Erasure

Content Warning: This section refers to anti-gay biases, racism, and violence.

Monk drives around the city in Lisa’s car and then visits his mother. He notices that she has a calendar up from the previous year. She tells him that she was burning some papers his father asked her to, and Monk notices her fatigue. She invites him to come back later for dinner. Monk notes that “sharing a language” does not equal sharing “the rules governing the use of that language” (32). Despite what his mother said to him, he senses that she was trying to tell him something different.

Monk recalls that he once showed one of his stories to his father, who was impressed with it. He concludes that “art finds its form and that it is never a mere manifestation of life” (33).

Monk has dinner with Lisa and their mother at home. Lisa tells their mother they must sell their father’s office because of her financial difficulties. Their mother protests but gives in when Monk supports Lisa. Afterward, Lisa drives Monk to his hotel and tells him he is special as she says goodbye.

Inside, he runs into Linda Mallory who asks him to sleep with her, but he declines.