What is salvage the bones about?
Salvage the Bones is the second novel by American author Jesmyn Ward and published by Bloomsbury in 2011. The novel explores the plight of a working-class African-American family in Mississippi as they prepare for Hurricane Katrina and follows them through the aftermath of the storm.
How old is Esch in salvage the bones?
Salvage the Bones Summary Fifteen-year-old Esch watches as her older brother Skeetah ’s prize fighting dog, China, gives birth to a litter of puppies. It is her first litter, and the labor is difficult and gory.
Is salvage the bones in GCS AP Literature?
First, Salvage the Bones is endorsed by multiple curriculum specialists whose entire job is to select effective teaching material to ensure we are meeting the course skills. Ward’s novel is included on the list of novels for Unit 5: Home & Family in our GCS AP Literature textbook.
What is the pit in the Great Gatsby?
Originally, the narrator’s maternal grandparents, Mother Lizbeth and Papa Joseph, owned the land they called “the Pit,” named for the clay pits in the back of the property from which Papa Joseph allowed “the white men he work with” to dig for profit until it created a pond that he feared would “spread and gobble up the property” (14).
What does China represent in Salvage the Bones?
Throughout the novel, there are three distinct but functionally similar symbols that reflect one of the novel's major themes: motherhood and violence. Skeetah's fighting dog China, the Greek mythological figure Medea, and the catastrophic… Tanner, Alexandra.
What is China doing in the opening scene Salvage the Bones?
Back in the shed, China is licking her puppies clean; Esch has never seen her so gentle.
What does water symbolize in Salvage the Bones?
The novel Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward gives a common idea of water a symbol of change and washing a situation clean in the main character, Esch's, life, and how it can wash clean a bad situation.
What happens to China at the end of Salvage the Bones?
As China and Kilo—the dog who sired her puppies—face off at last, China holds her own despite sustaining a terrible injury to one of her teats. When China rips out part of Kilo's throat, Rico calls for the fight to end; China is victorious.
Why is Salvage the Bones controversial?
26. "Salvage the Bones," by Jesmyn Ward. In asking to ban this book about the plight of a Black working-class family as they prepare for Hurricane Katrina, a parent in Katy wrote, "I object to the explicit description of the teenage girl having sex with the boys in her social group."
What does Hurricane Katrina symbolize in Salvage the Bones?
In Salvage the Bones, Ward connects her Black characters to climate change by using the sound of Katrina to explore their lived experience. It is the oral tradition alive on the page. The Batiste family lives through Hurricane Katrina in the Mississippi Delta area.
Why is it called Salvage the Bones?
How did you come up with the title Salvage the Bones? The word salvage is phonetically close to savage. At home, among the young, there is honor in that term. It says that come hell or high water, Katrina or oil spill, hunger or heat, you are strong, you are fierce, and you possess hope.
Why does Daddy push Esch?
Esch is supporting Skeetah in the best way possible while Skeetah tries to find China. During hurricane Katrina Daddy pushes Esch into the water causing her physically pain. That's when he finds out about Esch's pregnancy and says to her “make sure everything is okay”…“so nothing will go wrong”(Ward 247).
What does Esch steal at the store?
Skeetah, Big Henry and Esch drive into the nearby town to buy dog food for China. Esch secretly steals a pregnancy test and when she gets it home, it confirms her suspicions about her condition. Fifteen-year-old Esch is the narrator of the novel.
Is Salvage the Bones a true story?
In 'Salvage The Bones,' Family's Story Of Survival Jesmyn Ward's novel adopts a teen's perspective, showing how one black Mississippi family endured poverty, sexual abuse and violence, and then braved Hurricane Katrina. Salvage The Bones won the 2011 National Book Award for fiction.
What happened in chapter 6 of Salvage the Bones?
Esch convinces Skeetah to bathe and to take care of his wounds and to lift his spirits, and she is left to watch over China. China moves away from the puppies and then sleeps. Junior carefully brings them closer to her. With the last puppy he takes his time and China stirs in her sleep.
What does Hurricane Katrina symbolize in Salvage the Bones?
In Salvage the Bones, Ward connects her Black characters to climate change by using the sound of Katrina to explore their lived experience. It is the oral tradition alive on the page. The Batiste family lives through Hurricane Katrina in the Mississippi Delta area.
Why does Daddy push Esch?
Esch is supporting Skeetah in the best way possible while Skeetah tries to find China. During hurricane Katrina Daddy pushes Esch into the water causing her physically pain. That's when he finds out about Esch's pregnancy and says to her “make sure everything is okay”…“so nothing will go wrong”(Ward 247).
How old is Skeetah in Salvage the Bones?
Skeetah. Skeetah is sixteen years old and is the brother who is closest to Esch. Skeetah is passionate about his fighting dog, China, and goes to great lengths to care for her. Skeetah helps China whelp her puppies at the start of the novel.
Salvage the Bones
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Salvage the bones
The title, Salvage the Bones can be seen as a metaphor for how the characters scavenge from their past to better or protect their future.
What is the purpose of these flashbacks?
Throughout this chapter, Esch narrates with particular emphasis on the way in which “bodies tell stories,” continuing her narrative tendency to us...
Medea and Jason (Allegory)
The story of Medea and Jason is an allegory that appears throughout the novel. It serves as an empowering lens through which Esch envisions her future with Manny, since she aligns herself with Medea, who ultimately takes revenge on Jason.
Water (Symbol)
In general, water symbolizes chaos in the novel. At the start of the novel, we learn that Junior fears and avoids taking a bath, characterizing water as a mysterious and even dangerous substance.
Pit (Symbol)
The Pit symbolizes doom and punishment, in tune with the Biblical imagery of pits of vipers, lion's dens, and especially Hell. At the novel's climax, the Pit's low elevation becomes a literal punishment, as the family realizes their house is flooding faster than they expected.
Eggs (Motifs)
Eggs become an important motif in the novel as Esch attempts to understand her changing, pregnant body. For her family, eggs are also a staple food, and the corresponding image of Esch searching for hen's eggs in her yard becomes a symbolic proxy for the sense of mystery she feels in relation to her own womb.
Blooming (Motif)
Esch often likens vaginas and the act of giving birth to blooming flowers. At the start of the novel, for example, she remembers Mama giving birth to Junior, who looked as "purple and blue as a hydrangea" (2).
How old is Esch from Salvage the Bones?
Salvage the Bones Summary. Fifteen-year-old Esch watches as her older brother Skeetah ’s prize fighting dog, China, gives birth to a litter of puppies. It is her first litter, and the labor is difficult and gory. Esch and Skeetah’s seven-year-old brother Junior is desperate to watch, and though they try to keep him away from the spectacle, ...
Why does Skeetah take China on a walk?
Later that afternoon, Esch, Junior, and Skeetah take China on a long walk to the park because Skeetah wants China to sweat out the medicine.
What is the virus that Esch points out in the shed?
He leads Esch out to the shed where he points out one of China’s puppies, sick with parvo—a gastrointestinal virus which is highly contagious in dogs. Skeetah tries to get China to feed the sick puppy, but she barks viciously and pushes it away.
What do Rico and Skeetah agree to?
Skeetah and Rico agree to the terms of the bet. The next night, Esch and her brothers head through the woods to the clearing where the fight is to be held. Skeetah has washed China, and she gleams white and beautiful. A few other boys fight their dogs, and soon it is time for Rico’s dog and Marquise’s to face off.
Where does Esch find Skeetah?
The next day, Esch finds Skeetah in the other home on the Pit— an abandoned house which once belonged to their maternal grandparents. Their mother died in childbirth seven years ago, while giving birth to Junior, and now the house stands empty. Esch and her brothers only use it to scavenge supplies and hardware.
What does Skeetah read?
When she wakes a second time, she reads from her mythology book for a while, studying the story of Jason and Medea; she identifies with Medea, who has had her heart stolen by a man against her will. Skeetah comes to the door, upset.
Who is harassing Skeetah about China's puppies?
Esch eventually musters the courage to head back out. She joins her family on the bleachers, where Manny’s cousin Rico is harassing Skeetah about China’s puppies. Rico wants one, but as the number of puppies is dwindling, Skeetah is reluctant to promise one to Rico.
What did Skeetah say when the water receded?
Skeetah proclaimed that when the water receded to a certain level—the middle of the tractor tires—he was going to go out and look for China. Sure enough, when the rubber became visible over the roiling water, Skeetah began squirming to leave, though Daddy insisted the storm wasn’t over.
What road does Big Henry drive on?
Big Henry drives through town on the sodden bayou road. Trees everywhere have been ripped down, and Esch is shocked by how much sky she can see. On the main road through the neighboring town, St. Catherine, the high school is flooded and the elementary school is “flat as a pancake.”.
Did Skeetah lose China?
As Skeetah started to sob, Esch held him tight. Skeetah, having lost China, is utterly inconsolable. The fact that he saved his family seems not to matter at all; he can only focus on the fact that he has lost China, who was a mother, a sister, a daughter, and a goddess to him all at once.
Do the Batistes survive?
The Batistes have survived —but their home has just barely held on. Their grandparents’ house, once merely a salvaging site, has become their refuge—however their many years of reaping from it have left it an inadequate shelter, and they must seek safety elsewhere. Active Themes.
Plot summary
The novel follows a working-class African-American family living in southern Mississippi in 2005. The family consists of Daddy, his daughter Esch (the narrator), and his sons Randall, Skeetah, and Junior. Their mother died while giving birth to Junior.
Reception
As a winner of the National Book Award for Fiction, the novel received a largely positive reception. Similarly, the book review aggregator website, Bookmarks, assigned the novel a positive reception based on 13 reviews. The LA Times described the novel as an "under-the-radar" second novel, which deserves the award.
