert Blumenthal It can be compared to A Handmaid's Tale, but I found it distinctly different to that novel. For one, the world isn't quite as bleak as it is in A Hand…moreIt can be compared to A Handmaid's Tale, but I found it distinctly different to that novel. For one, the world isn't quite as bleak as it is in A Handmaid's tale. Women are not forced to have sex with men against their will. And there appears to be a bit more freedom for women. It's kind of like A Handmaid's Tale lite, a bit earlier in the dystopia, so to speak. I enjoyed both books immensely.(less)

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All the Mary symbolism made me think Cedar's baby would bring Jesus powers to the bleak future but it just fizzles out. Was I totally wrong to expect some kind of saviour role for Cedar's child?

Kay Marie I had the same thoughts!

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This question contains spoilers... (view spoiler)

Andrew Queisser I don't have an answer but thanks for pointing out the Immaculate Conception thing. I had no idea, not being Catholic myself. It confused me as well, …moreI don't have an answer but thanks for pointing out the Immaculate Conception thing. I had no idea, not being Catholic myself. It confused me as well, all that talk about the IC and I kept trying to relate it to the conception of Cedar's baby.
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What year is it assumed this story takes place? I feel it is somewhere in the distant future, in a time when global warming is in full effect.

Robert It seemed like the future though technology and culture was more like the present, nothing had changed. Maybe it was just an alternate reality.

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Unanswered Questions (4)

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Wish she was writing a sequel to this book. Has anyone heard if that is in the works?

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Is anyone else haunted by this book? It's been giving me nightmares and daymares.

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