Erasure

by

Percival Everett

Woodworking Symbol Analysis

Woodworking  Symbol Icon

In Erasure, woodworking, a hobby of Monk’s, symbolizes the certainty and clarity Monk desires—and yet so infrequently achieves—in his professional pursuits, his relationships, and his sense of self. As a writer, Monk is used to the slippery, fluid quality of written and spoken language, which can strike a person differently based on a number of factors, from circumstance, to experience, to expectations. The same language that creates a feeling of unity among some people can alienate others. For instance, Monk recalls the intense “awkwardness” he felt as a child when he struggled to use African American vernacular in a way that felt and sounded natural.

Woodworking, by contrast, is about concrete surfaces—and because of this, there is considerably less room for interpretation, misinterpretation, and error. “Damnit, a table was a table was a table,” Monk declares at one point in the novel, describing the clear and unambiguous final result of any given woodworking project. But the same cannot be said for Monk’s novels, which rarely receive the feedback Monk desires. Publishers disregard Monk’s serious novels for their failure to reflect consciously on race—a genre convention the publishing industry more or less requires of the works by Black writers it deigns to publish at all. Meanwhile My Pafology, the caustic work of satire Monk pens as an attack on the publishing industry, is grossly misinterpreted, with publishers and critics alike failing to grasp its unserious tone and instead interpreting as a genuine representation of Black life, and then using that interpretation to reaffirm their own assumptions and prejudices about Black people and race as a whole. For Monk, woodworking functions as a necessary escape from the burdensome, frustrating, and sometimes painful situations that tend to arise arise once fluid, finicky language is involved.  

Woodworking Quotes in Erasure

The Erasure quotes below all refer to the symbol of Woodworking . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Race and Identity  Theme Icon
).
Chapter 7 Quotes

I tried to distance myself from the position where the newly sold piece-of-shit novel had placed me vis-à-vis my art. It was not exactly the case that I had sold out, but I was not, apparently, going to turn away the check. I considered my woodworking and why I did it. In my writing my instinct was to defy form, but I very much sought in defying it to affirm it, an irony that was difficult enough to articulate, much less defend. But the wood, the feel of it, the smell of it, the weight of it. It was so much more real than words. The wood was so simple. Damnit, a table was a table was a table.

Related Characters: Thelonious “Monk” Ellison (speaker), Stagg R. Leigh
Related Symbols: Woodworking
Page Number: 139
Explanation and Analysis:
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Erasure PDF

Woodworking Symbol Timeline in Erasure

The timeline below shows where the symbol Woodworking appears in Erasure. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 5
Race and Identity  Theme Icon
Familial Obligation vs. Personal Needs  Theme Icon
Authenticity   Theme Icon
...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... (full context)
Race and Identity  Theme Icon
Familial Obligation vs. Personal Needs  Theme Icon
Authenticity   Theme Icon
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... (full context)
Chapter 9
Race and Identity  Theme Icon
Familial Obligation vs. Personal Needs  Theme Icon
Authenticity   Theme Icon
Back in the present, Monk is in the garage looking at the table (which is now more of a stool) he’s been working on. He considers how his... (full context)
Chapter 13
Race and Identity  Theme Icon
Authenticity   Theme Icon
In a brief interlude, Monk describes his first table saw. It came with a plastic guard, which Monk would “faithfully” use each time, though... (full context)