Death is inevitable in life; it is the only thing that is guaranteed for the future. In the novel “Sing, Unburied, Sing” by Jesmyn Ward, the presentation of this inevitable fate is highly used. The novel includes the violent deaths of Given, Richie, and the cancer-induced death of Grandma (Mam). Given was a brother and son, and he died of a gunshot wound that was inflicted on him because he won a bet when he went out hunting with other people. Richie’s death was inflicted upon by the Grandpa in the novel (Pop). Richie was going to suffer greatly from people that were hunting him down, so Pop thought of it as a way of suffering. These deaths are significant throughout the novel as these dead characters all mean something to each living character. …show more content…
The death of Given had a major effect on the family in “Sing, Unburied, Sing” because after he was killed, his sister Leonie, went off the deep end; she started doing lots of drugs and still does. This death also caused his parents to live in distress and caused major guilt for Given’s dad (Pop) due to the way that he ended up killing his former friend, Richie, whom he had in jail. Richie and Given were both killed unexpectedly and their deaths correlate as they appear as ghosts throughout the novel. Leonie could see her brother Given when she was high, and then we later discovered that Jojo could see and hear Richie’s ghost. Jojo has to endure the traumatic passing of Richie at such a young age because he starts appearing in his life while Leonie has not grieved her brother’s death and seeing him all the time does not help her let go. The way that these characters have this shared trauma in common connects them in a way that they don’t necessarily see, but that the reader sees and it brings them together throughout the novel. The death of Mam brings a spiritual togetherness to the novel between the