Introduction
The Historical Context
The events in the book occur during Hurricane Katrina, the most destructive hurricane in U.S. history. The disaster killed 1,836 residents and caused $125 billion in economic damage (Stevens 158). The hurricane began forming on August 23 near the Bahamas. Before the hurricane reached the U.S. coast, it was assigned a threat level of 5 on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale (Stevens 158). However, not all inhabitants were in a position to evacuate. Dozens of thousands of residents lived on the poverty line without money for travel or accommodation. Public transportation stopped working, and leaving the city without one’s car was extremely complicated. Considering that the evacuation order was issued almost during the storm, low-income families, primarily non-white, remained in their homes.
The Literary Context
Jesmyn Ward based this second novel on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which the author unfortunately encountered firsthand. In late August 2005, Ward decided to visit family in a small Mississippi town before the author began teaching at the University of Michigan (Dunning 61). This decision contributed to the author becoming in the heart of Hurricane Katrina. The wealth of detail Ward provides in this story, which won the 2011 National Book Award, is mainly due to these devastating circumstances but provides an authenticity to the story that complements its honesty (Dunning 61). The narrator, Esch, is 15 years old, pregnant, and living with her brothers and father in a fictional half-destroyed Mississippi neighborhood called Bois Sauvage (Stevens 159). As Hurricane Katrina strikes, the family must barricade themselves inside, and the impending storm responds and heightens the tension between them. Thus, one should describe how the storm assists in resolving the family’s problems. It is also necessary to establish the role of nature in history. In addition, it is essential to establish how the racial factor is significant to the story’s development and finally, how nature affected the novel’s main character’s perception of motherhood.
Nature
Nature has a significant influence on the development of events in the novel. It is essential to mention that the Batiste children have been raised in numerous areas and knew nature well because they worked the land and rested in the woods. Ward attributes in the novel that nature controls people’s destinies, not the other way around (Stevens 160). Even the fact that the father prepared for the storm and warned the children of trouble, they did not act on it seriously. Interestingly, the father sensed the storm and talked about feeling the natural disaster come to the bones. Thus, the father connected significantly to nature, allowing the family to survive the storm. At the same time, the children ignored the possibility of a natural disaster and dealt with their problems. Only after the storm brought down the tree that had punctured the roof in Dad’s shared house did each family member appreciate the actual extent of the storm (Stevens 160). In this way, the kids realized that they could not control the storm, and their lives depended solely on nature.
It should be emphasized that in the novel it is also possible to observe other natural phenomena, which the characters try to control. For example, the residents used dogfighting as a way to earn money. A particularly negative aspect of human use of nature was portrayed when a dog that had recently produced puppies was already participating in the fights. Therefore, this indicates that humans felt superior to nature before the storm and rained violence on supernatural animals to dominate nature (Ward 54). Accordingly, it can be assumed that the storm is a punishment for the characters for their violence against nature and an opportunity to reevaluate the importance of nature in their lives.
The Race
The racial factor is also evident in the novel, manifesting itself because of the poor family of the black race. For example, the author demonstrates that the kids suffer because of the black race and attempt to steal from their white neighbors to “get certain things to take care of the puppies” (Ward 12). During the hurricane, the kids try to find means of survival in the homes of white people. At the same time, the story’s development demonstrates that white people received evacuation faster than black people. On the other hand, the Esch family survived the hurricane in shelters and tried to survive. In this way, the author emphasizes the economic disparity between the two races and demonstrates that white people have advantages in the novel (Dunning 23). This is due to the fact that the places where black people lived were the last to receive aid. Accordingly, this is further evidence of racial discrimination in the novel.
Motherhood
The novel “Salvage the Bones” explains Esch’s perception of motherhood and the impact of the storm on this. It is worth noting that the girl was raised without a mother and only surrounded by men; therefore, Esch did not have an example to follow. Since Esch is 15 years old, the girl tries to hide the pregnancy, but at the same time, the girl observes the behavior of the dog that has just given birth (Dunning 9). Thus, the author demonstrates that the girl perceives harmful behavior patterns when Esch witnesses the dog kill its puppy. Additionally, Esch observed that several puppies did not survive due to natural factors; this formed the girl’s abusive view of motherhood. Even though the girl’s mother loved and cared about the children, the woman died during childbirth, “Junior came out purple and blue as a hydrangea: Mama’s last flower” (Ward 2). Accordingly, Esch’s recollections of the woman and the successful example of motherhood are insufficient.
At the same time, considerable attention is paid to the girl’s pregnancy during the storm. The author describes the processes taking place in Esch’s body “this is what it means to be pregnant so far: throwing up. Sick of the moment I open my eyes, look at the handwriting of the plaster ceiling, remember who I am, where I am, and what I am” (Ward 37). The storm enables the girl to understand the value of a child and develop the protective maternal instinct.
Conclusion
Thus, in the novel Saving the Bones, author Jesmyn Ward attempts to convey that a strong family stays together in difficult moments and will always support each other. The hurricane has aided the main characters in coming together and understanding the significance of nature. At the same time, they identify that there is no control over nature. It is significant to note that the seed lived poorly and used nature’s resources to obtain food. At the same time, the children observed how people of the white race had significant resources and standards of living. This highlights the problem of racial discrimination in society. The theme of motherhood is especially evident when Esch observes the death of puppies during a hurricane. The girl develops a sense of responsibility to love one unborn kid.
Works Cited
Dunning, Stefanie. Black to Nature: Pastoral Return and African American Culture. University Press of Mississippi, 2021.
Stevens, Benjamin Eldon. “Medea in Jesmyn Ward’s Salvage the Bones.” International Journal of the Classical Tradition, vol. 25, no. 2, 2018, pp. 158-177.
Ward, Jesmyn. Salvage the Bones: A Novel. Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2012.