Thelonious “Monk” Ellison
Monk is Erasure’s narrator and the author of “My Pafology”/”Fuck.” Monk is a Harvard educated English professor who writes re-tellings of Greek mythology for a living. Monk is unable to sell his books due to readers’ inability to separate his race from the content of his work. People cannot understand how Greek mythology relates to the African American experience, and as such, his novels do not sell. Frustrated, Monk writes a racist novel titled “My Pafology,” which he is so ashamed of that he submits the novel under the pen name Stagg R. Leigh. To his horror, the novel becomes wildly popular, and Monk must grapple with the fact that the novel provides him the money he desperately needs, but at the same time it is a racist creation that he is ashamed of.
Lisa
Lisa is Monk’s older sister that works at a women’s health clinic. Lisa and Monk have a very stunted and tense relationship, because Monk was favored by their parents. Their parents’ favoritism makes Lisa envious and resentful of Monk. One day while at work, Lisa is murdered by an anti-abortionist.
Bill
Bill is Monk’s older brother that works as a doctor. According to Lisa, he only became a doctor so that he could be rich. Bill had a wife and two kids, but upon coming out as gay, his wife divorced him.
Monk's mother
Monk’s mother is an elderly widow with Alzheimer's. She very openly favors Monk over his sister, Lisa, which is a point of conflict for everyone in the family.
Lorraine
Lorraine is Monk’s mother’s live-in caretaker. She dislikes the profanity that Monk uses in his novels, and is terse with him as a result. Lorraine is old herself, and as such, Monk worries that she will not be able to take care of his mother, whose Alzheimer’s is gaining severity.
Yul
Monk’s agent, who tells him that his novel being rejected from publishers is a result of him not being “black enough.” When Monk submits “My Pafology,” Yul is horrified, but ultimately happy for the monetary gain that the novel brings him.
Juanita Mae Jenkins
Juanita Mae Jenkins is the author of “We’s Lives in da Ghetto,” the novel that ultimately inspires Monk to write “My Pafology” in protest. Jenkins writes “We’s Lives in da Ghetto” based on a weekend she spent in Harlem when she was twelve, and the novel is praised for its realism.
Marilyn
Marilyn is a woman that Monk meets while vacationing with his mother. She lives in the house of a man Monk knew from his childhood, and the two of them quickly become attracted to one another. They date for a period during the novel.
