The Idea of "Home" in Sing, Unburied, Sing

Throughout the novel, every character is in pursuit of a "home", and Ward allows the characters to explore what "home" really means and how far one will go to keep or find it. The first and most obvious example comes from Richie, who during his incarceration at Parchman, finds a home in River (Pop). Before, he had lived and poverty and had to take care of the rest of his starving siblings by stealing food. But at Parchman, even though he was miserable and abused, he found a home with River. For the first time, Richie was the one being taken care and found a father figure in River. That is why when he dies, he cannot move on until he gets an explanation for his death from Pop. There is a connection between the two even after death, representing the power of this concept of "home" and the love and care both of them felt for the other. Next, you see Leonie search for a home in Michael. After Given's death, she felt lost and the family and house she once knew as her home now felt barren and sorrowful. An essential piece to the equation was missing, so she went out in search for a new home, which she found in Michael. His cousin was the one to kill Given, yet he apologized and seem to care for her. As a result, she latches on to him. Michael is a constant reminder of Given and his death, yet is makes Leonie feel closer to Given in that way. He also offers as a sort of a replacement, he, like Given, was an older male figure that was there to love and protect her. Michael fills the hole Given left and completes her concept of home, but not in a healthy way. Since Michael allows for Given's death to forever loom over her, their relationship doesn't allow her to move on and keeps her in constant grief. Their relationship is also not a loving one, but more of a selfish, obsessive one where each looks for things in the other to take so that they can fill holes within themselves. She goes on to have children in order to create the family unit and home she lost when Given died, but since she has yet to move on from his death, this does not work and she cannot properly love or take care of her children. Then there is Jojo and Kayle, who find a home in each other and their grandparents. Since their own parents, Leonie and Michael, have abandoned them, they turn to their grandparents and each other. Jojo takes care of Kayle like a father because he knows that his parents won't, and Kayle sees him as more of a father figure and calls for him whenever she needs comfort. There is unconditional love between them and they rely on each other, and this is where they find a home in each other. But, Jojo is still too young to be a parent, even to his little sister, and therefore looks for guidance in his grandparents. He looks to Pop to see how to be a man, and is always trying to earn his respect, and in Mam he seeks motherly affection and tries to learn from her their heritage of the supernatural. Finally, there is Pop and Mam. After Given's death, like Leoni, they were lost. Their family unit was broken down, and their concept of home died with it. Then, Leonie pulled away from them and found a home somewhere else, only exasperating the wound. But, with the birth of Jojo and Kayla, they saw a second chance. They saw new children to love, on older brother and younger sister, but this time they could guide them differently through life so that what happened to Given and Leonie would not happen to them. Mam and Pop in this way found a replacement for Given and Leonie and a new family unit to replace the old one, and through that a new home. Home is an important concept in Sing, Unburied, Sing, that is shown through the journeys of the novel's characters as each seeks their own home.