Love Medicine

 LOVE MEDICINE

Louise Erdrich

Books for Bigots

In my quest for Books for Bigots, I have read Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich.  I thought maybe life on the rez would be a topic that might appeal to Bigots.  However, that thought was quickly dispersed as my reading progressed.

Life on the Rez is clearly the result of the white takeover of the American continent.  The Rez as reflected in the book is merely one little nook in the landmass of North America, but it reflects the life of the Indians inhabiting that little nook of real estate and it is not a pleasant picture.  Now this is the problem for any Bigot attempting to read the book; it clearly points the finger at us white folks.  This would not be something that a Bigot would be able to tolerate.

Bigots are not to blame for anything; for fault in human character is the result of the person who carries the fault.  A fault is a moral failure and we all know that moral failures are character defects in the person reflecting them; hence, nobody's fault but the person who has them.  We, meaning white people, are not to blame.  This is the attitude that seems to prevail with the Bigots with whom I am familiar.

Being a white guy myself, I have a difficult time in personalizing the experiences of the characters in Love Medicine, or for that matter, the whole milieu of reservation life  The reservation is a life apart and not a very attractive one as portrayed by the author who, as an Indian, is well qualified to reflect on the issues inherent in growing up on the Rez.  I appreciate that I now have an understanding that I did not previously have.

Ms. Erdrich does not cast blame, she merely illustrates.  This is how things are.  How things are is the purpose of a novel; novels are illustrations of life current and past.  And what Bigots such as our in situs legislative literary critic Brad Zaun, fail to understand is that books such as Love Medicine presume the critic's ignorance of life on the Rez and with the further presumption that such knowledge can only be beneficial to a person such as Mr. Zaun who sits in a legislative body and purports to make the laws that govern our behavior.

Now we know that our presumptions are merely that, presumptions; but more likely they are simply wishful thinking on our part that our legislators would actually have some idea of the world around them and take the knowledge so acquired into consideration when they pass the laws that they pass.  I know this is asking for some thought rather than simply reaction against something that can be targeted as naughty or bad or simply immoral in the eyes of the Bigot so considering, but really!  We need some actual thought when passing legislation.

So, even though we technically do not have any reservations in Iowa, we do have the Meskwaki settlement, which I'm sure would have some similarity to the Rez as pictured in Love Medicine and the characters reflected.  In conclusion, it would seem a book to spend a few hours with especially for a Bigot. 

Richard E H Phelps II

Mingo