I believe gender roles in Bois Sauvage are not as one would expect given the southern rural setting. Being a Southerner, I am well acquainted with how gender usual functions in the South (especially rural environments). Growing up in New Orleans, Men usually did the handy work around the house and other physical labor while the Women would do activities inside the home such as housekeeping, food prepping, shopping, etc. In Salvage The Bones, one does not really see that with Esch's circumstances. Although she is the only woman in the house, her gender does not exempt her from activities her brothers would do. For example, when Esch has to help her Father with the dump truck. In this instance, her Father could have told her to send for her brothers to come do this physical, masculine-like labor. However, he makes her get involved in helping him defying expected gender roles in this setting. A good question now would be why does he defy them? I believe that Esch's mother has a lot to do with this. Esch's father has to be dominant parent now and in doing so he's molding all his children to be like him. There is no mother figure to sort of take Esch into that feminine world and show her how to do all the feminine things expected to be done by a woman in this book. Being under her father's care she is exposed more to masculine things and activities. In sum, I think gender doesn't work how one would expect it to given the setting and Esch's circumstances.