Are you a fan of drama and heartache? If so, then Love Medicine might be the book you’re looking for! Love Medicine is a fictional American novel by Louise Erdrich that was originally published in 1984 and was later rereleased in an expanded edition in 1993. It received the National Book Critics Circle Award for Best Fiction in 1984 and is “Erdrich’s first and most critically acclaimed novel” (University of Nebraska-Lincoln). Erdrich herself is “the daughter of a Chippewa Indian mother and a German-American father” (“Louise Erdrich”), thus she “explores Native American themes in her works” (“Louise Erdrich”). Erdrich grew up in North Dakota (University of Nebraska-Lincoln), which is exactly where Love Medicine takes place during the time frame
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has changed after experiencing the Vietnam War, and how Gordie Kashpaw coped with the death of June Morrissey through alcoholism. The novel contains a depressing tone as it is full of death, family drama, love affairs, suicide, and abuse. Overall, Erdrich’s novel has a colossal cast of characters, includes several uses of rhetorical and literary devices, touches on important Native American issues, and was well-liked by the public. Love Medicine includes a massive array of diverse characters. The assortment of characters is so big that the beginning of the novel itself includes a family tree for the reader to look back at. A majority of the characters are related, one way or another. Due to the vast amount of characters, it is difficult to remember everyone and how they are linked when you begin reading, so this diagram is necessary. The novel demonstrates both an older generation and a younger generation and how they differ. The main families involved are the Kashpaws and the Nanapushes. The Kashpaws include Eli, Nector, Marie as the older generation and Gordie, Zelda, King, King Jr., and Aurelia as the younger generation. Most of the novel focuses on the relationship between …show more content…
You can see this clearly throughout the work as she uses numerous similes, metaphors, and plenty of examples of imagery. Some examples of similes she uses are “She ate as though she’d hibernated all winter, throwing down every morsel she could snatch” (Erdrich 72) and “Soundless as air she had unwound herself from all the others and stood in the doorway, waiting and watching for what she felt in the air” (Erdrich 94). Using similes like this helps the reader better comprehend exactly how a character was feeling or exactly how a character was moving. She is able to transform a bland idea into something much more fascinating, such as when she uses the metaphor “Her lips hardened, mean, and her face became a wedge of steel” (Erdrich 69). Rather than just stating that the woman was stern and not fond of the character Lulu Nanapush, Erdrich uses this metaphor to express how Lulu made Margret Kashpaw feel whenever she was around. Another example of Erdrich’s use of metaphors is “As my eyes grew accustomed to the light I made her out, a small pile of sticks wrapped in a white gown” (Erdrich 151). She uses this to demonstrate just how sickly Leopalda, Marie’s previous teacher at the nunnery, looked, saying that she was practically a skeleton and was already at death’s door. Some examples of imagery that she uses are “The candy bowl on the table sat precisely on its doily. All her furniture was brushed and
has changed after experiencing the Vietnam War, and how Gordie Kashpaw coped with the death of June Morrissey through alcoholism. The novel contains a depressing tone as it is full of death, family drama, love affairs, suicide, and abuse. Overall, Erdrich’s novel has a colossal cast of characters, includes several uses of rhetorical and literary devices, touches on important Native American issues, and was well-liked by the public. Love Medicine includes a massive array of diverse characters. The assortment of characters is so big that the beginning of the novel itself includes a family tree for the reader to look back at. A majority of the characters are related, one way or another. Due to the vast amount of characters, it is difficult to remember everyone and how they are linked when you begin reading, so this diagram is necessary. The novel demonstrates both an older generation and a younger generation and how they differ. The main families involved are the Kashpaws and the Nanapushes. The Kashpaws include Eli, Nector, Marie as the older generation and Gordie, Zelda, King, King Jr., and Aurelia as the younger generation. Most of the novel focuses on the relationship between …show more content…
You can see this clearly throughout the work as she uses numerous similes, metaphors, and plenty of examples of imagery. Some examples of similes she uses are “She ate as though she’d hibernated all winter, throwing down every morsel she could snatch” (Erdrich 72) and “Soundless as air she had unwound herself from all the others and stood in the doorway, waiting and watching for what she felt in the air” (Erdrich 94). Using similes like this helps the reader better comprehend exactly how a character was feeling or exactly how a character was moving. She is able to transform a bland idea into something much more fascinating, such as when she uses the metaphor “Her lips hardened, mean, and her face became a wedge of steel” (Erdrich 69). Rather than just stating that the woman was stern and not fond of the character Lulu Nanapush, Erdrich uses this metaphor to express how Lulu made Margret Kashpaw feel whenever she was around. Another example of Erdrich’s use of metaphors is “As my eyes grew accustomed to the light I made her out, a small pile of sticks wrapped in a white gown” (Erdrich 151). She uses this to demonstrate just how sickly Leopalda, Marie’s previous teacher at the nunnery, looked, saying that she was practically a skeleton and was already at death’s door. Some examples of imagery that she uses are “The candy bowl on the table sat precisely on its doily. All her furniture was brushed and