The theme of a novel can been something that connects the story and drives the main plot. However, theme can also be something that helps a character develop and discover who they are throughout a novel. There can be several themes throughout a story, or one overarching theme that develops throughout and reflects lessons that can be learned from the novel. In the novels “Love Medicine” by Louise Erdrich and “The Stranger” by Albert Camus, there are several significant themes that develop throughout the novel that help the characters develop and realize who they truly are and what is most important to them. These themes include death, religion, love, and the search for one’s identity.
One of the major themes that runs throughout both the novels “Love Medicine” and “The Stranger” is the theme of death and mortality. The theme of death reoccurs throughout the span of both novels, however it affects the characters and the plot in each of the novels in a very different way. In Camus’s “The Stranger,” the main character of the novel, Meursault, is unaffected by the death that occurs around him, and even the death that he causes. For Meursault, death is just something that happens in life and he does not feel any grief over it. Even when Meursault is informed of his mother’s death, he just faces it matter-of-factly and it does not seem to make any impact on his life other than the fact that he has to miss work in order to attend his mother’s funeral and that it is hot outside. He shoots an Arab, who is sitting on the beach, several times simply for the reason “…that it was because of the sun” (The Stranger, pg 103). This shows that Meursault did not kill out of self defense or hatred, but because he felt overwhelmed due to the sun. He shows no remorse for this action or about the death of the Arab, which illustrates just how indifferent Meursault is towards death and that it does not affect him like it does most others. On the other hand, the theme of death in “Love Medicine” is something that deeply affects the characters throughout the novel and causes them grief. The death of June is described by multiple characters, and each description is told slightly different because it affected each of the characters in a different way, however they are all affected by her death in some way, unlike Meursault. While Meursault saw death as a final escape and a way to be free from this life, the characters in “Love Medicine” believe that death is not final but that it is just a transition into another life, which brings up another main theme, religion.
Religion is another theme that develops throughout both novels, however religion means something very different for Meursault than it does for the characters in “Love Medicine.” For Meursault, religion is just something that people use as an escape from the finality of death. He refuses to believe that God or an afterlife exist and even in the final moments before his execution, he refuses to believe that there is anything beyond death. He is infuriated when the priest tries several times to talk to him in order to make him believe that there is life after death, even though Meursault claims that he knows for certain what death is, while the priest is “living like a dead man”(The Stranger, pg 120). On the contrary, the characters in “Love Medicine” are all religious or spiritual in some form and believe in a life after death, whether it is Catholicism or the Native American traditions and beliefs. Lipsha claims “Faith might be stupid, but it gets us through” (Love Medicine, page 245). While not all of the characters believe in religion for the same reasons, they all use it as a tool to help them get through life and give them hope when there would otherwise be none. While Meursault relies on the emptiness and indifference of life and death to help him cope with his impending execution, the characters in “Love Medicine” rely on their faith and beliefs to help them deal with the idea death and mortality.
Another major theme that greatly impacts “Love Medicine” and “The Stranger” is love. In “Love Medicine,” love is shown in several different forms by each of the characters. Love is shown by some of the characters as a familial love, a romantic love, and even love for the land and the Earth. Love is something that is able to unite all of the characters and their different backgrounds and stories together throughout the novel when nothing else is able to. While some of the characters and narrators are related, some of them are also from different backgrounds and have different religious beliefs and ways of thinking, but all of them show love in some way. However, in “The Stranger,” Meursault shows the opposite, he shows an absence of love. Even though Meursault admits to Marie that he does not love her, she continues to love him and they decide to get married anyways because he claims that it does not matter whether or not he loves her. During his trial, Meursault seems to be on trial for his lack of love and empathy towards people rather than the crime he committed. Meursault is questioned at his trial about whether he felt any remorse for killing the Arab and if he felt any grief over his mother’s death or if he ever even loved her, and Meursault admits that he did not feel any, and that he never has. While love is something that brings all the characters together and is shown by each of the characters in “Love Medicine” in some way, Meursault’s lack of love in “The Stranger” is something that alienates him rather than connects him with others in society.
The theme of individual versus society is also significant and develops throughout both of the novels. In “The Stranger,” since Meursault lacks empathy, is indifferent to everything, and has views that are very different from those that society has, he is seen as an outcast and distanced from society. He does not have normal traits that a person is expected to have, so therefore he is seen as a monster who should be kept away from society in order to prevent him from corrupting it. Even during his trial he is incriminated based on his beliefs and his attitude, especially towards his mother, rather than the actual evidence about the crime that he committed. He also distances himself from the rest of society because he finds it easier to be on his own rather than to conform to society, even during his time in jail. In “Love Medicine,” the characters are also outcast from society, especially while on the reservation land, by the way that they are viewed and treated by society. The Native American characters feel outcast because of their race and they way that they are seen by society as a whole rather than as individuals, which impacts their identity and how they view themselves. Marie even does not like telling people that she is a Native American because she knows that it will change the way that people view her, how they treat her, and how they act towards her, so she avoids it as much as possible.
Another major theme that develops throughout both novels is the search for one’s identity. In “Love Medicine,” the characters develop and find their identity throughout the novel, and each character does this in their own way. While Kashpaw searches for her true identity, she associates herself with the virgin Mary up until she sleeps with Nector, which causes her to change her sense of identity and search for what truly defines her. The characters also try to establish their sense of identity through their relationships, both romantically and in their families. For example, Lipsha feels like he must redefine his sense of identity when he finds out that his parents are actually June and Gerry. In “The Stranger,” Meursault is also continuously searching for his identity through his relationship with others and the world around him. However, Meursault does not find his true identity and his sense of self until he is faced with his own death. It is at this point that he realizes why he has felt no emotion towards death, even his own mother’s, and it is this realization that changes Meursault’s sense of his own identity.
The theme of a novel plays a large role in bringing the plot and characters of a book together and making the story flow. The themes of love, religion, death, and a search for one’s identity in the novels “Love Medicine” and “The Stranger” are important because they help the characters develop who they are throughout the novel.