Jesmyn Ward's Sing, Unburied, Sing is loaded with supernatural elements. While it can be easy to get caught up in the magical realism of the story, we have to remember and be mindful of the fact that the tragic events in this book are a sickening reality for far too many. The most disturbing aspect of the book for me is the struggles that Jojo and Kayla have to face on a daily basis at such a young age. In addition to being the victims of a negligent, abusive mother, they have to grow up with an incarcerated father. Furthermore, both of their parents are so addicted to drugs that Kayla and Jojo have to live with their grandparents. Far too many children face similar circumstances in real life; according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, "25 percent of American kids grow up in households where substance abuse is present." Among other hardships, these kids are more susceptible to low self-esteem, behavioral problems, and depression/anxiety. While we should enjoy the mystical aspects of the book, we must still recognize that many of the unpleasantries of the novel actually happen in real life.
Source: https://americanaddictioncenters.org/guide-for-children/
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I agree that in works of fiction such as these it can often be easy to get lost in fantastical elements without realizing the pressing significance portrayed through the events. However, I think this is where the narrative style of magical realism comes to the rescue. If it weren't for the blatant, matter of fact way that Ward and Marquez tell of the supernatural, the reader may get caught up in the unbelievability of it. The way in which the stories were told allows the reader to apply fictitious elements to the realities they refer to. For example, the presence of the ghost of Given (Given-not-Given) is obviously not grounded in reality but demonstrates the grieving felt among the family and the unfinished state in which the injustices committed live.
Bennett and Alana both indicated the relevance of reality in Ward's novel, Sing, Unburied, Sing. To branch off of their accounts, I believe that the most important factor in calculating this unfortunate present-day reality of abuse, regardless of the seamless, honest, and fantastical way in which the story is told, is history. Without the history that supports the reality of this novel, the emotion Ward is able to evoke to her audience wouldn't exist. The racial tension in the novel is due to the history of slavery, for example. The presence of pain in history adds a more serious, relevant tone to the events of the novel. This historical pain, of course, is only in addition to the pain that is already literally haunting the 3 generation family into death, abuse of all kinds, and loss of innocence.
There are plenty of reasons why the characters in Sing Unburied Sing go down the path they go down, but often I think we forget the fact that the majority of their issues are self-inflicted. What I mean by this is that the characters like Leonie have issues that bring them great distress, like the loss of her brother, but it was her decision to start doing drugs. It was Michaels decision to cook, and it was both of their decisions to leave the family. All of the terrible problems that now burden those poor children could have been averted. I think a lot of the time in the novel, characters like Michael and Leonie only have their self-interest in mind when truly it should be their kid's interest they should have in mind. They brought them into this world and they should care for them before anything else. Sadly as Bennett, Alana, and Gabby have addressed this actually happens.
People today are too self-interested and have no one else on their mind but themselves. Sad but true.
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