Interior Chinatown: Internalized Inferiority

         One of Willis Wu’s biggest challenges throughout the novel is understanding the disconnect between Americans and what ultimately causes an immigrant to be recognized as an American. He constantly tries to fit into a world that, Yu writes, does not have the capacity to accept him, or any Asians, completely. Yu states that there is an internalized inferiority among Asians in America (Yu 232). Society has planted the idea into their minds that they have not suffered as much as Black Americans, and so they are basically not allowed to feel that they have been oppressed as so. Because they were not forced into slavery, they did not have laws that stripped away their lives, and they were not physically oppressed for years because of the color of their skin, they cannot complain. While society has argued this, it is simply a false perception.

        As presented in the book, there were numerous laws, not just the minimally educated Chinese Exclusion Act, that took the basic right to live away from Asians. Personally, I did not know many of these laws existed, such as the requirement to carry a permit and the subsequent punishment, or even the fact that an American woman would be stripped of her citizenship if she married an illegal Asian immigrant (Yu 216). “One year of hard labor” sounds like a sugarcoated legal enslavement, in my opinion. The fact that they would not even be sent to prison and serve out a punishment there, but would be subject to orders of physical labor, grossly glorifies forced labor that works people like slaves.

        Perhaps Asian Americans have not suffered through the exact slavery defined in terms of United States history, but that is not a reason to discount their experience to only basic prejudice. Their experience may not fit a cookie-cutter mold of what Black Americans have lived through, but it can be said that their experiences are similar, rather than follow the idea that Asian Americans have not suffered at the hands of the American system. They have faced laws that did not allow them to live their lives, similar to Black Americans have. Their inability to buy land to live on, their inability to get jobs, their inability to marry a white woman if they want to, is a shared experience. Lastly, apparently from the American point of view, there is a need to assign a literal color of the rainbow to someone’s skin in order to emphasize differences that are worthy of oppression.

        Why is it impossible for an Asian American to be defined as an American? The social system is built only for those who are white, and even that depends on the degree of whiteness. In Yu’s parodical Black and White adaptation of Law and Order, even having a white woman as a star of the show is pushing the social boundaries. There have been attempts to expand the system to allow for Black progress but asking that of the United States is apparently too much, considering Black prejudice still exists. Having a Black man as a star of the show is also extremely controversial, but just accepted enough to let it happen. America prides itself in accepting all people to live out the American Dream, but in reality, Step One is being accepted in, just to work your whole life towards being completely accepted, but the system sets limits to avoid that achievement.

Existing in Stereotypical Roles Assigned by Society

       By writing Interior Chinatown as a screenplay, Yu (2020) is commenting on the stereotypical roles assigned to Asian people, but specifically that of “Generic Asian Man” and its effect on the main character, Willis Wu. Throughout the majority of the novel, Wu aspires to be “Kung Fu Guy.” This is the top, most esteemed role available to Wu in this society; however, he must first go up the rungs of the social ladder: “starting from the bottom, it goes: 5) Background Oriental Male, 4) Dead Asian Man, 3) Generic Asian Man Number Three/Delivery Guy, 2) Generic Asian Man Number 2/Waiter, 1) Generic Asian Man Number One” (Yu 11). From this hierarchy, we can see a predetermined social order centered around the idea of “Generic Asian Man.” The screenplay, and therefore society, assigns Wu this role; it is all he can be, trapping him in a cycle where he cannot see himself as anything more. Wu believes that by becoming “Kung Fu Guy” everything will change – he will finally get the role he deserves.

This obsession over becoming “Kung Fu Guy” affects his relationship with everyone around him: his mother, father, Karen, and eventually his child, Phoebe. Firstly, his father played the role of “Kung Fu Guy,” and then was the “esteemed teacher” of “Kung Fu Guy,” but now he has lost himself completely to the roles he has been assigned by society – he does not even see himself as Wu’s father anymore. On the other hand, his mother longs for Wu to be something more than “Kung Fu Guy.” However, Wu does not comprehend how he could ever be something more than “Kung Fu Guy” when it has always been his dream and is the highest, and most privileged role available to him. In his relationship with Karen, she tries to get him to see that there exists more to life than being “Kung Fu Guy,” and even when she falls pregnant, Wu still does not understand how he could ever be something more. When Wu becomes “Kung Fu Guy,” he finally realizes that this cycle that defines his total being is a trap. “Karen was right: you are trapped. Doing well is the trap. A different kind, but still a trap. Because you are still in a show that doesn’t have a role for you” (Yu 180). This realization helps him to start to break away from how society defines him, and he goes to reunite with Karen, and his daughter, Phoebe. However, Wu continues to be defined via being “Kung Fu Guy” when he does this because he calls himself “Kung Fu Dad” – the title of Act V (Yu 185). The book ends on a hopeful note when Wu finally breaks out of this cycle and when talking with Phoebe he says “I’m your dad…just dad” (Yu 255). 

Interior Chinatown uses a screenplay to define how stereotypical roles assigned by society can define one’s life completely, but that by breaking away from them life can become so much more than what it lets one be.

Interior Chinatown: The Stereotypes of Asian Parenting v.s Willis Wu’s Parents

    Throughout the run of Charles Yu’s Interior Chinatown, Yu boldly confronts Asian stereotypes that have plagued Western culture for decades. As discussed in class, anti-Asian propaganda, hateful depictions, and downright regressive assumptions have formulated specific ideas of what it means to be Asian in the U.S. Willis Wu, the main character of the novel, experiences and endures numerous blatant accounts of racism and racial discrimination throughout his time as a working actor in Chinatown. The stereotypes Yu addresses are eloquently disproven by seeing the reaction and effect this has on Wu. For example, the idea that every Asian-American speaks in broken English is refuted throughout the novel in a satirical yet deeply personal way. I was most moved by the way Yu addresses Asian parenting. The term “tiger mom”, originated by Yale Professor, Amy Chua, connotes a certain type of parenting, usually associated with those of Asian descent. This term is derogatorily used to categorize Asian parents as overbearing, obsessed with academic success, and emotionally restrained. The relationship between parent and child is most often one of respect. “Based on this idea of consideration for social order, the notion of “training” in Chinese culture encourages parents to teach their children the quality of respect in all of their relationships. As a result, Chinese parents subscribing to this practice reinforce harsh and strict discipline, and hope that their children will learn from their instruction” (Scarlett Wang, wp.nyu.edu). 

In the novel, Wu’s relationship with his parents provides an interesting counter to the ignorant stereotype of Asian parenting. When we meet Ming-Chen Wu and Dorthy Wu, Willis Wu’s father and mother, the reader sees a time before Willis’s birth that informs who these characters are and the struggles they go through. For example, Ming-Chen escapes war-torn Taiwan for America, finding hatred and discrimination there as well (Allen’s attack). Dorthy comes to the U.S. and can only find work as “pretty Asian woman”. Through her line of work “…she is scanned and studied, admired and assessed, pinched, grabbed, slapped, and, worst of all, caressed” (Yu, 153). MIng-Chen and Dorothy look for a place to live and are consistently denied due to their race. They end up in Chinatown at the SRO, planning on eventually getting out. After Willis is born, we see a few pivotal familial moments. Willis talks about his father holding him and “flying him” around the room as Willis laughed. Willis recalls his mother grabbing a scalding pot of tea to prevent it from hitting him. Afterward, she tells him to aspire to more than Kung Fu Guy.

Though the Wu family dynamic is more emotionally restrained than we might be used to seeing, there is so much love between the characters. Over time, the relationship between Ming-Chen and Willis does deteriorate as MIng-Chen becomes Sifu. Regardless, Willis is there every week to take care of his father, despite that boundary. In Western culture, Asian parenting is thought to be forceful, lacking emotion, and only based on success. Of course, it is undeniable that parenting such as this occurs all over the world. Yet, Interior Chinatown proves that not all Asian parents subscribe to this message. Willis not only looks after his parents, but in many ways, he looks up to them too. His parents break the boundaries that we would consider an Asian family to have. It is apparent to me that Dorthy and Ming-Chen’s intentions are for Willis to have a better life than they were able to have. At the end of the day, isn’t that what every parent wants for their children?

How writing Interior Chinatown as a screenplay made Yu's message stronger

Charles Yu made the unique decision when writing Interior Chinatown to write the novel in a screenplay format. For many readers- including myself- this is the first kind of book that has been read in a screenplay format. This was a unique take on incorporating the message of Willis Wu's never-ending struggle of, as described by Older Brother, "wanting to be a part of something that never wanted him" (239). Yu's decision to format the book as a screenplay was a clever way to make his message about Asian Americans in American Media more widespread, relatable, and general to all readers. 

    One effect of writing Interior Chinatown as a screenplay was the confusing nature of the overlapping stories within the book. It becomes hard at times while reading to decipher between Willis' real life and his acting life as well as the lives of those around him. As a reader, it takes a close read to keep track of which storyline you are following and even then, the quick switches with little to no explanation leads to an overlapping sensation. However, this seems intentional in this book's case. The overlapping effect of stories when written as a screenplay make more of a commentary on how hard it becomes for Asian actors to decipher their roles from real life. As Willis states many times throughout the story, "that's what you are, that's all you are." Yu's simultaneous storylines in screenplay format mirror the way asian actors often feel when the characters they play of "generic asian man 1, 2, 3," and so on become a part of who they are outside of their job. 

    Another effect that the screenplay format has on Yu's book is the act of generalizing the story to the whole population. When a book is written in usual story form, it can be difficult to really relate to it or understand it because that's all it is- a story. Yu's use of a screenplay makes readers feel as though they are playing the part of Willis. It makes readers feel that any person could be the so-called 'actors' in the story. This serves to expedite the message to a broader population. Making the book a screenplay sends the message that the "framework" of Willis' story could apply to any person. The end of the book wraps up as a scene in a courtroom. This scene uses Older Brother to convey a message to the readers through a monologue where he states, "You feel on some level... your oppression is second class" (233). This is a statement to all readers, all actors, all people who put themselves into the place of Willis to understand his life, and it has a very effective message that only works because of the format of a screenplay.

    Yu's decision to write Interior Chinatown as a screenplay also used the often forgotten second person point of view. This point of view put readers into the story in a very literal way. As previously stated, when reading a story it can be easy to be disconnected. Especially when reading the story as someone who has not experienced the forms of racism and prejudice that Wu has faced in their lifetime, it can be hard to relate and understand. The use of second person makes Wu's experience your own experience as you journey through the book. Every remark, every death, every disappointed look from Wu's mother feels like it is pointed at you while reading. This was such an effective way to send the message further than most books who make commentaries on race or ethnicity. Yu takes readers on an unforgettable journey of living life as an Asian actor in Chinatown.

Sing, Unburied, Sing: On Ghosts and Their Roles

 The back cover of the book isn’t lying when it says Sing, Unburied, Sing is a ghost story.  They abound throughout the pages and play central roles in the plot and character development. Ward uses the supernatural to tell a complex, winding story--one that tugs the reader back and forth through time.

Several chapters in the novel are told from the point-of-view of the ghost Richie. A young boy seeking closure, Richie incorporates vivid imagery and harsh realities in his narration. He latches onto Jojo, whom he recognized as Pop's family "as soon as the little red dented car swerved into [Parchman's] parking lot" (Ward 133). This creates a tenuous yet critical relationship between the two. Richie needs Jojo in order to find Pop, who he believes might finally give him closure by telling the ending to their story in Parchman. The moment when Pop finally reveals his mercy killing of Richie is a tipping point in the story, one at which the living and dead are briefly united. Pop confronts his grief over Richie’s death, while Richie gets the closure he thought he needed from Pop. That entire aspect of the plot would not exist without Richie being a ghost, and Jojo being able to interact with him.

Jojo, of course, is not the only family member seeing ghosts. Leonie is plagued by phantom of her brother, Given. Their interactions are different from Jojo and Richie’s, though. Rather than acting as a companion to Leonie, Given haunts her when she’s high. He admonishes her with his silent gaze and reminds her of the grief she has yet to face¾grief from a past in which the family was still whole and resembled something normal (52).

The scene of Mam’s death is a culmination of the spiritual elements in the novel. Given and Richie are both there, contesting the privilege to escort Mam into the next world. Kayla sees what no one else does: the black vulture, seemingly looming to scavenge after Mam has gone. This is also the first time Given speaks, telling Richie that Mam is “not…your…mother” (265-266). Ward brings the ghosts and humans into conflict for a climactic moment to show the reader that the memories of the dead weigh heavily on the current moment. Mam is Given’s mother and Pop’s wife, so it makes sense that Richie and Given are present in her final moments.

With the amount of involvement Ward grants the dead in this novel, the title Sing, Unburied, Sing rings true. Ghosts propel the plot forward, break characters down, and ensure that no one ever escapes their past completely.

Sing, Unburied, Sing: An Investigation into Traditonal Family Roles

In Sing, Unburied, Sing stereotypical family roles are overturned with the incorporation of the character Jojo. The novel opens with the grotesque scene of Jojo helping Pop with the slaughtering of a pig. This immediately gives the realization that Jojo is struggling with his manhood with the quote, “I want Pop to know I can get bloody. Today’s my birthday” (Ward 20). Despite how concise the statement was, it is impactful nonetheless. Jojo turns thirteen, which is widely considered a large step into manhood in society. Moreover, Jojo’s unconscious rejection of this traditionally male-oriented activity allows the reader to understand Jojo’s beginning role in the novel. Even though other boys his age may be enthusiastic about helping their Pop carry out tasks on the farm, Jojo can not even stomach it, literally. 

            Jojo’s unintentional rejection of his stereotypical male roles emphasizes his other role in the family, taking care of Kayla. Jojo exhibits unconditional love for his baby sister and is the primary caretaker, as Leonie is fairly absent as a mother. Unfortunately, Pop displays his disappointment in Jojo’s caregiving through his body language, “Pop shakes his head, but I keep throwing, because I know by the way he wipes his hands on the dish towels… he doesn’t disapprove” (Ward 20). The key phrase in this excerpt is that Pop “doesn’t disapprove” of Jojo’s role. Pop understands that Leonie is not as present as she needs to be as a mother and recognizes that Jojo is the best alternative to help raise and take care of Kayla. He may not like that Jojo can not help him on the farm or do other traditionally manly activities, but he knows that he is fulfilling a role in the family. 

            Finally, Jojo plays a critical role in the family, being the primary caregiver for Kayla. His recognition of what Kayla needs and how she acts is incredibly important. When Leonie is present and attempts to give Kayla any kind of attention, she seemingly makes the wrong choice. For example, “Kayla is making me hold her because she cried and pushed at Leonie’s collarbone and reached for me until she frowned and held her out to me…”(Ward 27). Jojo seems to be more in tune with Kayla than her mother. Although unconventional, his actions assuage her needs, which keeps Kayla content. 

            As Jojo’s role in the family becomes more defined as the novel progresses, the further he strays away from stereotypical manhood. His rejection of this role begs the reader to challenge these traditional roles by appreciating his maturity and embracing his role in the family. 

Sing, Unburied, Sing: Addiction and its Effects on Families

     Throughout Sing, Unburied, Sing, Ward focuses on characters' addictions to hard drugs and addictions impacts on their lives. In the first chapter, Jojo's mother, Leonie, is revealed to "[snort] crushed pills" in her introduction (Ward 7). Leonie and Jojo's father, Michael, are users of hard drugs, ranging from methamphetamines to crack cocaine. The point-of-view changes from chapter to chapter, giving different perspectives on Leonie and Michael's behaviors and actions. Ward paints a picture of a family broken by drugs and addiction. 

    Leonie is a failing mother, consumed by her addiction to a plethora of drugs and blinding love for Michael. Leonie often recognizes her shortcomings, from failing to buy Jojo a birthday present to an overwhelming urge to hit her children when they go against her orders (Ward 33, 146). To cope with her insufficient mothering and to escape her life, she turns to drugs and the short-term relief they bring. Although Leonie tries to hide her addiction, Jojo and her parents are aware, leading to built-up resentment against her. In one instance, Leonie drops a bagged jar of methamphetamines in front of Jojo, "It is clear, a whole pack of broken glass, and I've seen this before. I know what this is [...] Leonie will not look at me as she picks it up [...]" (Ward 113). Even when her children need her as a mother, such as when Kayla, her toddler, is sick and cannot stop vomiting, she shrugs the responsibility onto Jojo, choosing instead to get high with Michael (Ward 147-148). For Michael, Leonie has tunnel vision, blinding her from the responsibilities of motherhood. Leonie's consistent inability to care for her children on top of her addictions leads to the divide between her and her children.

    Michael enters the story midway through Sing, Unburied, Sing, and similar to Leonie, is an absent parent addicted to methamphetamines. Jojo and Leonie describe him before his entrance, and he is revealed to have been a rig welder at Deepwater Horizon before the accident (ward 92). Following the rig's fire, he returns home without work and begins cooking and using methamphetamines. Initially, Leonie believes his dramatic physical changes are due to the trauma from Deepwater Horizon, "When he started getting skinny, I thought it was because of his nightmares. When his cheekbones started standing out on his face like rocks under water, I thought it was because he was stressed out over money" (Ward 93). Instead, the physical changes are due to his transformation into a junkie, cooking and smuggling methamphetamines to other users, which is implied to be the reason for his sentence at Parchman. Even after his return to the family's home, he continues to be an absent parent, with Jojo remarking, "[Leonie] come back every week, stay for two days, and then leave again. Her and Michael sleep on the sofa, both of them fish-tin, slender as two gray sardines, packed just as tight' (Ward 277). While Jojo holds animosity toward Leonie, Michael essentially functions as a stranger in his life, an attachment to Leonie. For Michael, his absence primarily drives the divide between him and his children, but his addiction leads directly to his absence as a father.

    Leonie and Michael's blinding love for one another goes hand-in-hand with their drug addictions. Their love and addiction blind them from their abilities to raise and parent Jojo and Kayla, leading to gaping divides between them and their families. With the novel's conclusion, perhaps they will never escape the cycles of their addiction and behaviors. Ward's portrayal of their family is an all too realistic portrayal of drug abuse and addiction in America and the toll it takes on families.

Sing, Unburied, Sing: Michael and Leonie's Relationship

In Jesmyn Ward’s Sing, Unburied, Sing, readers are introduced to Michael and Leonie, parents of Jojo and Kayla, and the codependent relationship that they have that leaves room for no one else. The story of Michael and Leonie’s relationship is interwoven throughout the novel, as readers learn about how they met and also read about their present-day interactions. 

The beginning of their relationship should have already been seen as a red flag because Michael’s cousin killed Leonie’s brother, Given, in high school (Ward 49). Michael apologized to Leonie for what happened, and they began to spend time together before eventually dating. Leonie became wrapped up in Michael to the point of “when I woke up in the morning, I thought of Michael’s laugh, of the way he flipped his cigarettes before he lit them, of the way his mouth tasted when he kissed me” (Ward 154). Her obsession with Michael is reminiscent of the craze of high school dating and crushes. She defined herself by Michael and they became codependent on each other, in a toxic, disturbing way, that only got worse as they got older because they became parents.

If Michael and Leonie were not responsible for two other lives, the tunnel-vision they have for each other might have been slightly less toxic, however, they are both neglectful towards their children because of their obsession with each other. Neither person seemed to mature, even as they became parents; Leonie was not even sure she wanted to be a mother but ultimately decided to because “of how happy [Michael] would be, of how I would have a piece of him with me always” (Ward 158). Granted, Leonie was only 17 when making this decision but it still feels immature and irresponsible. Instead of thinking about if she had the capacity to be a mother, Leonie only thought of Michael’s reaction to it; she did not think about what it would mean for her own life. In the present-day, Leonie even seems to resent her children for the change that they brought in her relationship with Michael because they always “had Jojo and Kayla around us, making those spaces bigger between us” (Ward 153). She feels like all that she needs is Michael, and everything else in her life is just in the way of them being together. In theory, the world melting away when someone is with the one that they love sounds romantic, but, in reality, Michael and Leonie need to think about the responsibilities that they have as parents to Jojo and Kayla.

The Role of Pop’s Story in Sing, Unburied, Sing

    Stories and memories are an important theme/trope throughout Sing, Unburied, Sing. Jesmyn Ward sprinkles the main story, Pop’s experience with Richie in Parchman, throughout the novel. Ward uses Pop’s story for many reasons but the main three are to illustrate the racist system and immoral abuse in Parchman, Pop’s grief and guilt, and the relationship between Pop and Jojo.  

    Pop often highlights how Parchman was systematically racist saying, "even though White people couldn’t get your work for free, they did everything they could to avoid hiring you and paying you for it” (21). Ward includes Pop’s point of view of Parchman to illustrate the inhumane environment of Parchman: the constant labor, poor food, and abuse the inmates endured. One chilling example is when Richie gets whipped. The similarities between slavery and Parchman are plentiful, and ghost Richie recognizes this when he comments “Sometimes I think it done changed. And then I sleep and wake up, and it ain’t changed none’” (171).  

Pop tells and retells Jojo the story of Parchman and Richie; however, he never finishes it until the end of the novel. Ward purposefully does this to illustrate the deep negative impact this memory has on Pop. Jojo notices that Pop “always seemed to tell me part of his Richie story when we were doing something else,” for example, he would interrupt a show on the TV and “say this about Parchman: It was murder. Mass murder.” (Ward 73). Parchman and Richie are always in the back of Pop’s mind, and Pop explains this at the end of the novel when he says, “‘I washed my hands every day, Jojo. But that damn blood ain’t ever come out.’” (256). When he finally can tell the end of the story, he “speaks into his knees” with “every piece of him aquiver” (255). Ward shows the pain and guilt Pop still feels as he explains how and why he killed Richie; he still feels guilty even though he was trying to protect Richie from more pain.  

It is obvious from the beginning of the novel that Jojo idolizes Pop. Jojo says he tries to keep his back straight when he walks because “that’s how Pop walks” and he wants Pop “to know I can get bloody” (1). Furthermore, Ward illustrates Pop’s protective and fatherly nature towards Jojo right at the beginning as well. Pop is described and characterized through Jojo’s eyes throughout the novel, and Jojo characterizes him as tough, strong, and manly. However, at the end of the novel, Jojo holds Pop in his arms like he holds Kayla, and the roles reverse. Jojo becomes the strong, protective person Pop always is for everybody else. Pop tells Jojo “When Given died, I thought I'd drown in it…Didn’t nothing come close to easing it until you came along” (257). Ward uses the Parchman story to illustrate the close and symbiotic relationship Pop and Jojo share; they both give each other solace in difficult times.  

Sing, Unburied, Sing: Hunger & Motherly Love

  Leonie has always been aware of her lack of adequacy as a parent but excuses this neglect through her victim mindset and drug use, causing Jojo to constantly long for motherly love and attention. In the novel, this is shown through the “hunger” Jojo feels which is used to represent Jojo’s starvation of motherly love. 

To Jojo, food represents love and caring. As Jojo fed the betta fish Leonie got him, he’d imagine, “instead of crunching, little words would pop out the bubbles that fizzed up to the surface. Big face. Light. And love” (108). Jojo associates feeding his fish with love, and when Leonie neglects his request for more fish food and Bubbly Bubbles dies, Jojo is harshly introduced to Leonie’s indifference toward others and begins to associate hunger with apathy. 

As the novel progresses, Jojo’s craving for love is displayed through his unconscious desire that Leonie will provide food for him. For example, one morning, Jojo notes his hunger as he walks to their kitchen, smells cooking food, and says, “I think it’s Leonie, and I feel something in me soften for a minute, rethink all the bad I thought about her the night before” (224). Jojo makes such a strong connection between food and love in his mind that he’s willing to forgive Leonie at the first notion that she’s starting to assume her motherly duties and make food for him and his little sister. However, he quickly realizes it’s Michael cooking, and when asked if he’s hungry, says, “Naw” (224). Jojo is quick to refuse food from others, emphasizing his longing for love from his mother and hinting at his resentment toward everyone who drove her away from him such as Michael, who fuels her drug addiction. He also rejects food from Al the morning after Jojo cares for Kayla while all of the adults did drugs, despite mentioning, “the grinding sunk of my stomach” (123). Jojo resents Al for supporting Leonie’s drug addiction as well, recognizing that it’s a means of escape for her that allows her to ignore her motherly duties and drives her further away from him and Kayla.

Hunger is also used to illustrate Leonie’s self-awareness that she’s incapable of properly caring for her children. On page 95, Leonie notes, “Sometimes, when Jojo’s playing with Kayla or sitting in Mama’s room rubbing her hands or helping her turn over in bed, I look at him and see a hungry girl.” Leonie sees Jojo as a girl because she recognizes that he’s doing all of the tasks she should be doing as a mother and daughter. She sees Jojo as a replacement of herself and the hunger she sees in him is his desire for Leonie to show that she cares for her family, especially him and Kayla. Unfortunately, despite this recognition of the “hunger” Jojo feels, Leonie promptly shifts her attention to Misty, further emphasizing that she’s aware, yet apathetic, towards Jojo and the responsibilities that have fallen onto him because of her inadequacy. 

A Segregated Justice System: Racial Profiling and White Violence in Sing, Unburied, Sing

Race has always been a prominent topic of debate in the United States. From the signing of the Constitution and its Three-Fifths Compromise to the present-day Black Lives Matter protests, American politicians have failed to reach a comprehensive agreement on how to address race-related issues. In Sing, Unburied, Sing, Jesmyn Ward explores how this failure has resulted in an unjust American justice system. Three particular instances in the novel emphasize the role of racial stereotypes in the United States justice system. 

First, when the policeman pulls Leonie over, he “looks between [Jojo and Misty] and makes his decision” and eventually “draws his gun on [Jojo]” (Ward 163). The officer’s judgment that a thirteen-year-old black boy who almost single-handedly parents his sister is more of a threat than a grown white woman signifies the extent to which white people, particularly white authorities, racially profile.  While most of the issues characters experience in the novel are hardships with which both races struggle, the police’s preoccupation with racial stereotypes demonstrates the added layer of hardship that black people experience.

Second, the Sunshine Woman’s story calls further attention to the inaccurate and unjust dramatization of black people’s behavior. For instance, when a black man accidentally “brushed up against” (Ward 187) a white woman, “the [resulting] mob beat [him and his wife] so bad they eyes disappeared in they swollen heads” (Ward 188). Similarly, Given’s murder, which was covered up as a “hunting accident” (Ward 50) stems from the violent, targeted anger of white people, and demonstrates how simple, innocent behavior from black people results in their violent deaths, while the white perpetrators receive no legal punishment. 

Third, the deaths of Richie and Blue further examine white violence against black people. The mob that forms after their escape from Parchman “wasn’t going to tell no difference” between Blue and Richie; “they was going to see . . . two beasts” (Ward 253), drawing attention to the near-eagerness with which white people become violent against black people, regardless of whether they had committed an actual crime.  In each situation, the characters’ races dictate whether they will simply be let off the hook or violently killed without the chance to defend themselves in a fair trial. 

Although fewer instances of violent lynchings occur in Jojo’s lifetime (the twenty-first century), Jojo’s near-arrest and Given’s death exemplify how even though laws have changed, racist attitudes prevail in much of America, including the justice system. Just as the ghosts of Richie and Given haunt the present-day in Ward’s novel, the ghosts of America’s violent, racist past haunt present-day America through the perceptions of white people and, consequently, the justice system.

Sing, Unburied, Sing: Past and Present

            Jesmyn Ward’s Sing, Unburied, Sing is a tale of journeys, from Michael’s journey home from prison to Richie’s journey for closure. The idea of time is central to Ward’s development of these journeys. The seemingly parallel notion of past and present is crucial to understanding how these journeys end. It appears as if past and present are coexisting periods. Mam, with her extensive expertise, seems to understand this perfectly: “…We don’t walk straight lines. It’s all happening at once. All of it. We all here at once (Ward 236).”

Michael’s journey home is a roller coaster of hope. Big Joseph’s ideals of the past continue to torment the relationship with Leonie and the kids and Leonie’s trauma from Given’s death continues to consume her. Despite what happened with his parents, Michael still hopes to unite his family. However, this journey doesn’t end much differently than it started. Just like the bacon that Michael burned for the kids, his relationship with his children is far damaged beyond repair. His traumas, both personal and collective, from the oil rig to Given’s death, prevents him from being the father that he would like to be.

Richie’s journey, much like Michael’s, doesn’t have a successful ending. Despite Richie finding out how he died, he is unable to complete his journey “home.” Through this failed journey, Richie learns that things don’t seem to change from the past. After Jojo’s encounter with the police officer, Richie says, “Sometimes I think it done changed. And then I sleep and wake up, and it ain’t changed none (Ward 171).” Decades after his time in Parchman, Richie continues to see the prevalence of the traumas and ideas from the past. His inability to peacefully go into the afterlife, along with the many others who suffered tragic ends, shows how the past cannot be simply let go and erased.

Jojo has a personal journey in understanding how the past influences his present. This introspective trip revolves around the idea of death. At first, Jojo would like to think that he knows what death is. He says, “I like to think that it’s something to look at straight (Ward 1).” However, he soon learns that life isn’t linear, and the past is really not left behind. The damage in his family, from Pop’s time in Parchman to his Uncle Given’s death, shape who he has become. Time seems to move in a circular manner, repeating itself generation to generation, through traumas. Richie may not have achieved his goal, but he crucially shapes the way that Jojo looks at life, and as he tells him in the end, “Now you understand life. Now you know. Death (Ward 282).”

In the prologue of the story, Ward alludes to the idea of time, quoting One Writer’s Beginning by Eudora Welty: “The memory is a living thing- it too is in transit. But during its moment, all that is remembered joins, and lives- the old and the young, the past and the present, the living and the dead.” Although the entirety of this novel is packed with grim tones through its various narrators, Ward brilliantly creates a fictional tale which represents the very much real African American experience in the Deep South, all shaped by the living past.

 

Sing, Unburied, Sing: Jojo's Quest for Manhood

     Throughout the novel, much of Jojo’s characterization and growth is framed around his desire to become a man.  The novel opens with him claiming that “he knows what death is” (page 1), as he attempts to help Pop slaughter a goat for his birthday.  Although he enters the barn with the intention of remaining composed, the smells, sounds, and graphic nature of the task at hand overwhelms him and he runs out, throwing up into the grass.  He is not a man yet.

Later, when Leonie decides to take the children with her to retrieve Michael, Pops tasks Jojo with watching over them, leaving Jojo with this reassurance, saying, “You a man, you hear?” (page 61).  Throughout the car trip Jojo does his best to emulate Pops, comforting Kayla when Leonie is neglectful or rageful, putting her needs before his own by feeding her before himself, and advocating for her needs when she is not able to herself or when Leonie is not listening.  These are all signs of his unfaltering love and devotion for his sister, but it is not enough to make him a man.  This is demonstrated when the group is pulled over by the policeman.  When confronted by the officer, Jojo reaches for the sack Pop gifted to him.  This small action signifies grand implications.  It shows that Jojo, as of yet, does not fully understand the world he, a young black boy, finds himself.  He does not know that such a small movement as this, reaching into his pocket, could have severe repercussions like the taking of his life.  Jojo’s child-like instinct to reach for these objects of comfort demonstrates his naivete and thus sustained boyhood.  Leonie’s perspective illustrates this, as she looks on at her son, noting that “when he starts reaching in his pocket and the officer draws his gun on him, points it at his face, Jojo ain’t nothing but a fat-kneed, bowlegged toddler” (page 165). He is not a man yet.

In the final scenes, the audience is able to watch Jojo metamorphosize at last.  It comes as Pop reveals the ending of Richie’s life, and the role Pops played in it.  With his confession, Pop can no longer hide from all of the pent-up grief and guilt he feels about the past.  In these moments, the audience sees Pops, the unwavering model of manhood, falter.  So too is the true nature of the world revealed to Jojo, unfiltered.  This loss of innocence, as well as the desire of Jojo to care for Pops in all of the ways that he has over the years, catapults Jojo into his newfound manhood.  This is illustrated in the moments after Mama’s passing when Pop still has “a curve there at the top of his back: his shoulders a bowl,” while Jojo “gains what Pop’s lost of his bearing.  First, a brace across his thighs, all the bowlegged softness of his preadolescence dissolved to a granite stance.” (page 270).  Jojo, finally, is a man, one of tenderness, strength, and responsibility, prepared to carry out the task of raising his sister.

Sing, Unburied, Sing: How Drugs Shape Leonie's Life

    Throughout the novel, the reader sees how Leonie’s life is shaped by drugs. Not long after Leonie is introduced, we see how drugs offer her an escape: “The shoes I didn’t buy, the melted cake, the phone call. The toddler sleeping in my bed at home while my son lay on the floor, just in case I’d come home and make him get on the floor when I stumbled in. Fuck it” (Ward 33). Leonie knows she isn’t being a good mom, but she is so overwhelmed by her life and being a single Mom that she thinks drugs are her only escape. Unfortunately for her kids, this causes them to be even more neglected, and Jojo has to take on an even bigger role with Michaela. This also causes Jojo to resent his mom.

    We also see how drugs are an enticing way to escape poverty. When faced with the opportunity to smuggle drugs, Misty says to Leonie “You and Michael could have enough for a deposit. Y’all could get your own place” (Ward 91). Leonie is a hard worker who doesn’t make much money and knows she is being a bad parent. Having a little more stability and her own apartment is appealing. Plus, Leonie is already involved in criminal activity (doing and possessing drugs), so the jump to drug smuggler isn’t as daunting to her. This path that Leonie is following is common, especially for poor black men in this country. They see dealing drugs as a way out and are willing to take legal risks if it means a chance at a better life.

    Leonie quickly sees just how risky moving drugs are, and what the consequences are. After getting Michael from jail, a policeman turns on his siren and pulls them over. Since there is a bag of meth in the car, Leonie decides to grab the bag and “shove it in my mouth. I work up some spit, and I swallow” (Ward 161). A seemingly easy crime has suddenly turned life-threatening. By taking the risk of moving drugs, Leonie has invertedly caused herself to have to take a potentially lethal dose of meth. This also relates to real life, as it isn’t uncommon for people to put themselves in harm's way to avoid an arrested or jail time.

    To summarize, while drugs allow Leonie an escape, they also make her a worse parent and cause her to put her life in danger. Many of Leonie’s struggles relate to the struggles of other poor people in America. One lingering question I have about Leonie is: how much of this is her fault? Leonie has faced racism, poverty, drug addiction, and other struggles. However, she seems to have been born with more opportunities than her parents, so how much of her situation falls on her bad behavior?

Sing, Unburied, Sing: Wrongdoings and Punishment

What is the role of justice in this novel? Perhaps more aptly put, what is the role of injustice in this novel? From Parchman to the murder of Given to Jojo's home to Michael's family home to the weird lawyer to the traffic stop... This novel is characterized by injustice in the legal system and racism as well as wrongdoings ignored.

In southern Mississippi, systemic racism is obviously rampant. Near the beginning of the novel, we learn both River and Richie were sent to Parchman prison for hard labor at a young age. This labor camp is a cruel callback to slavery where prisoners work cotton fields in grueling heat. Richie was poor and starving. He was destined to backbreaking labor for being caught stealing food, a disproportionate punishment for petty theft. On page 23, River is telling Jojo about 12-year-old Richie's first day in the labor prison, how "he walked into that camp crying, but crying with no sound, no sobbing. Just tears leaking down his face, glazing it with water." Richie is a child prisoner facing a terribly unjust punishment. His imprisonment near the start of the novel outlines the systemic racism present in the environment, and his eventual necessary euthanasia acts as a shocking alarm to the reader to the backwards state of the South. That people are willing to torture and lynch a boy with no evidence of crime is jarring.

Similarly, Jojo faces injustice when Leonie and Michael are pulled over. The southern cop, naturally, is harassing the mixed family. When Jojo reaches into his pocket to touch the package his Pop left for him, he quickly finds himself at the wrong end of the cop's gun. The terror of this scene is seen through Leonie's eyes. In a rare moment of a mother's protective sight, Leonie blinks and foresees "the bullet cleaving the soft butter of [Jojo]. I shake" (164). For this mixed family, a routine traffic stop becomes a scene of the family in handcuffs, the son held at gunpoint, and a car search. The irony of this scene, however, is that the family is transporting drugs. For the transport of meth, Leonie and Michael should be punished, but instead, we see Jojo take the heat of the cop's anger.

In contrast at home, we see wrongdoings go unpunished. The starkest continuing example of this throughout the book is Leonie. Leonie is an abusive and neglecting mother towards Jojo and Kayla both with emotional manipulation and physical abuse. Leonie, however, does not answer for the pain she causes. Arguably, Leonie's role in her mother's death near the end of the novel can be seen as her answering to her mother for her failure as a daughter. This says nothing for her abuse towards her children to whom she beats and abandons afterwards. Does Leonie deserve sympathy for being raised poor and black in southern Mississippi? Does this absolve her of being an abusive addict? Michael was raised wealthier and white, but he is also an abusive addict and an enabler. Does he deserve a break? Misty is white and poor, but she enables Leonie's addictions. Does she deserve a break? Al is wealthy and profits off of people's imprisonment in Parchman while partaking in the meth trade. Does this addict deserve sympathy?

The question asking who actually deserves punishment throughout the novel does not yield a satisfying answer. While injustice is easy to spot, an action to take on injustice is difficult to formulate. Unfortunately, nothing changes in the hot, stagnant, southern Mississippi bayou. According to Sing, Unburied, Sing, nothing has changed in 200 years. This environment is one marked by cruelty, where abuse breeds abuse, and true justice is nowhere to be found.

Sing, Unburied, Sing: The Role of Addiction In The Novel

     One of the many overwhelming ideas that Ward presents in the novel is the role of drug use on a person and their relationships. For this theme, the novel focuses on Leonie, who struggles with the use of a plethora of illicit drugs. We can see very early on in the novel that Leonie prioritizes her drug use over her children, with an internal dialogue referencing "the toddler sleeping in my bed at home while my son slept on the floor"(Ward, 33) while their mother does lines of cocaine with little to no remorse about the state of her family. She even references "I knew I shouldn't have: I was pregnant" (Ward, 51) discussing the beginning of her heavy drug use after Micheal went to prison. 

    Leonie is a key image of the wider scale problem of addiction in America, which Ward tries to represent through her. She is seen turning to drugs instead of her loved ones to try to cope with the death of her brother and the absence of Micheal, highlighting the choice that is made whenever an addict decides to continue their use. This behavior conveys the incessant need that one reliant on drugs has when they feel the need to get high, putting aside all other responsibilities. An example of this is when Leonie says, "We can just leave. To get high. To see Given again" (Ward, 273), wanting to leave her family behind even after the death of her mother, a traumatic experience for two children to go through on their own.

Another aspect of drug use that Leonie is an example of is seen in her initial drug use after a traumatic event. Initially, Leonie begins doing drugs after the death of Given as a way to cope with the trauma of losing her brother and seemingly the only character besides Micheal who she doesn't resent. This signifies a larger issue in that many drug users handle grief, guilt, or trauma with drugs, enabling them to temporarily forget their problems in exchange for a fleeting and dangerous bliss. We see this danger conveyed when Leonie swallows the bag of meth in order to avoid trouble with the police, passing out in the car, and rising "from a dark deep place" (Ward, 193) when she eventually regains consciousness. 

No physical harm comes to Leonie as a result of her drug use, unlike so many others. However, the emotional trauma is still there, and cannot be silenced or put out by substance abuse.

Blurred Time and the Constancy of Injustice

    Throughout Sing, Unburied, Sing, the pervasiveness of racism is made obvious as Ward writes of the struggles faced by every generation in the novel. As Ward pieces together the characters’ pasts and presents, we can see that many of the characters face the same struggles, regardless of the progression of time, due to the ubiquity of racism, poverty, and injustice. Ward displays the constancy of racism by manipulating time in the character’s perspectives. Readers, like the characters, experience the repetition of racism across timelines: Pop’s time in prison, Leonie’s adolescence, Jojo’s early childhood, and the present day. The effect of blurred time in presenting the cyclical and ever-present struggles is especially obvious in Richie’s chapters.

    As a ghost, Richie is able to look between times and identify the change undergone at Parchman, or as he sees it, lack thereof. Richie, as he travels in his afterlife, says, “And how could I conceive that Parchman was past, present, and future all at once? That the history and sentiment that carved the place out of the wilderness would show me that time is a vast ocean, and that everything is happening at once?” (Ward 186). Parchman, through all the time that Richie has traveled, has not changed in its treatment of the men there. Men are treated as animals, regardless of the time passed outside the walls of Parchman. Parchman, as an institution, represents the real ways in which the violence and racism from the time of slavery have persisted in the American prison system. Beatings and whippings, forced field work, and hunting escaped prisoners with dogs are all tactics and actions that reek of slavery, despite the time that has passed between slavery and Pop’s imprisonment at Parchman. This stagnancy is not exclusive to the prison, as we see the same racist actions be echoed in every generation and in each characters’ lives, imprisoned or free.

    Ward intends to show the echoes of racism inside and outside the prison, in the past and in the present, through comparisons between characters and their similar experiences with injustice. For example, just as Richie is unjustly imprisoned in his time at the age of twelve, Jojo, at thirteen, is wrongly shackled when the police officer pulls over the car in which his parents are harboring drugs. Another example of the permanence of racism across time is the resemblance of Given’s murder to the violent lynchings that took place during Pop and Richie’s adolescence. The presence of slavery in America’s past still looms large over the present day; slavery and racism continue to shape America. Ward’s manipulation of time and the parallels drawn between events occurring in different generations indicate to the reader that the occurrence of racist violence is not dependent on the year, but rather a constant of life. With the blurred and complex timelines the story follows, especially in Richie’s perspective, it becomes more difficult for the reader to distinguish the year, as Ward demonstrates that racism remains consistent through every generation.

Sing, Unburied, Sing: Love and Caring

 In the novel Sing, Unburied, Sing, Ward represents multiple forms of caring your family members. With each bond in the book Ward displays how a person can love and care for someone and yet make choices that show it in indirect ways or even seemingly contradictory ways. We see this strongest with Pop and Richie. 

A more impactful version of a similar act can be seen from Pop. Pop tells Jojo about his experiences at Parchman fairly freely, aside from how Richie dies. We see in Pop's story how he attempts to make Richie as safe as possible. In one of the first stories about Richie, Pop says "He was a bad worker. I tried to help him" (Ward 75). Pop's first instincts when he saw Richie was to try and help him. Through helping him, Pop and Richie became closer. We see how close they got when, while seeing Pop for the first time again, Richie says "You was the only daddy I ever knew" (Ward 222). Once again, we see a very deep relationship formed between two characters, not even biologically related. Pop is seen as a caregiver by Richie. Richie loves him and doesn't know why or how Pop "left him." We learn towards the end of the book what exactly happened. Jojo asks pop to tell him the end of the story, and Pop tells him, finally saying "Yes, Richie. I'm a take you home [I told Richie]. And then I took the shank I kept in my boot and I punched it one time into his neck" (Ward 255). This final act between Pop and Richie shows how deeply love can effect a person and how that is displayed in the actions they make for them. Pop had known how terrible of an end the other inmate had met, and he didn't want the same for Richie. He made the decision to end Richie's life in the least painful way he could think of to spare him from a worse death if he had been found by the others.

Overall, Sing, Unburied, Sing shows how deep a person can love another through many of the relationships in the book. We see at a smaller scale, Jojo and Kayla and how Jojo has to make some decisions he finds painful in order to fully care for Kayla and keep her as safe as he can. However, on a much grander scale, we see Pop, make the impossible decision to kill Richie, someone who he had grown close to and who looked up to him, to spare him from a worse death. The power of love portrayed in Sing, Unburied, Sing is shown to cause people to make incredibly hard decisions to protect those they love.

Daniel Udelhoven

Sing, Unburied, Sing: Family Roles

   

    Sing, Unburied, Sing is a story about family. The family in the novel, however, does not meet the stereotypical family of America today. One of the main family stereotypes Ward combats in this novel is motherhood. Leonie, the mother, is a drug addict. She isn’t a good mother by any standards, choosing herself or Michael over her kids. Not only is she neglectful and absent, but she is also mean and violence. After commenting on Jojo’s weight, Leonie thinks to herself, “It feels good to be mean,” (pg 147). Stereotypical mother figures are caring and nurturing to their children. Leonie is everything but the stereotypical mother. Leonie does, however, have the maternal instinct to care for her children but never acts upon it. After taking the children to Michael’s parents, Leonie thinks to herself, “I should leave… Take my daughter home and feed her,” but instead waits for Michael (pg, 210). Leonie’s role as a mother is shocking and inhumane. Reading how she hits her children and doesn’t feed them is horrifying. It’s an eye opener for anyone who hasn’t been in that situation. Ward shows a new type of mother in this novel, the one who is broken and doesn’t know how to take care of their kids.

 

        Ward writes Jojo, Leonie’s son, as another complicated member of his family. Jojo holds a parent-like role. He not only cares for Kayla, but Kayla views Jojo as more of a his “mother” than Leonie. When Kayla was sick, scared, or unhappy, she looked towards Jojo. He would soothe her and calm her down. In the arms of Michael and Leonie, her real parents, Kayla would also cry for Jojo. Interesting, Jojo takes up his caretaker role while wanting to be a man. In the beginning of the novel, he claims he wants to be a man, he wants to be like Pop. Jojo describes himself “try to keep my back straight, my shoulders even as a hanger” so he can walk like Pop (pg 1). Through the novel, this thirteen-year-old boy does grow to be like Pop. Leonie even comments “I have never seen [Jojo] look so much like Pop as he does right now,” (pg 208). Beyond their looks, actions, and attitudes, both have a way with animals and both care for their family. And while Jojo may not be the man he wanted to be in the beginning of the story, he becomes a man like his Pop.

 

        Leonie and Jojo’s family shows a different family from what the media and society portray as the American family. It’s new, it’s different, and even at some points it’s shocking and heartbreaking. It’s very different for many readers who do not experience these family dynamics. But it can also be related to others. I think this idea of broken families is something Ward wants to the readers to experience. Many families are affected many loss, addiction, abuse, and poverty. And for many, Jojo’s and Leonie’s experiences aren’t new. But through Jojo’s and Leonie’s experiences, everyone can find a new understanding for what family is, and what it doesn’t have to be.

 

Sing, Unburied, Sing: Death and Adulthood

    Death is a common theme throughout the novel, and much of the time, Ward focuses on how life, death, and rebirth are tied to Jojo's transition into manhood and becoming an adult. The idea of Jojo shedding his old self can be seen as more of a metaphorical form of death, as he continues to become someone new. We can see these transitions into adulthood numerous times throughout the novel, but each one is consistently tied to some sort of death.

    In the opening pages of the novel, we begin to get a glimpse into how Jojo desperately wants to be respected by Pop and appear manly and useful to his grandfather. Jojo explains, "I want Pop to know I can get bloody. Today's my birthday" (Ward 1). This need for validation and reassurance from his grandfather is linked to the killing of the goat from the same scene. As one life is being extinguished, Jojo demonstrates a new life and journey into manhood and death of a childhood. 

    Similarly, in the instance in which Pop finally tells Jojo the final piece of the story about Richie, a sense of death permeates Jojo growing into a man. After Pop explains how Richie's death occurred, he breaks down in guilt, and Jojo must comfort him in a way similar to how he would comfort Kayla (Ward 257). For one of the first times, the roles of Pop and Jojo are switched, and reading can truly understand how Jojo has grown into an adult that not only takes care of his family, but is beginning to understand enough of the world to help them in an emotional and spiritual sense. This requires a wisdom that he did not previously have, and Richie's death and Jojo's understanding of it are tied to his emotional growth. 

    Finally, in the end of the novel, the ultimate step of Jojo's transition is observed through Mam's death. In his grandmother dying, Jojo must step up in a new role in his family. Leonie describes that "Jojo gains Pop's lost of his bearing" (Ward 270). Mam's death represents and generates Jojo's transition into not only an adult, but someone who has seen horrible things occur and no longer possesses the naivety of a child. 

    Ultimately, these instances of death with the goat, Richie, and Mam all stand to highlight the death of Jojo's childhood and subsequent rebirth into adulthood. His journey into adulthood and manhood can be seen as him physically having to be a supporter for his family as well as growing emotionally and having to learn about the horrors of the world. 

Sing, Unburied, Sing: The complexities behind Michael and Leonie's connection with one another

 Though all relationships have positive and negative aspects, the foundation of most healthy relationships are based on love for one another. However, Ward’s depiction of Leonie and Michael’s relationship showcases that there are relationships that are built on guilt, sadness, and despair. Though the relationship brought both Leonie and Michael happiness, their family history along with hot tempered personalities caused them to be extremely toxic for each other.

Family connections are a huge part of this novel, and from the very beginning it is obvious that both Michael and Leonie’s families don’t approve of their relationship, being one of the primary reasons for why they are problematic for each other. Ward depicts their relationship as negative enablement because neither of them are able to get the other person out of their drug, child neglect, and overall negative habits cycle. For instance, Michael using drugs and eventually producing his own crystal meth was not a positive influence on Leonie because people like him and Misty enabled her to want to use drugs more so that she could escape her reality and see her hallucinations with Given. The drugs also caused the negative feelings that Michael and Leonie had for each other to be put on the back burner and the positive feelings to come to light because they were in an alternate reality. As shown in chapter seven, “I close my eyes and ignore Given-not-Given, and think of Michael, real Michael” is a clear example of how Leonie romanticizes the connection between her and Michael when she is under the influence. Another huge example of how they negatively enable each other is shown through Jojo and Kayla. Both Leonie and Michael do have love for their children but because they are so consumed in their own drugs and sadness they aren’t able to give Jojo or Kayla much attention. Once it was mentioned in the book that Michael had actually gotten a tattoo for Jojo, I as the reader assumed that he would show him some care or affection, but Michael was too wrapped up in his own life.

Aside from the addiction and personality issues that are the root of many complexities in Leonie and Michael’s lives, the fact that Michael’s family was responsible for the death of Given was extremely disturbing for their relationship. The fact that Michael’s cousin killed Given and him and Leonie still progressed to dating showed a lot of character flaws in both Leonie and Michael. I would argue that Leonie felt guilty for this and used her relationship with Michael as a coping mechanism for his grief. Similarly, Michael used his own guilt on the behalf of his family and pursued a relationship with Leonie knowing that the circumstances were extremely odd and wrong.

Sing, Unburied, Sing : How Death Plays a Significant Role

        Death is unpredictable, and can affect people in different ways. In Sing, Unburied, Sing, death played a key role in how the characters developed throughout the course of the novel. Ward described how Jojo, Kayla, Leonie, Pop, and Mam had their own experiences with death, and this is why their relationships with one another were tense.

Anyone who reads this novel could tell that Jojo and his family struggle in connecting with one another. Jojo tries hard to be like Pop, and hides his emotions so that Pop is not ashamed of him. Leonie does not have a good relationship with her children nor her parents. For the most part, Mam seems to have good relationships with everyone in the family. Pop normally keeps to himself, but he is hiding a lot of grief. All of these problems lead back to one thing, death. 

Pop, Mam, and Leonie have actually experienced losing a loved one. Given, who was Pop and Mam’s son, was shot and killed by Michael’s cousin. Leonie mentioned how “A year after Given died, Mama planted a tree for him” (Ward 50). This was the way that Mam grieved over him. Leonie on the other hand, grieved in a different way. Leonie had a drug problem, and the text states, “Three years ago, I did a line and saw Given for the first time.” (Ward 51). Being able to see Given’s ghost, made Leonie want to do cocaine and get high even more. This affected her relationship with her children, since she was always leaving and getting high. Pop not only experienced Given’s death, but he also had to deal with the death of one of his friends, Richie. When Pop was younger, he met Richie in Parchman, and Pop looked after him. One day, Pop was no longer able to protect Richie, and he had to kill him before the crowd could lynch him. Pop always carried this grief with him, until the day he told Jojo. 

Jojo and Kayla could also see ghosts. Richie was the first ghost they had seen, and all Richie wanted was to figure out how he died. Jojo and Kayla ended up saving Mam from Richie before she died, and that made Jojo more mature. Jojo now understood how Leonie has felt all of these years. “I feel it in me too. An itching in my hands. A kicking in my feet.” (Ward 279). Kayla is only three years old, but she is able to help ghosts find peace. The text mentions, “Kayla sings, and the multitude of ghosts lean forward, nodding.” (Ward 284). Kayla was able to send the ghosts home, and help them find happiness again. Jojo and Kayla learned about death at a young age, and this impacted their character.

This novel was mainly about death, and how the characters dealt with it. There was a lot of bickering between Jojo and his family, and I think it was mainly because of death and ghosts. Each person in the family was not sure on how to deal with death in their own way, and that is why it was hard for them to have good relationships. 

 

Americanah: Coming Home and Finding Love

 Americanah: Coming Home

Because of the breadth of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel Americanah, one could say it is “about” a multitude of things: race, family, the American dream, belonging, class divide, the African diaspora, and growing up. But I think it is first and foremost, a love story between Ifemulu and Obinze.

Ifemulu falls in love with Obinze when they are in highschool in Nigeria together. She is instantly drawn to his kindness, his quiet manner, and his honesty. Before we are even introduced to his character, Ifemulu narrates that he was the great love of her life. Ifemulu has a few relationships during her adult life throughout the novel. Obinze was her first love, but she has meaningful relationships after their separation that come close, but never seem to replace, what she and Obinze had. Two of her most serious relationships after Obinze include Curt, a rich white man who she meets at her first job in America and Blaine, a high-culture academic she has a sparkling first meeting with on a bus ride.

Ifemulu’s journey of personal growth and discovery tracks with her romantic relationships. With Curt, Ifemulu finds comfort, ease, and security. After struggling to pay the bills when she first arrives in America, she experiences luxury for the first time, taking frequent vacations first class, going to the farmer’s market, storing her clothes in his walk-in closet, enjoying the finest things in life. He even pulls some strings to get her her first real job. But with the lightness and ease of their relationship, Ifemulu feels that Curt does not fully understand her. In some ways he is protective and acutely aware of the discrimination she faces, but in other ways, completely blind. They come from too different of worlds, and in the end Ifemulu cheats on him, irreparably destroying their relationship. At first she doesn’t know why she does it but she gets a feeling like there is something else out there for her, as the text states, “She did not know what it was but there was something wrong with her. A hunger, a restlessness. An incomplete knowledge of herself. The sense of something farther, beyond her reach” (Adichie 358). Ifemulu feels that she does not know herself fully, and that there is something greater to be gained ahead. In the same way she is still getting to know herself and gaining her balance in a new country and a new culture, she finds herself in a relationship with someone who doesn’t know her and can’t give her what she wants, and so she tears it up and starts over.

Ifemulu first meets Blaine, a political science professor, on a bus ride, and she is immediately struck by him. They have a promising first encounter, but nothing comes of it. Almost ten years later, she meets him again in Washington D.C. at a convention, and soon after they start dating. When she meets Blaine again, she has quit her desk job and has successfully grown her blog on her own, leading her to give diversity talks at conventions and at prestigious universities. She is finding her place in the world and achieves real success. Her relationship with Blaine is strong, but she feels that she doesn’t quite belong in his world. His friends are academic and well-educated, and have rousing and provocative discussions over socio-political conflicts over dinner, and are united by a hope in Obama’s election. But Ifemulu always feels that Blaine thinks he is above her, he is obsessed with the principles of things, in things being right and true and places himself as the arbiter of such principles. They also come from different cultural backgrounds. Ifemulu is a Nigerian woman who has immigrated to America, while Blaine is African-American, and has been raised and well-versed in American culture and ideas. Ifemulu breaks it off when she realizes she needs to go back home to Nigeria. Even though she had been in America for thirteen years and has found success there, she still feels out of place and longs to return home. As it says in the text, “Nigeria became where she was supposed to be, the only place she could sink her roots into without the constant urge to tug them out and shake off the soil” (Adichie 8). The restlessness she feels in America, and the disconnection she feels in her relationship with Blaine, culminate in her returning to Lagos and eventually, reuniting with Obinze.

It is when Ifemulu is reunited with her family and her culture that she falls in love with Obinze again. Ifemulue narrates of their rekindled romance, “she felt truly alive, her heart beat faster when he arrived at her door, and she viewed each morning like the unwrapping of a gift,” and continues, “This was love, to be eager for tomorrow. Had she felt this way as a teenager?” (Adichie 553). The love she feels for Obinze is even stronger after her time away from him in America, and in his time in the UK. Only after Ifemulu undergoes her trials of life in America and realizes how much home means to her, does she fully drop her guard and let Obinze back into her life after years of silence and separation. What Ifemulu had been searching for in America, a sense of belonging, security, family, and being fully known and understood, she finds only in Obinze, after searching for it in a foreign place and with relationships with people whose worlds she will never fully know. In this way, Americanah is one of the grandest and most sweeping love stories, it takes the two highschool sweethearts years of silence and thousands of miles of distance to finally end up together, more in love than ever in a place they both call home. Americanah is told primarily through Ifemulu’s point of view, and it shows that she must first become independent and grow as a person before she can fall back in love with Obinze. When they were young, they left Nigeria in pursuit of the American dream, where they believed they would have it easier and would be prosperous. But they both struggled and fought their way to independence, and while they gained some things in America, they realized, simply put, what they didn’t want to fill their time with. Only after both of them have completed their journeys and realized what they want out of life can they be together and be happy.