The Book “Salavge the Bones” by Jesmyn Ward

Is an excellent tale of how one family on the Mississippi Gulf Coast endured Hurricane Katrina. We are giving the story from the perspective of our main character fifteen-year-old Esch, the single female in both her family and one of few in the book. As she has grown up solely around a masculine household, she pertains independence and a tough exterior. The child often turns to memories of her deceased mother for guidance, giving her a somewhat supernatural-like role. With this, along with several other scenes within the text, theme of motherhood is firmly established.

The opening scene of the tale firmly establishes the theme of through family’s pet pitbull China, who was giving birth to pups within the shed at this time.

The entire family consisting of her drunk of a father, her two older brothers Skeetah and Randall, and the youngest brother Junior, gather to watch the dog China become a mother. It is in this scene that a reminder of the mother’s death is evoked within them, having Esch to go on and state how her and the oldest siblings came fast, and her mother thought she could do the same with Junior.

It didn’t play out well. This serves as a reminder of how motherhood works: with birth comes death. China is the truth and it’s most ruthless and brutish form, being just like a mother and destructive throughout the text. She spends her little time in the plot giving birth to pups, ripping other pits to shreds for money to help the family, and also protecting them.

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The loss of their mother haunts all of the children, however more so with her.

She allows her to creep into the plot a lot at times, such as when Randall teaches Junior how they were taught to find eggs. As the hurricane creeps closer upon the family, the deceased mother becomes a main part og almost everything due to the memories of her intensifying. Due to an almost always under fulfilling drink of a father, the eldest step up into more motherly roles. Randall washes the dishes and clothes of the entire, Skeeter protects the dogs as they serve as a mean of income for family, winning them much needed money. Esch is also involved with this reinforced theme as well, contending with her secret and unwanted pregnancy. It is only after China has died in the storm has passed that she accepts her role as a mother. It is throughout the novel that the theme of motherhood is used to signify a gaping hole in this family, but also how dangerously life-threatening events, or even simple day-to-day life where summer rolls are unfulfilled, a family can step up together to make it fairly normal by standing in for them.