Erskine Character Analysis in On Beauty

Erskine is a professor of African Literature at Wellington, and he is Howard’s closest friend on campus. He is short, Black, and bald, making him the physical opposite of Howard, who is tall and white with a mostly full head of hair. Although Erskine is a loyal friend, he is shameless about cheating on his wife, providing an example of how even on a supposedly progressive campus like Wellington, the culture can still be very chauvinistic. Nevertheless, the novel’s mostly sympathetic portrayal of Erskine helps to illustrate how Howard often feels more comfortable around his colleagues than his actual family members.

Erskine Character Timeline in On Beauty

The timeline below shows where the character Erskine appears in On Beauty. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...he’s walking past the pictures of his and Kiki’s families, he decides to call Dr. Erskine Jegede, a professor of African literature who is one of Howard’s colleagues at Wellington. Erskine... (full context)

As Howard tells Erskine on the phone about his concern over Jerome’s marriage to Victoria, Erskine is sympathetic. Erskine... (full context)

...to Wellington, including Monty, who will have an office in the Black Studies department near Erskine. Both Kiki and Jerome are shocked and a little amused about Howard’s rival Monty coming... (full context)

As the Belseys walk inside the concert hall, Howard runs into Erskine and the Dean of the Humanities, Jack French. Dean French is a good-looking man who... (full context)

Howard decides to find Erskine to ask how Erskine liked his speech. He gets sidetracked talking to a group of... (full context)

When Howard was having his affair, Erskine, who was often guilty of cheating in his marriage, gave Howard the advice to deny... (full context)

...show up at Carlene’s funeral. When they arrive, Howard is surprised and happy to see Erskine was able to make it over from his vacation in Paris for the funeral. (full context)

A drunk Erskine comes over to greet Howard. He drank a lot before the event because a male... (full context)

...like Carl. Although Claire agrees with Zora, she’s overwhelmed by all the emails and calls Erskine in to help her. Erskine promises Claire that everything will be fine—as much as Zora... (full context)

...will vote next month and force her to kick Carl out of her class. As Erskine leaves, he contemplates helping Carl out by doing what Erskine usually does for anyone who... (full context)

...Carl believes his job is a big deal, based on the wordy welcome letter that Erskine wrote for him. (full context)

...job, coming in more often than he’s scheduled and suggesting major improvements to the archive. Erskine, however, is never available for a meeting to hear Carl’s suggestions. Zora often stops by... (full context)

Zora enters the dean’s office and finds Dean French, Monty, Claire, and Erskine, all standing up. Dean French starts a long speech, but Claire interrupts him to say... (full context)

...ready to go and that lots of important people are in the crowd, including Claire, Erskine, and Dean French and his family. Howard is nervous because he’s late and because he’s... (full context)