Salvage the Bones

This theme is also intertwined with the theme of motherhood, as both China and Hurricane Katrina--the symbols that illustrate this dual-sided quality of nature--are called mothers. In the first few pages, Esch watches China give birth to puppies and describes it as a kind of “blooming” and she tells us that the weeds and grasses that grow around the Pit are lush and growing almost “out of control”. When Esch learns she is pregnant and when the family goes searching for eggs from their hens, the reader is reminded of the continual cycle of life and how nature is always fruitful.

However, nature can also be incredibly destructive as evinced by China’s ability to fight and in her destruction of one of her own puppies. The reader should take heed of Skeetah’s understanding that China’s “strength” comes from her experience of motherhood, and that this should be respected. Perhaps the clearest example of nature’s destructive force is Hurricane Katrina. The Batiste family, with the exception of Claude, underestimate the seriousness of Katrina and she “make[s] them know” (175) that this power and strength of nature is to not to be discounted.