Love Medicine

Louise Erdrich’s Love Medicine has a unique writing style. By the most literal definition, it is Western in that the book depicts the lives of Native Americans; however, the writing is far from what most consider traditionally western writing. The focus lies heavily on character interaction, the narration style is experimental, and the writing is much more stylized.

 

A common theme of early Western writing is the idea of the land. Westerners thrive on the notion of Manifest Destiny. This is wonderfully shown in Willa Cather’s O Pioneers in which the land is it’s own character. Character development and understanding is important, but mostly shown through how that character works the land. For instance, Alexandra of O Pioneers works with the land. This allows the reader to see Alexandra as a strong, highly intelligent woman. Erdrich realizes the importance of the land, she makes references to the government reparations given to the Native Americans and expresses regret over decisions to sell the land (12). The central theme of the novel is the characters and their personalities are shown via their interactions with others. For instance, through King’s interaction with the rest of his family (namely his wife) the reader gets the sense he is unstable and disturbed. Similarly, Lynette’s shocked response to the men’s conversation regarding skunk eating paints her as an outsider (31).

 

Love Medicine follows a different story telling pattern. While many western novels are told from one perspective in a continuous timeline, Erdrich tells her story via multiple narrators. This is shocking and confusing initially. Immediately, the story jumps from an afternoon of June Kashpaw to a visit home by Albertine Johnson. These stories are connected, but the connection is easily missed or misinterpreted. Erdrich has no obvious pattern to the shift it narrators. Through this the reader gets a sense of the distance and closeness within the family. Each secret or common thread of knowledge is seen or ignored through the narrators.

 

 

Finally, the writing is more stylized.  Edrich incorporates the use of short, quick sentences simultaneously with longer, descriptive ones. This combination creates a unique flow; allowing the reader to fully grasp the internal and the external. The narrator will describe the environment and through the reader learns even more about the character. For instance, “He broke out time after time and was caught each time he did it, regular as clock work (199).”  The reader feels as comfortable with this fact as Albertine does. Comparing it to clockwork makes the notion of jail time less intimidating while explaining history to the reader.

 

In conclusion, many factors makee Erdirch’s writing less conventionally western. Most natoably being that the characters are not conventionally western, they are true westerns. While new Americans were building cities, creating jobs, and finding a culture Native Americans were forced to hold on to whatever they could. In many ways, Love Medicine could be considered a true Western novel as it depicts the lives and struggles of real Americans. Everything from land reparations to confusing family ties to the subsequent alcoholism is touched on. While Love Medicine may not possess the qualities of a “true” western novel, such as O Pioneers, one could argue it is one of the most western novels in a literal sense.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WORKS CITED

 

Cather, Willa. “O Pioneers.” New York: Vintage Books, 1992

 

Erdrich, Louis. “Love Medicine.” New York: Harper Perennial, 1993.