BLOG 2: Chapter 1 of Salvage the Bones is full of various kinds of love—love for China, China’s love for her puppies, familial love, and the relationship between Esch and Manny. What is Ward trying to tell us about the power of love in this first chapter?
In the first chapter of "Salvage the Bones", we find that different kinds of love are introduced involving the family dog. There is the love Skeetah shows for China at the beginning of the novel as well as Skeetah's love for her puppies. The cause behind some of the love Skeetah has for China involves her worth. He loves the puppies but plans on selling them in the future. However, most of that love he has for China is because of the relationship they have. In chapter 1, Skeetah says that "people understand that between man and dog in a relationship...Equal (Ward 29)." Love can bring out negative effects on people as demonstrated by Skeetah. He displayed aggravation to a man who had just been in a car accident because he wanted to get home to feed his dog. China loves her puppies because it is her job to nurture and protect them. She is known for her vicious fighting skills but changes her behavior completely when with her children. It's a common and innate response parents demonstrate with their kids passed on through generations.
The siblings also represent different kinds of love. Their mother died while giving birth so they have developed stronger bonds as a result. Randall, the oldest son seems to take care of Junior by himself. Esch is often with Skeetah and his friends. Esch and Manny, one of Skeetah's friends, don't share love as yet in the novel. During sex, she proclaimed, "I was making him hot with love and Manny was loving me (Ward 17)." Love is an intense like or adoration for someone. Esch just wants to be touched by Manny. She longs for him because he is an attractive guy who wants her for sex. It is simply a hidden relationship driven solely by lust.
I think the reference to Esch and Manny's relationship is really interesting here. The distinction between love and lust is something many young people are unable to notice. To quantify the interest as simply the desire to be touched is then especially important. Esch is just learning herself and her body - she's a teenager.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kennedi's observation on how love can be instrumental in aggression. Ward presents many representations of aggressive love in the first chapter of "Salvage the Bones." This type of "love" can be seen in Manny's interactions with Esch, Skeetah's interactions with China, and to a lesser extent China's interaction with her puppies. These relationships are all based on power and control, especially the one between Esch and Manny.
ReplyDeleteIn the first example, the relationship between Manny and Esch is aggressive in many ways. First, Manny is older than Esch and presumably has more experience than her. Second, Manny is bigger than Esch and so he has more power over her physically (and in conjunction with his age, emotionally too.) Esch is very infatuated with Manny and so his sexual aggression towards her is seen as love. Many times she describes how many doesn’t kiss her, he only does “with his hips.” She compares their relationship to all the mythological ones she’s read about for her English class and how she feels like a goddess when she with him because she wants him to be in “hot love” with her. She is also an aggressor in that way.
In the second example, the relationship between Skeetah and China is based in ownership and capital interests. Skeetah owns China and he provides for her so that in return she can breed expensive fighting dogs. Because of his investment in China, Skeetah is very protective of her and tries his best to provide with the best care. We see an example of this when he goes to buy dog food and only ever buys the most expensive brand. There is aggressive, both ways, when one does something the other doesn’t like such as when China doesn’t want to feed the sick puppy and Skeetah pushed on her forehead in annoyance.
In the final example, China has a very aggressive and primal love with her puppies. She mothers them by licking them clean and letting them nurse, but she also turns away the sick ones and refuses to nurse them. This “love” is called survival of the fittest and China practices it very well.