Alcoholism In Love Medicine

An object that appears a lot in the novel, Love Medicine, is alcohol. Many characters struggle with alcoholism. Some of the characters exhibit using alcohol as a social activity and others exhibit it as an addiction that leads to most of their actions. The presence of alcohol is the main factor that leads to the behavioral acts of the characters. In Love Medicine alcohol is portrayed as a form of medicine to relieve pain and agony but in the long run leads to more problems. Alcohol is introduced right away in the very first story of the novel. June is engaging in sexual activity with a man she just met in a bar and after they are done she ends up trying to make the long walk home to the reservation where she ends up passing away. The reason why Erdrich brings up alcohol right in the beginning is to draw people in and to get the audience thinking about the tragedy of June. In the novel, June is portrayed as someone who might be kind of depressed and lurking for guys that have money. Erdrich brings in
He also feels like he can’t catch a break because Marie keeps housing so many children and they never get time to themselves. So Nector goes out to drink frequently and is starting to lose his feelings for Marie and gain more feelings for Lulu. Nector seems to use the alcohol as a way to help relax and slow down his life. Erdrich brings alcohol into this scene to give the readers and idea that Nector is really unhappy and goes out to drink in order to get away from the house. The quote “Sometimes I escaped. I had to have relief. I went drinking and caught holy hell from Marie.” really paints a picture in our heads that the only reason why Nector is engaging in drinking to have relief from his overwhelming life and confusing love story, but in the end he ends up going for a girl he had no control over and regrets leaving Marie so he comes