Blog 3:Gender in Salvage the Bones

In Salvage the Bones,Gender diversity is absent. Our main protagonist, Esch, is conflicted by the lack of female figures in her life. Esch struggles to find a balance between being a girl and fitting into a male centric household. She bounces between roles and exhibits personality traits of her rasied environment. Bois Sauvage is a small rural land,located near the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, Esch lives here. This is her life and it's all she knows. Gender pressure has to do a lot with the location you find yourself in. Depending on how far south or north you live could dictate the acceptance of your gender. Here in the South, Esch finds her self conflicted. She is the only female in her family after the passing of her mother. This has left a feeling of feminine absence in her life with the exception of China. Now facing pregnancy, Esch is left to face the trials and tribulations of womanhood all by her self. She doesn't fit the archetype of your ordinary southern girl. Esch prides her self for being strong,tough and hardy. These are great attributes for delivering a child to this world,as shown by China but, Esch is lacking something else. She is lacking the fundamentals. Esch needs the love of a supportive women figure in her life. Someone who is able to nurture and show Esch the process of being a mother. While she is shown to be capable of pulling through she often finds herself haunted by the lack of not having her mother. She uses distraction like hanging out with Randell,Skeetah and Manny to distance her self from what she is. Esch shows eagerness to impress her older brothers and friends furthering the mental gender separation. Esch is looking for acceptance in her life, the metaphorical "void" she is trying to fill spreads across more then just her mother. She is trying to discover the missing element in her self. Through being a mom she may find that missing element. The realization and understanding of her own gender.