51 pages 1 hour read

Louise Erdrich

Love Medicine

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1984

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Chapters 11-18Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 11 Summary: “Scales (1980)”

In 1980, Albertine sits at a bar with Gerry Nanapush and Dot Adare, who is pregnant with Gerry’s baby. For 13 years, Gerry has been in and out of prison and is currently on the run after a recent escape. The three sit together and think about names for the baby but Gerry runs out the back when Officer Lovchik enters. When Dot and Albertine first met each other, Dot was suspicious of Albertine because of her connection to Gerry. When the two women ran into each other at their jobs on a construction site, Albertine started a fight with Dot and won her respect.

Dot and Gerry conceived their baby while Gerry was in prison. When he broke out, Dot kept him hidden with her for about a month. He was eventually caught, but Gerry has a talent for getting in and out of prison, and his own sense of justice that transcends the law. He also has a difficult time getting anyone to stand up for him in court because of the distrust between police institutions and the Indigenous American community. Despite his lawlessness and reimprisonment during Dot’s pregnancy, she loves him dearly. Gerry, though known as a delinquent, is a kind, sensitive, and loving man.