The many parallels drawn between Esch and the mythological figure Medea also suggest the ways in which her character will develop throughout the novel. She comes to learn her own strength as a young woman. Salvage the Bones, the 2011 National Book Award winner for fiction, is a taut, wily novel, smartly plotted and voluptuously written.

This description hints at the fighting spirit that she demonstrates at the end of the book when she confronts Manny, and survives the hurricane. Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward Buy Study Guide Salvage the Bones Summary and Analysis of Chapter 2 Summary Skeetah wakes our narrator, who we learn is named Esch, by hammering at a kennel he’s building for China ’s new litter. What do we learn about Esch and the rest of the Batiste family during this scene How does each of Esch's brothers react to the puppies' birth What will Esch learn about motherhood from watching China with her puppies 2. However, we do see other sides to Esch when she was younger, her father thought “she was going to be a little scrappy scrawny thing-built just like ’” (6). Salvage the Bones opens with China giving birth to a litter of puppies in the shed. When Esch discovers she is pregnant, she feels lot of shame, considering it entirely her fault: “I’m crying again for what I have been, for what I am, and for what I will be, again” (147), rather than considering Manny’s role in her present circumstances. In the scene where he makes Skeetah use her as a step-ladder to get something for him, there is a strong association between his behavior and that of the men Esch sleeps with. However, Manny isn’t the only male character that treats her poorly her father does as well. That close-knit familial relationship is vivid and compelling, drawn with complexities and detail. the story is told with such immediacy and openness. The novel’s narrator starts out as a quiet, meek, and weak girl who allows boys such as Manny-to take advantage of her because she doesn’t have the will or the courage to say no, or to stand up for herself. Salvage the Bones is an intense book, with powerful, direct prose that dips into poetic metaphor.

Salvage to the bones