What is the theme in Montana 1948: A Novel by Larry Watson?

Justice is one of the main themes in the novel, though the various characters have different ideas of what it is and different ways of trying to achieve it. For Wesley Hayden, justice is fairly straightforward. Wesley believes that if a person commits a crime, he or she should be punished for that crime. Even when Gail urges that he drop the prosecution and let Frank go, Wesley - believing in Frank's guilt - cannot bring himself to do so. His idea of punishment is obviously focused around the United States legal system. David, however, cannot believe in that system after his experience with the arrest of his uncle, Frank Hayden. David suddenly learns that summer that justice carries a price and he expresses his dislike for the system by avoiding a career related to law. For Julian Hayden, the ideal of justice is that his way is always right. Julian is a hard man who is anxious to keep everything and everyone under his control. This is evident when he refuses to believe that Frank should have been jailed for assault. The lack of justice for the Indians of the area is obviously a common situation as none of them were willing to come forward of their own accord with their accusations against Frank.