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.
Pop's story throughout the novel is so important in pushing the themes that you mentioned above. It also establishes a sort of internal structure to the book since Jojo is only given small parts of the story all the way until the end. It seemed like Pop decided to tell the story like this not just because he feels guilty but also because he recognizes that once Jojo knows this information, his view of Pop would be changed. I think this is why Jojo's desire to be mature and a 'man' is another running theme because throughout the novel we see many examples of when Jojo tries to prove himself and act like Pop. He constantly references wanting to be as strong and sturdy as him and even walk the same way. It seems that Pop recognized this and that is why he never finished the story until Jojo asked him to. Pop knew that Jojo had to be mature enough which he is in the ending. Like you said, this really shows the bond between Pop and Jojo and how they rely on each other to provide comfort and forgiveness when things are difficult. Seeing Jojo holding Pop after he finishes the story is important because it is the first time the reader is exposed to Pop as anything besides the strong and stable person that he is described as. Pop is beaten down by his guilt for Richie and most likely never got proper closure. By finally finishing the story, Pop reveals the feelings that have been eating at him for years and shows how much he trusts Jojo.
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