Student Question

What characteristics link "A Love Medicine" by Louise Erdrich and "Theme for English B" by Langston Hughes?

Quick answer:

Both "Theme for English B" by Langston Hughes and Louise Erdrich's Love Medicine share themes of individual identity against societal norms, cultural clash, and racial issues. Hughes explores these through a personal, introspective lens, addressing race and identity in America, while Erdrich uses fragmented narratives to depict Native American identity struggles. Both works use powerful imagery to highlight separation and alienation, emphasizing the complex interplay between personal identity and broader cultural forces.

Expert Answers

An illustration of the letter 'A' in a speech bubbles

In my mind, I think that a dominant theme in both works is the idea of exploring how the individual experience is one that needs to be revered in all of its different forms.  Hughes' poem is quite open about this.  His experience is different from his White counterparts.  This is something from which Hughes does not run, but rather openly states.  In this light, Erdrich's work does much of the same.  Her separated vignettes help to explore what it means to be Native American.  Both works do not seek to make broad and totalizing statements about each cultural condition.  Yet, both do seek to bring clearly the fact that what it means to be Native American and African- American brings with it different components of reality and the construction of one's identity is vastly different than the cultural norm.  This theme is a resounding one in both and one...

Unlock
This Answer Now

Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.

Get 48 Hours Free Access

worthy of further exploration.

Approved by eNotes Editorial
An illustration of the letter 'A' in a speech bubbles

Compare the theme in Love Medicine and "Theme for English B."

Love Medicine is a novel written by North American Indian writer Louise Erdrich while "Theme for English B" is a poem written by African American poet Langston Hughes. Love Medicine tells the story of broken lives and loves starting from the death in 1981 of the pivotal character, June Kashpaw. Erdrich then flashes back to the remotest beginning of June's story when in 1934 the aunt who raised her, Marie Lazarre Kashpaw, joins a convent at age fourteen. "Theme for English B" is the result of an assignment given to Hughes while in a college class for which a "true" page is requested by his non-African American professor. In the assignment, and in the poem the assignment turned into, Hughes contemplates the possibility and meaning of a true expression of self.

The pieces of literature share some themes in common. One of these is the theme of the individual against society. In Erdrich's work, this is demonstrated by the characters desire and effort to keep their Chippewa Indian traditions alive while living in contemporary America. In Hughes' poem, this is shown by his contemplation of being "the only colored student in my class" and of the fact that he is the only one in his class that takes the steps from the hill upon which his college sits down into Harlem instead of down into New York City--in the other direction.

Another common theme is that of culture clash. This clash is shown in the novel in one instance when Gerry hits a white man in a bar one night and is sent to prison. This clash is shown in the poem when Hughes contemplates that just as his white instructor doesn't want to be "part of" Hughes, Hughes does not want to be "part of" his instructor, "But we are, that's true!" This also ties in with the shared theme of race and racism. Erdrich writes that Gerry's prison sentence was "not bad for an Indian," pointing out the consciousness of and conflict between races, which results from and equally leads to racism. Hughes expresses the theme of race and racism when he writes about his instructor that "you're older--and white-- / and somewhat more free." He also wonders if his page will be "colored" ("So will my page be colored that I write?") while concluding that "it will not be white."

A related theme is that of identity. In the novel, Lipsha represents this theme as he grows up not knowing who his parents are and only feels a sense if identity when he meets his father Gerry and helps him escape. In the poem, the theme is represented by Hughes' contemplative musings about his own identity:

It's not easy to know what is true for you or me
at twenty-two, my age. But I guess I'm what
I feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you:
hear you, hear me--we two--you, me, talk on this page.
(I hear New York, too.) Me--who?
Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love.
I like to work, read, learn, and understand life.
I like a pipe for a Christmas present,
or records--Bessie, bop, or Bach.
I guess being colored doesn't make me not like
the same things other folks like who are other races.

Approved by eNotes Editorial
An illustration of the letter 'A' in a speech bubbles

Compare the imagery in "Love Medicine" by Erdrich and "Theme for English B" by Hughes.

[eNotes editors are not permitted to answer more than one question per posting. If you have additional questions, please list them separately.]

The images Louise Erdrich provides in her poem, "Love Medicine," are very different than those in Langston Hughes' "Theme for English B."

The imagery used in each poem has an enormous bearing on the poem's mood.

"Love Medicine" is a story of separation for the characters described. Some of the imagery is truly "authentic:" describing images that explode in a crystal vision with the words Erdrich uses. Additionally, there is violence described in the poem, and the imagery is extremely powerful.

Erdrich's gift for effectively using imagery can be seen with this example:

The pickups sizzle beneath the blue neon
bug traps of the dairy bar.

And...

He wears a long rut in the fog.

And again...

...at the crest of the flood,
when the pilings are jarred from their sockets
and pitch into the current...

Finally...

The white-violet bulbs of the streetlamps
are seething with insects,
and the trees lean down aching and empty.

Erdrich also captures our minds with imagery that relates to the violence that takes place in the poem.

...she steps against the fistwork of a man...
...and his boot plants its grin
among the arches of her face.

Later...

I find her in a burnt-over ditch, in a field
that is gagging on rain.

It is amazing that the word "love" can be found in the poem's title, except that it speaks of the speaker's love, and hope for healing, for her injured sister, Theresa.

Langston Hughes' poem "Theme for English B" also deals with the idea of separation (or alienation), but his imagery runs deep like undercurrents during a riptide: they are quietly powerful.

On the surface, Hughes' use of imagery seems almost casual. For example:

...I like a pipe for a Christmas present...

...and...

I guess being colored doesn't make me NOT like 
the same things other folks like who are other races.

Hughes speaks directly to one of the poem's main points, using imagery that puts "white" and "American" out there with "I am a part of you:"

You are white--- 
yet a part of me, as I am a part of you. 
That's American.

Hughes addresses a dominant idea that was as much a part of his life experience as breathing:

Sometimes perhaps you don't want to be a part of me. 
Nor do I often want to be a part of you. 
But we are, that's true!

This last piece of imagery provides clarity in what Hughes is not: and perhaps there is acknowledgement, sadness, and even longing...?—

...although you're older---and white--- 
and somewhat more free.

Whereas Erdrich's imagery is energized and sometimes painful to read, Hughes uses imagery that creates more of a hum, something lying just beneath the surface of his poetry.

For both of these authors, the use of imagery sets the mood for the reader, and helps us to be present with the characters in each poem to better understand the poem's message to the reader.

Approved by eNotes Editorial
An illustration of the letter 'A' in a speech bubbles

Compare the images and themes in "Love Medicine" and "Theme for English B."

Images support themes. Louise Erdich's "Love Medicine," and Langston Hughes' "Theme for English B," have similar themes, but the imagery is specific to each poem. The theme that strikes me most clearly deals with separation—alienation.

Langston's Hughes' poem, "Theme for English B," is a homework assignment. The poet writes about his truth. Hughes (if we assume he is the speaker) describes where he comes from, mentioning Harlem, and the Y (YMCA) where he has a room. The prevalent reference here is the connection between people that transcends color: Hughes knows others don't like it, and that he does not either, at times. People are put off, in this case, with being the "same."

Hughes is the only man of color in his class, and his truth is different than that of the other students.

Hughes' imagery points out much of what he has in common with others, and his list is "color-blind:" it does not pertain specifically to a person of any color; the items on his "list" are neutral—things  that most people enjoy:

Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love. 
I like to work, read, learn, and understand life. 
I like a pipe... 
or records... 
I guess being colored doesn't make me NOT like 
the same things other folks like who are other races.

Noticeable imagery occurs with the comparison of white and "colored" skin. Here the theme of separation is clearly presented. Hughes writes to the professor, stating that they will learn from one another—perhaps Hughes infers that true education defies a separation of "color."

The theme of separation is constant, supported by what is common to both races, and what is not. Hughes is alone in his separation.

Louise Erdrich's poem, "Love Medicine," has very different imagery, but the theme is the same.

Erdrich speak about her sister in this poem, and how she fits in better than the speaker (Louise?).

This dragonfly, my sister,

She belongs more than I

to this night of rising water.

"Dragonfly" may simply refer to Erdrich's sister's green halter and chains creating a green iridescence that catch the eye. However, in Native American culture, the dragonfly is symbolic, representing "a lesson to be learned" in examining these deeper thoughts. Erdrich may be looking for these especially because of what happens to her sister:

...she steps against the fistwork of a man...and his boot plants its grin / against the arches of her face.

The rising water may refer to a threat; the storm that brings it may generally refer to conflict. The sister leaves her man in his Dodge to walk about (he then "wears a long rut in the fog" looking for her), but is punched by a man—a different man (?!). The fog hides the violence. Erdrich does not see it, but she finds her sister afterward.

The images speak again of "separation." There is a separation between her sister and her man, between Erdrich and her sister, and between sense and confounding brutality.

For the sake of comparison, Hughes' speaks of his separation, and trying to understand it even while he and others have much in common.

Erdrich notes separation that strikes with cruelty.

However, when Erdrich repeats "I find her..." in the sixth stanza, this may indicate that the violence is occurring in other places to other women—she notes that the separation is wide-reaching. Perhaps when she refers to "sister," it means all women.

Erdrich's separation would then refer to abused women; Hughes' separation seems to refer to the that between races.

Approved by eNotes Editorial