Analysis Of The Poem Salvage The Bones - 2044 Words

Analysis of Esch Batiste Jesmyn Ward’s novel Salvage the Bones features an underprivileged African American family from Mississippi, highlighting different challenges and plights that they faced prior and during Hurricane Katrina. The family members endured different life challenges ranging from poverty, loss of parents, neglect, violence, and sexual abuse. The story is set in a town known as Bois Savage within a locality named the pit deep in the woods, a family property, to signify its isolation from other and the low economic status. Throughout the story one character, the narrator, Esch stands out as she tries to navigate through life in a patriarchy world or rather surrounded by men. This paper analyzes the character of Esch Batiste, highlighting her struggles and transformation from the beginning of the novel to the end. Esch Batiste is 15 years old, the third born in a family of four. Her older brothers are Randal Batiste, a 17-year-old talented and promising basketball player and Skeetah, a 16-year-old and owner of a prized pit bull called China, the only other female member of the family. Her youngest brother, Junior, is seven years old. The Batiste children’s mother died when giving birth to Junior. Therefore, the children are under the care of their father Claude Batiste, who apart from during menial jobs to meet his family’s needs is also a drunkard. To some extent he neglects his duty of taking care of his family. Esch is the main caregiver for her brothers andShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Poem Salvage The Bones By Danzy Senna2044 Words   |  9 PagesBirdie’s white mother, who covers up her last marriage with a black man by getting into a new relationship with a white man. Additionally, Sandy conceals her revolutionary tactics by moving to New Hampshire. Finally, in Jesmyn Ward‘s novel â€Å"Salvage The Bones,† Esch conceals her own pregnancy. Each character’s concealment reveals that stereotypes alone set up society’s attitude towards an individual and only those considered â€Å"normal† are safe. These stereotypes form the perception that defines an