Salvage the Bones

More than just a pit bull, China is the purest representation of the power of nature in the novel. As a female dog, and as a mother, she also represents female strength and the power that can be derived from motherhood. The fact that she is able to both nurture and destroy demonstrates this dual-sided character of the natural world. She also serves as a reflection of the novel’s main character. There are direct comparisons made between her and Esch and when the narrator finally realizes her own strength, she sees herself as equal with China: “she will know that I have kept watch, that I have fought. China…will call me sister [and]…she will know that I am a mother” (258).

The absent mother of the Batiste children is a heavy presence in the novel and Esch carries her in her thoughts continually, recalling her behavior as a guide for her own. She also looks to China for a definition of “motherhood”, as she thinks about her own mothering. There are chauvinistic attitudes in the story that associate motherhood with weakness, but China demonstrates the opposite reality with her ability to fight and overpower a large male dog.