62 pages • 2 hours read
Percival EverettErasure
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2001A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 1-3Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary
Content Warning: This section of the guide refers to suicide and anti-Black biases.
Thelonious “Monk” Ellison introduces himself as a fiction writer and says that this is his journal. He is terrified by the thought that people will read his story, so he surrenders the title of the “author.” He instead refers to himself using other characterizations, calling himself “a son, a brother, a fisherman, an art lover, a woodworker” (1). He describes his appearance—his “dark brown skin, curly hair [and] broad nose” (1)—and then talks about his enslaved ancestors and his encounters with white police officers, saying that, by societal standards, his race is Black. He is a Harvard graduate and likes music; his grandfather and father were doctors, and his siblings, Lisa and Bill, are doctors, too. Several editors and reviewers characterize Monk’s novels as not being Black enough. Monk does not believe in race.
Monk goes to Washington, DC to present a paper at a conference organized by the Nouveau Roman Society. While he is there, he plans to visit his mother and his sister, Lisa. His relationship with Lisa is strained. His brother, Bill, lives in Arizona and is married with children. Monk explains that Bill is a gay man. Monk checks into a hotel and meets Lisa, who tells him that their mother is losing her memory. She cares for their mother with the help of Lorraine, a caretaker, and Monk recognizes that Lisa does a lot for their mother. Then, Lisa complains about anti-abortionist protesters who come outside her clinic every day. Monk mentions that he is working on a novel. Lisa tells him he is smart, but she wishes he would write something she could read.
At home, they dine with their mother who forgets that Lisa is divorced. Monk recalls his father and the summers the family spent together on the beach in Maryland. His father once told Monk that he has a “special mind,” which makes him different from his siblings. One day, his father had a heart attack, but he eventually died by suicide.
Back at the hotel, Monk meets Linda Mallory at the bar; she is a colleague with whom he has an occasional relationship. He states that the Nouveau Roman Society hates him because he criticizes their work. He and Linda discuss their papers, and later, Monk goes to his room.
Chapter 2 Summary
The following morning, Monk has breakfast alone, feeling lost. He does not care about the conference but thinks about his paper and knows it will offend the members of the Nouveau Roman Society. At the conference, Monk reads an overly complex paper about the experimental novel. He unfolds a linguistic approach, talking about the uses of the hyphen, the signifier and the signified, the significance of narrative, and the ability of language to provide meaning. At the end of his reading, there is some nervous applause, and then an editor from the audience throws his keys at Monk, swearing. The man is ready to wrestle Monk, but people stop him. Monk tells him he meant no offense with his paper and gives him back his keys. The man calls him a “mimetic hack.” Monk leaves the room.
Chapter 3 Summary
Monk returns to his hotel, where someone has left him a note with a death threat. He believes that it is from the writers of the Nouveau Roman Society and he doesn’t take it seriously, thinking that they are as ineffective at writing as they are at carrying out their threats.
Monk considers a story idea he has. It is about a woman who births an egg and takes care of it as a child. Everyone thinks her behavior is bizarre, and even her husband leaves her. But the woman is devoted to the egg and tells it she loves it; then, the egg cracks.
Monk makes his way to the clinic where Lisa works. On the streets, he notices unhoused people, and he remembers that Lisa chooses to work in the Southeast section of the city because it is “where the people [live]” (20). He admires Lisa’s toughness. At the clinic, he sits in the waiting room next to a woman and her young son. He and the woman discuss books, and Monk tells her that she is very smart and should go to college. She reveals that she did not even finish high school, leaving him speechless. Lisa comes out and tells him she will be finishing up with work soon.
Monk recalls a party he attended when he was a teenager. He did not want to introduce himself, fearing people would mock him. A girl asked him to dance and he became self-conscious. While they were dancing, Monk had an erection and ran out of the party. He found his brother Bill at the dock and hung out with him and his friends.
Lisa and Monk go to lunch. He tells her that their father would be proud of her and that he is sorry about her divorce. He notices a man staring at them and thinks that he is perhaps interested in Lisa. Monk confesses to Lisa that he often feels “removed from everything” (26). Lisa tells him he is simply different and that she always wanted to be like him. Monk feels bad that Lisa is solely responsible for their mother.
After lunch, the two visit a bookstore. Monk finds his books in the African American studies shelf instead of the contemporary fiction section. His finds a new bestseller titled We’s Lives in Da Ghetto by Juanita May Jenkins. He reads the first paragraph, feeling disgusted.
As they drive back to Lisa’s clinic, Monk notices the anti-abortionist picketers outside, screaming at Lisa.
Chapters 1-3 Analysis
Throughout Erasure, other interlapping narratives and textual elements appear—such as letters, reviews, and Monk’s notes for possible story ideas—and these emphasize the novel’s metafictional dimensions and underpin The Complex Relationship Between Language, Identity, and Art. The protagonist and narrator of the story, Thelonious Monk Ellison, is an author confronted with an artistic crisis. He introduces himself as “a writer of fiction” (1), but this title makes him uncomfortable because of his racial identity. This is why he appends this description of himself by mentioning his other interests, such as fishing, art, and woodworking. As a writer, Monk feels pressured by societal and cultural expectations to confront his Black identity, though he personally isn’t inclined to write fiction that solely highlights his race. When Monk describes himself, he acknowledges that his appearance and experiences conform with that of many African American men, saying: “I have dark brown skin, curly hair, a broad nose, some of my ancestors were slaves and I have been detained by pasty white policemen” (1). However, he goes on to say, “and so the society in which I live tells me I am black; that is my race” (1). Monk uses language to show that society defines his race for him. While he doesn’t disavow his race, he stresses that society perceives him in a stereotypical way—as a Black man whose experiences and mindset they believe they already understand, even though they do not know him as an individual. Throughout the novel, Monk inserts several story ideas and imaginary dialogue that reveal his artistic thoughts and concerns.
Monk is also at odds with his fellow writers. He is a member of a literary society called the Nouveau Roman Society that mainly consists of white postmodernists. Monk believes that the members of this society hate him because he contests their literary goals. When he presents a complex paper on the experimental novel at one of their meetings, he questions the fundamental assumptions of the literary society. His paper parodies the postmodernists’ focus on theory and causes rage among its members. In other words, Monk contests the white postmodern literary tradition that excludes writers like him. In this way, the novel once again calls attention to the relationship between language, identity, and art.
The theme of Racism in the Publishing Industry and Popular Culture becomes evident as Monk’s latest novels are rejected by editors and reviewers who believe he is “not Black enough” (2). His thematic and artistic interests, like his newest work that is a retelling of Greek myths, perplex editors and publishers who believe that Monk’s writing does not connect with the “African American experience” (2). Monk is frustrated with this feedback, which is why he affirms that he does not believe in race even though he understands racism and the historical past. At a bookstore, he notices that his previous books have been relegated to the African American studies section rather than being shelved under contemporary fiction, which once again highlights how his work as a Black author is not seen as representing the general human experience. When he discovers Jenkins’s bestselling book, We’s Lives In Da Ghetto, his fury intensifies. As he reads the stereotypical depictions of the African American experience in that novel, Monk feels that popular culture is “a real slap in the face” for an artist like himself (29). The satirical novel that Monk goes on to write becomes a response to this popular book and a way to channel his artistic frustration against the literary marketplace.
Erasure also challenges the notion of the “typical” Black experience in America depicted in much popular fiction by portraying Monk’s life and problems, which are not always defined by his race. Monk’s relationship with his family becomes central in the story and defines him as a person. His relationship with his siblings is strained; they do not talk much and Monk states about himself that he was always “removed from the real world” (3). He has not seen his mother and sister in in three years and his brother Bill lives away in Arizona. Monk notes that Bill is a gay man and the family lacks understanding of his sexuality. Monk’s mother is losing her memory, and Monk struggles with the guilt of leaving her care to Lisa. Monk’s father, who is dead, was a big influence on Monk. Monk’s memories of him pervade the narrative. His father was the only one who understood Monk and his “special mind” (9). This close relationship is a contrast to the father-son relationship Monk will depict in his satirical novel, My Pafology, which will follow stereotypical depictions of hypermasculine Black men who forsake their children. In this way, Monk’s own personal life provides a contrast to stereotypes about African Americans that are prevalent in popular culture.
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By Percival Everett
