Salvage The Bones Adversity Quotes

Life Is Hard

A person usually faces adversity multiple times throughout their life. Adversity is the difficulties and hardships one might come across, in someone's life. Adversity can either have a negative or positive effect, depending on how they handle it and persevere. In the Novel, Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward, she presents many examples of ongoing adversity. The Batiste family faces reoccurring battles against poverty, life without a mother, and the responsibility for the dogs. These problems have negative effects because they create conflict and stress from scarcity, yet are also positive because it allows the family to learn to be closer, suggesting adversity can happen anytime and is a powerful factor in a family’s life.

Finding out Hurricane Katrina is coming shocks the Batiste family. The family realizes they have to prepare for the hurricane with little to no money. They need to fix up the house and make sure they have enough food to last them a few days. Skeet also worries about China and the puppies needing food as well, so he goes to the store. About to leave, Randall stops him saying,” You can pick up some canned goods when you go”(Ward 182). Little does Randall know, Skeetah has little to no money and was planning on stealing from the store. Realizing this, “Randall stops mid-sentence. ‘Shit. I’ll get some money from Daddy’s wallet. Get the cheapest. Anything in a can.’”(182). Discovering this puts even more stress on Randall, worrying about his brother getting caught as well as the food. The lack of money creates another problematic situation for both Randall and Skeet at this moment. After the hurricane, The Batiste family was left with little to nothing. They were left, “to salvage”(225). This would make the Batiste family, “Learn to crawl”(225), and start over again. Starting from the beginning allows the family learns how to become closer and trust one another more, making this a positive

When the family is preparing for the hurricane, Skeet is trying to get China to feed her little puppies. He insists that China feed them consistently. Skeet eggs her on too much, and China kills one of her puppies. Esch describes China as being, “bloody-mouthed”, and “Bright-eyed as Medea”, which shows the aggressiveness and intrusiveness China has(130). Skeetah would weep, “‘Why did you?’ ‘Why?’”, showing the stress caused by the death of the puppies(130). China’s puppies are the family’s source of money, knowing this, they won’t have the money to buy certain things. Some of these things include food and additional shelter for the upcoming hurricane they are about to face. In addition, the family needs to pay for Daddy’s medical bill and Randall’s basketball camp. The death of the puppy put the Batiste family in an unwanted position. Although the dogs posed challenges, the outcome of the dog situation is what the family needs. Skeet and Randall are having a conversation about China and her puppies. They talk about how much money they can make off of selling the puppies and how Skeetah plans on spending it. Skeet goes on to say, “If my dogs live, I can make eight hundred dollars off them.” For this family, eight hundred dollars is huge. He asks, “Do you know