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Chapter 4
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Erasure, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Race and Identity
Familial Obligation vs. Personal Needs
Artistic Integrity vs. Commercial Success
Authenticity
Summary
Analysis
Monk returns to California feeling restless. The next morning, he receives a letter from his agent, Yul, informing him that his latest novel has been rejected. In a brief interlude, Monk describes some techniques he uses in his hobby of fly fishing. Monk’s semester wraps up fine, and he learns that he has been promoted to professor. Still, he feels depressed over the rejection of his latest novel. On the phone later, Yul informs him that it’s because he’s “not black enough.” Monk gripes about the stereotypical garbage that people like Juanita Mae Jenkins write. Yul agrees, but he reminds Monk that “it sells.” Monk hangs up the phone, only for it to ring almost immediately after. It’s Lorraine, telling him that Lisa is dead. Monk calls Bill, and they both make plans to travel home. Inwardly, Monk struggles to make sense of the words Lorraine spoke to him.
Yul’s explanation for why Monk’s latest novel was rejected is one Monk has heard time and again: it’s “not black enough,” meaning the book’s plot and themes don’t adhere to the limited boundaries the publishing industry (and perhaps, too, society as a whole) has carved out for Black writers. The mass culture, it seems, isn’t interested in consuming Black art unless it explicitly focuses on a narrowly defined vision of Black life. This is something white authors don’t have to deal with—they are not defined by their race. But the shocking news of Lisa’s death pulls Monk away from his professional woes, forcing him to confront the familial and interpersonal conflicts of his life.
Themes
Monk arrives in Washington and heads to Mother’s house. Bill greets him at the door and tells him that Mother is sleeping. Then he explains what happened to Lisa: an anti-abortion picketer shot her at the clinic. Later, Monk goes to Lisa’s apartment, noting how “full of life” it appears, with art hanging on the walls, and the bed neatly made. He sees the wooden ring box he made for her some years ago. He remembers hoping she’d like it as much as he liked making it.
In retrospect, the detail of Lisa’s apprehension over the nurse who was recently shot in Maryland was foreshadowing for Lisa’s own tragic murder. Throughout Erasure, Monk’s hobby of woodworking symbolizes his desire for certainty and clarity in his artistic pursuits, values, and relationships—woodworking is all about surfaces, after all. Thus, his focus on the wooden ring box in this scene perhaps reflects his regret at not having more moments of genuine, mutual understanding with Lisa—at all the times he put up walls that shut her (and others) out.
Themes
Later, after Lisa’s funeral, Bill asks Monk if he’s still doing woodwork. Monk asks about Bill’s wife Sandy and the kids, and Bill says that Sandy divorced him and took everything after finding out that he was gay. His practice is also failing as a result. But Bill maintains that he deserves all the grief that Sandy is giving him—he lied to her for years. Monk feels bad about Bill’s situation, but he’s also disappointed to hear that Bill isn’t in a financial condition to help out with Mother’s care. Not long after Lisa’s funeral, Monk moves in with Mother and Lorraine.
Bill feels his “punishment” from Sandy is worth it because he feels that being insincere with others is one of the most indefensible, inhumane things a person can do, representing a betrayal of others and of one’s authentic self. Bill’s mention of woodworking before shifting to the subject of his divorce further underscores woodworking as representing the connection (or lack thereof) between one’s outer persona and one’s inner sense of self.
Themes
