The Effect of Gender Isolation

Throughout Salvage the Bones, we see the effect that the absence of Esch’s mother has on her development into a young woman. Because she is the only woman in her familial system and friendships, Esch has no “mentor” or “role-model” to guide her into womanhood. The isolation that Esch feels can be attributed to this. For example, when Esch finds out that she is pregnant she has nobody to turn to that would understand her condition. Esch, in turn, then resorts to more drastic measures to deal with her problem- such as kneeing her stomach in an attempt to cause a miscarriage.

                Another consequence of Esch’s gender isolation is the degraded gender boundaries that we see throughout the novel. In many ways Esch’s father, brothers, and male friends see her as “just one of the guys” and she often plays the part. For example, when Esch, her brothers, and friends venture out into the pit to put down the puppy that has contracted parvo, all of the boys strip down naked and jump into the Pit to swim. Esch does the same and thinks nothing of it. This is caused by the gender boundaries that have been melted away from Esch being the only female.