Loneliness and Temptation

All three works, “Love Medicine” by Louise Erdich, “This is Just to Say” by William Carlos Williams, and “l(a” by e.e. cummings, present the idea of loneliness and temptation.
In “Love Medicine” the Grandma becomes the sullen, lonely being once she finds out that he husband has been having an affair and is no longer interested in her. The Grandpa faced a temptation which he pursued and which ended his marriage. The distraught Grandma asks her grandson to make her a love medicine, to win back her Grandpa. The grandson gathers to turkey heads; giving on to the Grandpa and one to the Grandma. The son’s attempt at a good deed only leads to his grandpa’s death, and the extreme loneliness of his grandma. The Grandma who once thought she was lonely; now has to deal with the death of her ex-husband, which ultimately creates even more loneliness.
In “l(a” the poem is presented in a very different form. The poem which is in lyric form, actually reads l(a leaf falls)oneliness, when put together. This poem clearly states the idea of loneliness. It says” a leaf falls,” which symbolizes the separation from its home, or the tree. It is stating that the leaf will now be on the ground away from it’s home, which relates back to the theme of loneliness, the leaf will now be alone. The interesting part about this poem is that the “l” is all by itself and then it is joined with “oneliness” this is also a sign that the poem is going to present the idea of loneliness and just by looking at the singled out “l,” we can already tell the theme.
In “This is Just to Say” the speaker simply says that he has eaten all the plums that we in the icebox, even when he knew that they were for someone else. This poem presents the idea of temptation and the speaker’s desire to eat the cold and sweet plums which were in the icebox. This poem has a sarcastic tone, almost as if he is belittling the person who was saving them for breakfast. It is witty and very simple, which makes it such a great poem. Williams also says, “Forgive me they were delicious,” this can relate to the idea of the “forbidden fruit,” which is the plum in this poem. The temptation to have this “forbidden fruit” became too overwhelming for the speaker.
In all three works the speakers and authors do a very good job at presenting the ideas of loneliness and temptation. “Love Medicine” really captures the true emotion of the Grandma which is loneliness now that she has lost her loved one. In “l(a” the speaker does a very good job at mixing up the poetic style to create a sense of mystery, but also to show that everything was in bits and pieces and that every single component was lonely. While in “This is Just to Say” the speaker presents the idea of temptation in a sarcastic way, relating it back to the idea of the “forbidden fruit.”