Thursday, September 19, 2019
Death, Death, Death, Death, Death, Death
Throughout SUS, we find multiple instances of death. Obviously with the deaths of Richie and Given, but there are many more cases of animal death. Did Jesmyn Ward include all of these animal deaths just to further the death motif, or was there some symbolic meaning? Discuss.
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I feel like to a major degree Ward was trying to just further the motif. I do, however, feel like she uses death to also further develop her characters. One major example is with Leonie, we see her kill several things throughout the novel. This clearly reflects on her nature as it pertains to nurturing and mothering. We can also see with Mam, someone who constantly tries to give and nurture life, but in the end we still see death overcome life. So, it seems to me that overall Ward just wants to show us how one can not escape death.
Animals are very prevalent in the novel in relation to Jojo. Jojo communicates with animals as a means of trying understanding their pain and the pain of the world. He imagines what goes through their heads. I think the animal deaths represent Jojos understanding of pain and death. He has a holistic understanding of Leonie, Pop, Kayla and the creatures that inhabit it earth by the end of the novel when he experiences the death of Mam.
I also agree that she uses the death of animals to further the death motif. But I think she uses the deaths of animals to show how brutal the world is. I believe Jesmyn Ward makes it in the novel that humans and animals are equal as we are all a apart of the same world and of nature. She uses death to show how there is a circle of life and how all can be affected by death. The motif of death also is used to show how death isn't the end for the characters. We see this through the characters of Richie and the other lost spirits who've suffered brutal deaths. We are shown how you can either pass on to the other side or be stuck in the world.
I think Ward is drawing a parallel between animals and humans and showing us that in the end we are animals and do sometimes have animalistic tendencies similar to Lord of The Flies from last year.
I find it very interesting that the book also starts and ends with a death. I am wondering if there is any significance to this. I would also agree with Cameron that Ward does want to make a point on the brutality of the world. After all, look at Given's death of Richie's death. They were awful and undeserved. However, these deaths affect the present day as they come back as ghosts. I think this points out the effects of slavery on African American culture and the south and its continued effect on the present day. Something like that doesn't just happen and go away, just like the deaths of those characters. It lives on and creates change.
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