Geraldine in The Round House by Louise Erdrich

The Round House The Round House by Louise Erdrich has many characters that all play a significant part in this novel. The character that stood out to me the most is the mother of the main character Joe, Geraldine. It is obvious that the book is based off the attack that happened to Geraldine, but I feel that her character as an individual plays a very important role in this novel. Some may wonder why Louise Erdrich started the novel with this beginning sentence: "Small trees had attacked my parents' house at the foundation. ... They had grown into the unseen wall and it was difficult to pry them loose," as Joe tells us. I have come to believe that this opening sentence is an overall indication of the complications and obstacles attacking the foundation of the family, Joe’s mother Geraldine.
Geraldine seems like the typical loving and nurturing mother before the attack. Joe described that she would always cook for him and his father and she maintained the house. After the attack it was expected that she would be a little depressed and not as normal as she once was, but I believe there is something else that we as readers have not yet found out about Geraldine. The first thing that I noticed is that she doesn’t seem very adamant about who the attacker may be. On page 89 when Joe asked her if she wanted them to catch the attacker she answered Joe with nothing but a blank stare. I understand not wanting to put your family in a position where they may be in harm’s way or they could get themselves in trouble but Geraldine didn’t say much to Joe about finder the attacker.
Her character also allows us as readers to witness how such a strong person can easily become so weak and incompetent. After days of not cooking and leaving the room Geraldine finally comes down stairs and tries to do normal things that she was doing prior to the attack, such as cooking. On page 43, we see Joe’s father come in the door and go up behind Geraldine to hug her (as he always did