Analysis Of The Looking Glass Self By Jesmyn Ward

In sociology, “The Looking Glass Self”, defined by Charles Cooley, is a concept that explains the notion that what we see in society reflects oneself. Cooley explained it as the “degree of personal insecurity you display in social situations is determined by how others see you”. This concept is highlighted in Sing, Unburied, Sing. Author of the novel, Jesmyn Ward creates a story about a dysfunctional family that get caught up in messy situations due to their community. Society affects a few of the characters to behave in a way that is viewed as dysfunctional and insecure. How society treats Leonie, Richie, and Jojo reflects their behavior and actions. On one hand, the mother of the family, Leonie, has bad parenting qualities and an addiction

From drugs to racism, society affects the way Leonie behaves in her family. The first reason why Leonie seems so detached from herself and her family arises from the apparent prejudice that the police officer displays when she and her family get pulled over after coming from Parchman. As Leonie and her children, Jojo and Kayla, drive back home, a police officer stops their car for swerving. The officer asks Leonie where they are coming from and Leonie says from Parchman. Leonie realizes, “I know it’s a mistake as soon as I say it. I should have said something else, anything else: Greenwood or Itta Bena or Natchez, but Parchman is all that comes” (162). The cop immediately handcuffs Leonie before all the words finish leaving her mouth. The cop is ignorant because he handcuffs Leonie based off of assumptions. The fact that Leonie and her family are coming from Parchman is the only reason the cop has to arrest them on the spot. With Leonie being black, it also adds to the unjustness of the situation and the cop portrayed this prejudice

Police arrested Richie when he was only 12 years old for stealing bread to feed his family. Pop explains the situation of not getting any work if the person was black:“even though White people couldn’t get your work for free, they did everything they could to avoid hiring you and paying for it” (21). Similar to Leonie, racism also affected Richie. But unlike Leonie and Jojo’s society, Richie’s society was more violent with Black people. Because Richie was black, he was not able to get hired for work because White people did not want to give their money away to those who they viewed as lesser than human. Richie could not get hired for money so he ended up stealing bread and going to jail. If Richie were White, he would not have been punished as severely for stealing, but the unjust society Richie lived in caused him to be sent to Parchman. At Parchman, Richie met Pop who protected him from all of the horrors happening in Parchman, but Richie was still exposed to it. Escaping from Parchman, Richie has still not recovered from watching someone get skinned before his eyes. Not being able to recognize the cause of his death leads to his reason for being trapped on Earth. Richie confessed that he wanted to go home multiple times, but unfortunately, Pop had killed Richie to protect him from the skinning that was bound to happen to him. Like Jojo, Richie is also neglected by people he loves. Because Richie went to