Whole class discussion: Post your group wikis here

Quote:

"I’ve heard girls at my school talk. These are conversations I snatch from the air like we take down clothes that have crusted dry on a clothesline. The girls say that if you’re pregnant and you take a month’s worth of birth control pills, it will make your period come on. Say if you drink bleach, you get sick, and it will make what will become the baby come out. Say if you hit yourself really hard in the stomach, throw yourself on the metal edge of a car and it hits you low enough to call bruises, it could bring a miscarriage. Say that this is what you do when you can’t afford an abortion, when you can’t have a baby, when nobody wants what is inside you.

In the bathroom, I bend over standing and knead my stomach, knead the melon to pulp, but it just keeps springing back: ripe. Intent on bearing seed. I could find something big enough and hard enough to jump on: Daddy’s dump truck hood, Daddy’s tractor, one of the old washing machines out in the yard. We have bleach in the laundry room. Only thing I wouldn’t be able to find is the birth control pills; I’ve never had a prescription, wouldn’t have money to get them if I did, don’t have any girlfriends to ask for some, and have never been to the Health Department. Who would bring me? Daddy, who sometimes I think forgets that I am a girl? Big Henry, one of the few of our friends who has a car? Manny? Teeth-in-the-dark Manny? If I took care of it, he would never know, I think, never know, and then maybe it would give him time. Time to what? I push. Be different. Love me.These are my options, and they narrow to none." (pg.102)

Poverty and lack of accessible resources, is the reason many pregnant women seek extreme measures to terminate their pregnancy. These extreme measures risk the health and security of the person and protection from inhumane cruel treatment outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UN General Assembly, 1948). Resources that are required to prevent, terminate, and maintain a healthy pregnancy rely on financial services which is difficult to obtain when in poverty.

This passage demonstrates how women in poverty have little options regarding pregnancy due to their financial situation. Contraceptives are not cheap; birth control and protection like condoms, are items that require regular purchasing to effectively prevent pregnancy. This is an extra expense which many people in poverty cannot afford when already struggling financially. This is evident when Esch is talking about birth control when she states, "Only thing I wouldn’t be able to find is birth control pills; I’ve never had a prescription, wouldn’t have the money to get them if I did” (pg. 102). Esch knows about birth control. It is not a matter of being uneducated, but rather she is unable to access prescription medication as a result of her family’s poverty. In this passage, Esch reflects on extreme measures of self-inflicted abortions such as drinking bleach or jumping against a metal edge of a car. These methods are extremely dangerous and could result in serious injury or death. As Esch talks about never visiting the Health Department, she demonstrates her understanding that these methods are unconventional. However, she states that these are the methods used "when you can’t afford an abortion, when you can’t have a baby” (pg.102). This demonstrates the lack of options women have when pregnant and in poverty. They can either bring a baby they are unable to support into the world, continuing the cycle of poverty, or they can risk their life attempting to terminate the pregnancy. Pregnancy is a great expense that increases with time. Another child means another mouth to feed, more clothing to buy, and medical bills to pay. Either way, pregnant women in poverty are oppressed by their lack of options, whether they terminate or carryout with their pregnancy, they will have to face the financial burdens and the resulting conflicts.

Jesmyn Ward’s Salvage the Bones is riddled with literary devices. The narration is told through Esch’s point of view, she describes things in vivid imagery using metaphors to paint the picture. She often refers to her pregnancy bump as a melon, as is demonstrated in this passage. “I knead my stomach, knead the melon to pulp, but it just keeps springing back: ripe. Intended on bearing seed” (pg.102).Additionally, the author uses the literary device, parataxis, to have the reader feel the stress and anxiety Esch feels through the sentence structure. These short sentences, such as: "Time to what? I push. Be different. Love me.These are my options, and they narrow to none," show how scattered Esch's thoughts are, and make the reader feel Esch's urgency and uncertainty (pg. 102). The tone of this passage is somber as we read the internal conflicts that poverty has imposed on Esch’s pregnancy. The passage gradually becomes more depressing as Esch debates cruel methods of terminating her pregnancy due to no accessibility to safer options.

Poverty and the lack of resources provided to those impoverished is the fundamental reason why many women turn to the dangerous practice of self-inflicted abortions. The inhumane nature of these methods breach the right to life, liberty, and security of the person, and their right to not be subject to cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment, as outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, (UN General Assembly, 1948). The reason for this is poverty, and poverty is the reason many women become pregnant as they cannot afford regular purchasing of protection or afford access to sexual health care. Contrarily, many women in poverty cannot afford life after childbirth; extra expenses, access childcare, and a lack of quality of life for the child. These are all financial factors that many in poverty cannot achieve due to their socioeconomic status. When options are slim to none, women feel they have no choice than to jeopardize their own health and safety by ending the pregnancy, not always because they want to, but because they feel they have to. This is evident in this passage as Esch states, "These are my options, and they are narrow to none" (pg. 102). Having affordable and safe abortions being accessible does not promote having abortions but rather prevents women from subjecting themselves to methods in which risk their health, safety, and life. The government needs to provide better reproductive and health services to those in poverty, including financially accessible contraceptives like birth control to prevent pregnancy, government-supported Sexual Health Clinics in underdeveloped areas that can provide healthcare to those who cannot afford it, and programs for women who do not obtain the financial support to have children. Without the means to prevent pregnancy and limited access to sexual health services, society cannot eliminate the risk of self-inflicted, dangerous abortions.



UN General Assembly, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 10 December 1948, 217 A (III), available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b3712c.html [accessed 14 October 2020]

Mark Perez Edgar, Paytra Waibel, Muchaneta Nyambuya, Elizabeth Miller

Dr. Amanda DiPaolo

Human Rights and Literature

16 October 2020

Human Rights Analysis on the Relationship Between Environmental Disaster and Socioeconomic Disadvantage in Salvage the Bones

I failed her" he said
He blinked hard.

"No. No you didn't". I spoke into his neck.

"Yes," he said. His voice sounded like a rake being dragged over rocks.

"You didn't fail us," I said

He shook his head, and his cheek brushed my forehead. The muscles under his jaw were jumping. He started to shake. I hugged him tighter, held him the way I'd embraced those boys I'd fucked because it was easier to let them get what they wanted instead of denying them, instead of making them see me. My arms had never been so strong.

I squeezed. With my whole body, I squeezed. I could hold him together, but he jerked so hard it felt like he was trying to shake himself apart, separate at the knuckles, pop loose his ribs, dislocate his shoulders, and dislodge his knees: shudder into nothing, a pile of skin and bone and limp muscle. No Skeet. (Ward 238)

Our group's chosen passage reflects the fundamental turning point for Esch between the silent, shy girl who allowed everyone to walk over her without complaint and the strong woman rising from the ashes and accepting herself. This novel sparks much empathy within the reader in regard to the entire Batiste family. This passage is particularly difficult to read without it tugging on your heart strings. Feeling empathy toward make-belief characters is one of the special things about being human. Our humanity shows and we cannot help but imagine being in the main characters shoes, suffering right along with them.

Under a human rights lens, we can analyze Esch and her family's situation economically, socially, legally, and racially. From an economic standpoint, the Bastiste family struggle terribly, one of the reasons for the mass amount of empathy from readers. This economic struggle can likely be traced back to their race and region of inhabitance. The Batiste family is Black, living in the poverty-stricken town of Bois-Sauvage Mississippi. From a legal standpoint, social workers should have intervened in the Batiste family years ago. It is unfortunate as Claude clearly loves his children but he is virtually unable to care for them due to alcohol addiction after the death of his wife. All the Batiste children struggle in some way. Randall needs help financially to obtain a basketball position, Skeetah needs serious help in regard to proper hygiene and nutrition, Esch desperately needed an education on the subject of sex and how to value herself. Now she requires medical attention to keep her unborn baby healthy along with proper nutrition and vitamins, and Junior is in dire need of love, affection, and care. From this legal standpoint, the government and education system have failed in their duty to ameliorate the situation for these children.

Human rights issues plague the novel, from the rights of the child all the way to poverty. It is a known fact that while still struggling with the loss of his wife Claude becomes both physically and verbally abusive towards his children. Not only does he spend most, if not all, of their money on alcohol, there is also many instances where he hits or yells at his children. This lack of parental support goes to show just why they are in the state of poverty that they are in. With no outside support, the Bastiste family has no way to evacuate for the hurricane and no way to efficiently prepare for it. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states that every human has the right to life, liberty and security of the person. Living like they are, the Bastiste family are barely surviving let alone living. The passage aforementioned shows just how fast these children had to grow up, no child should have to worry about what they are going to eat that day, or have to essentially raise their siblings. Esch not only takes care of her brothers but now has to worry about the baby inside her, with out the support of a parental figure. These children need to fend for themselves and fight to survive everyday. We take for grated what the Bastiste family will never get to experience, security.

Furthermore, article 25(1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family, including food, clothing, housing, and medical care, and necessary social services and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age, or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control (UDHR). These standards of human dignity have been violated in regard to the Batiste family. They are most certainly not secure, and the institutions supposed to support them and other poor and black families have failed. While this is a fictional novel, it was based on true events, and unfortunately, many families living in hurricane prominent areas face these same lack of securities daily. These issues go beyond the novel. More recently, we see that nothing has changed with the recent hurricane Delta that made landfall in Louisiana, while only a category three, rocked the lives of entire towns and ruined homes and people lost their lives. Just as the government failed to intervene in the aftermath of Katrina, it is still unwilling to protect the lives and well-being of the disenfranchised.

Additionally, article 25(2) states that motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection (UDHR). Now while the book is silent on how Esch's pregnancy prowesses and how the child ends up, one would hazard a guess that Esch's pre and post natal care as well as the babies would be much below average quality. This UDHR article illuminates yet another failure of the US to protect its citizens.

Regarding the writing style of the book, Ward uses literary devices throughout the novel that do a good job at capturing the reader's attention. She also uses descriptive language that allows the reader to use their imagination to paint the specific scenes. In this passage we chose, the description of Skeetah's voice, "His voice sounded like a rake being dragged over rocks," is one example of the author's careful and intentional words that capture the reader (Ward 238). In this example, the language allows the reader to imagine and almost hear how exactly Skeetah's voice sounded. This is an emotional scene, one filled with heavy feelings. Feelings of loss and despair but also feelings of secureness as Skeetah lost his dog but managed to save his sister. Through the novel, the author does a good job at capturing the emotions and setting the mood. Ward continues to use imagery in the novel, especially with vivid scenes. The dog fighting and sexual scenes are detailed and realistic. During the fight, Ward uses words like "searing growl", "ripping", "sinking", clench", "bloody", "torn", 'chew" and "red-vein". These words, and more, leave the reader with a clear understanding of what dog fights might feel and look like, even when one has not seen a dog fight before. The author makes the reader feel like they are present at Randall's basketball game when Skeetah and the other boys break out into a fight. Ward describes the boys to be "brawling, falling down the stairs, ripping the crowd like fabric" (pg. 150) The author also makes the reader feel like they are present during the scenes of the Hurricane, especially when the Batiste family had to move from their house to Mother Lizbeth and Papa Joseph’s house that was on a slight incline thus above the water line. (p.g 232-235). Even though this was risky as Claude noted, it was the better option for them as opposed to drowning in the attic.

Unique to Ward’s writing style is her ability to narrow down upon themes while juxtaposing different events that share these thematic commonalities. An overarching theme for the book is the role of parental instinct and care. This theme is evident through flashbacks of Esch, Skeetah, and their late mother, Skeetah’s relationship with China, and China’s relationship with her puppies. In many passages, Ward writes almost simultaneously of these analogical relationships. Skeetah and China have a confusing yet captivating relationship. Esch describes this, saying, “Skeetah is the second child, but he is the first for China. She only has eyes for him” (Ward 13). Indeed, Skeetah and China seem to only have eyes for each other. Skeetah sleeps in the shed with China while she is pregnant. He gets a job so she can eat the most expensive pet food. He steals medicine for her. China seems to let only Skeetah approach her; he is the only one she trusts. One could argue that Skeetah only cares about China because of the $800 value of her puppies if they are sold, but this relationship seems far deeper, and perhaps Skeetah invokes this justification to avoid admitting how much he really cares about China. The most significant glimpse of Skeetah’s compassion comes when he explains, “between man and dog is a relationship…Equal” (66). Ward depicts Skeetah and China both having parental roles of care towards each other.

The relationship between China and her puppies exemplifies the tenacity required to fulfill a parental role. Esch says about China’s sick puppy, “She is her mother’s daughter. She is a fighter. She breathes” (34). This description seems to simultaneously apply to Esch’s relationship with her own mother, who taught her the skills necessary to survive adversity. The sick puppy demonstrates parental hardship: while some may feel that China’s attempt to kill the sick puppy was cruel, perhaps this was an act of mercy. When Skeetah takes the sick puppy away from China, he eventually realizes that the puppy cannot be left to suffer just because death makes him uncomfortable. Esch describes, “China is a mother so many times over,” an implication that the sick puppy dilemma is universal to the imperatives parents face towards their children (86). Sometimes parents cannot protect those they care for, in which case making a difficult decision can be an act of mercy. Later, we see Skeetah’s care for Esch juxtaposed with that of their mother. As Skeetah wipes the blood from Esch’s wound, she observes, “he has the same patient look Mama had on her face when she cleaned us like kittens” (142). With their mother no longer with them and the barriers posed by their father’s substance addiction, Skeetah and Esch must rise to the role of caring for each other like parents would, deepening the normal relationship between siblings. The parental relationship is undoubtedly a complex one, as the amalgamation of all these metaphors suggest. As Esch learns she is going to become a mother, these realities of being a parent weight heavily upon her.

Ultimately, Salvage the Bones is wrought with emotion, life lessons, hardships, real world issues, and more. It brings glaring attention to the terrible condition that entire communities live in. It promotes large levels of empathy that make the reader want to jump into the pages and fix everything for them, to teach the children life realities that their father never has, to help break the social and economic inequalities that they face, to bring about better, more nutritious food and health care, and to, above all, evacuate them all before the hurricane touches down. It goes to show that factors of human disenfranchisement such as race and class are present in every corner of the earth. The Batiste family are unable to evacuate and must risk death while the white family who owns the farm is long gone, their house and barn boarded properly, before the storm hits. It is books like this that really make a reader sit down and evaluate their place in the world, and on your worst day, to remember how unfortunately, we have it so much better than others. Life could be worse.

Bibliography

Ward, Jesmyn. Salvage the Bones : A Novel. New York: Bloomsbury. 2011

Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (n.d.). Retrieved October 15, 2020, from https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/index.html

Group: Senators



What does it mean to be a parent? According to Article 18(1) of the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC), “parents have common responsibilities for the upbringing and development of the child. Parents or, as the case may be, legal guardians, have the primary responsibility for the upbringing and development of the child. The best interests of the child will be their basic concern.” Although we recognize that the United States has only signed, not ratified the CRC, we still believe that it presents an important basis to use when focusing on human rights of this nature. That said, in considering this Article, alongside Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward, it appears that Randall and Esch, who are children themselves, best fill these roles and responsibilities for their little brother, Junior. Ward writes this novel through the point of view of the main character Esch. During the passage on pages 91-92, we see Esch reflect through her point of view on raising Junior. From this reflection we get to see how Esch is a parent figure to Junior. This reflection by Esch also creates a wonderful, neutral tone. Esch is calm and collected and shows no sign of anger or sadness, she is simply reflecting on raising Junior. Nevertheless, they are not his parents, they are his siblings. In this way, Claude, the father, is responsible for the care of his children and failed to do so. Accordingly, the responsibilities placed on these children is a significant human rights concern that also makes one wonder why there was a lack of state involvement in the care of these children.

After the death of their mother, Randall and Esch at the young ages of 8 and 10 become the parents of their baby brother, Junior. “When he [Junior] was a baby, Randall held him the most, and I did the rest of the time” (91). It is in this passage that we see the level of responsibility that Randall and Esch assumed for Junior, while Claude is excluded from the list of those who held the baby. Instead, the fact that Randall held Junior the most suggests that he acted as the primary caregiver and father figure. The author uses Esch’s memories of raising Junior to make the reader feel sympathetic towards the children in the family. Accordingly, throughout the book, it is Randall who disciplines Junior and has authority over his little brother. To further exemplify Randall’s role in Junior’s life, readers see that, during the flood “Junior will not let go of Randall.” (224). In this way, Randall represents protection for Junior who is extremely terrified throughout the events in this chapter. As a result, it is apparent throughout the novel, that though Claude is the birth father, he is not the one taking care of these kids, he is not their protector. In addition to caring for Junior, Randall and Esch, along with Skeetah, are responsible for themselves and one another. While this dynamic works, Randall and Esch are not of the age to assume guardianship. Furthermore, it shows failure on Claude’s part to fulfill his primary responsibility of caring for his four children; their best interests are not one of his basic concerns. In this way, Claude does not fulfill his responsibilities for his children, as outlined by Article 18(1) of the CRC. Esch describes Junior's muscles to be as little like shoestrings (91). This is a reference to lack of parenting and how he is fragile and still a child dependant on guidance and parenting that he is still not receiving. This is evident due to the fact Ward is putting Junior in a weaker, dependant light which represents the need for guidance and protection.

There are multiple causes as to explain the situation of the Batiste children, but they all, ultimately condense to one, that being failure of the state. The state should have provided support to this family after the death of their mother. Specifically, help could have included therapy, social assistance, and/or subsidised daycare. Instead, one man was left alone with his grief to care for his four children. That said, Claude was also unemployed, arguably depressed, and had a negative relationship with alcohol, which further complicated his ability to parent. At some point, state actors should have intervened for the sake of the children. This intervention could have come from social services and included checking on the family, helping Claude find secure employment, making sure that everyone ate regular meals, and, if all else failed, removing the children from the home. It is also important to note that for states that are party to the CRC, Article 18(2) highlights that states must provide appropriate assistance for parents in their “child-rearing responsibilities.” Furthermore, to resolve and prevent this situation from happening in the future, barriers to healthcare in the United States must be removed. Had they not existed, it is possible that the mother would still be alive, and Claude would have been able to access the supports he needed to deal with his grief and get addiction support.

UN General Assembly, Convention on the Rights of the Child, 20 November 1989, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1577, https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b38f0.html Article #18.

Jets Close Reading

Passage:

p. 102-103, from "I've heard girls at my school talk" to "These are my options, and they are narrow to none"

Thesis:

The United State’s lack of accessible health care, including abortions, combined with few elements of family support, means that people living in poverty are forced into dangerous and deadly circumstances, demonstrated not only through the Batiste’s experience with Hurricane Katrina but also through Esch’s consideration of an in-home abortion due to her complete lack of resources.

Argument:

In this passage we see that healthcare is essentially non-existent to Esch and her family. This healthcare that has been denied includes both standard medical care, such as regular check-ups and prescriptions, to the more deadly and pressing abortion clinics. It appears the community Esch is entrenched in accepts this fate as a symptom of their poverty and status within society. It only takes one barrier to prevent an abortion in an already pro-life area, but Esch faces multiple barriers, including not only a lack of healthcare services but also a lack of familial support, money to pay for medication, and transportation..

Esch speaks in a completely straightforward tone without irony when discussing the horrible lengths girls go to to perform at-home abortions (drinking bleach, overdosing on birth control, etc), demonstrating how long these horrors have just been “facts” to her. It is very clear that healthcare access in general isn’t an option, let alone reproductive care, as Esch considers her options, all of which are illegal or could be potentially deadly. We are constantly reminded that in situations of poverty it’s not easy to access safe abortion, birth control, or a safe place to give birth. Attempting a home abortion seems to be Esch’s only option, but it is dangerous. Drinking bleach could lead to death by poisoning, falling down stairs could cause countless injuries that could lead to death, punching/hurling yourself at an object could cause internal bleeding or hemorrhaging, and overdosing on birth control could cause organ damage or failure. Esch only dismisses the idea of overdosing on birth controls not because it is dangerous, but because she doesn’t have a prescription and has no way to attain one, pointing out yet another societal and healthcare issue. Her consideration of this method of abortion highlights the dangerous reality that many people in poverty face.

The passage illuminates not only a lack of healthcare services, but also one of support services for families. There is irony as Esch points out her non-existent options (with all the question marks) when she asks who could take her to get a prescription, demonstrating that even when healthcare exists, it isn’t accessible because there are no societal supports in place to bring people to it. Esch only seems to want to have an abortion because she knows that she doesn’t have the supports in place to raise a baby. Similarly, Claude had no external supports available to him when he raised his children. The quote “say that this is what you do when you can’t afford an abortion, when you can’t have a baby, when nobody wants what is inside of you” (102) demonstrates the impossibility of Esch’s situation. Pro-life people fight to stop abortions but they don’t “want what is inside of you”-- they don’t help you take care of the baby or have anything to do with it after it’s born, and the lack of support for parents who couldn’t have or didn’t want abortions becomes a societal failure.


Human Rights Framework:

As discussed above, there simply isn’t a family support system or healthcare system in place to support people like the Batistes. Healthcare is a human right mentioned in many treaties, but the United States continues to deny many of its citizens public healthcare. The US has not ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The CRC states that children have the right to good physical and mental health in many places, most notable in Article 24, which states that “States Parties recognize the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health. States Parties shall strive to ensure that no child is deprived of his or her right of access to such health care services.” It adds that States must “ensure appropriate pre-natal and post-natal health care for mothers.” Therefore, the United States, in not ratifying the CRC, demonstrates that it is fully aware that it is not willing to take up the obligations of providing rights such as healthcare to children. Similarly, the United States has not rafitified the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which in Article 12 identifies that States “recognize the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health” and that States must take steps towards “the reduction of the stillbirth-rate and of infant mortality and for the healthy development of the child.” It is immensely clear, therefore, that the United States does not think it is responsible for the health of its citizens.

If the United States ratified these treaties, then they would be responsible for providing both healthcare and abortion access for children like Esch and her baby. However, this would just be a first step. Intergenerational poverty is clearly real in the novel, and as Esch mentions, even if there were abortions available, and she could somehow afford them, she still wouldn’t be able to physically reach the location to have them done. Therefore, a complete system of supports for people like her that goes beyond simply offering medical services must be in place. Additionally, if Esch decided to keep the baby, there would need to be a system in place to support her so she could raise the child to the best of her ability, relying on the help of the government and community around her. We see firsthand that there was no system to help Claude, and much of the neglect his children faced was due to the fact that he could not both raise children and financially support them at the same time while not mentally healthy himself. There should have been ways to support him while he raised children, and supports in place for Esch as well, but it is obvious that the US government has no interest in creating or funding such supports.


Sources:
UN General Assembly. Convention on the Rights of the Child. 20 November 1989. United Nations. Treaty Series. vol. 1577. p. 3. https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b38f0.html (accessed 18 October 2020).

UN General Assembly. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. 16 December 1966. United Nations. Treaty Series. vol. 993. https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b36c0.html (accessed 18 October 2020)

Selected Passage:

"We sat in the open attic until the wind quieted from jet fighter planes to coughing
puffs. We sat in the open attic until the sky brightened from a sick orange to a
clean white gray. We sat in the open attic until the water, which had milled like a
boiling soup beneath us, receded inch by inch, back into the woods. We sat in the
open attic until the rain eased to drips. We sat in the open attic until we got cold,
and the light wind that blew chilled us. We huddled together in Mother Lizbeth’s
attic and tried to rub heat from each other, but couldn’t. We were a pile of wet,
cold branches, human debris in the middle of all of the rest of it." (pg. 237).

The novel, Salvage the Bones, highlights the ways in which poverty negatively affects people in the United States and around the world. The novel brings to light themes of violence and illegal activities which are the products of the poverty that the characters face. The discussion below will examine how articles 3 (the right to life, liberty and security), 25 (the right to an adequate standard of living), and 26 (the right to education) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are violated when examining the Batiste family. The discussion will also examine root causes of poverty and provide suitable solutions to the problem.

The passage illustrates their violation to life, liberty and security when the narrator (Esch) saying she and her family sat in the open attic until “…the wind quieted from jet fighter planes to coughing puffs… until the sky brightened from a sick orange to a clean white gray… until the water had milled like a boiling soup beneath us, receded inch by inch, back into the woods.” Their right to life, liberty and security had been violated by extension of their right to an adequate standard of living and education. Since they had poor housing, a limited food supply, and were in a dangerous situation that nearly drowned them, it is safe to say that their right to life, liberty and security was violated.

The passage also illustrates the second violation - their right to an adequate standard of living. They did not have adequate housing that was able to protect them from the hurricane, so they had to cut open the roof with a chainsaw to avoid drowning. They did not have enough food to last the duration of the hurricane, because the store had a limited quantity of food, and they hardly had any money to spare. Their father claimed he had put aside money to weather the storm after it had come. Additionally, the situation they were in was not a good environment for Esch’s baby, and she couldn’t ask for special care or assistance because up to this point, her father and brothers never knew that she was pregnant. The three examples given provide evidence that article 25 (the right to an adequate standard of living) was clearly violated.

Finally, the passage illustrated their violation of the right to education because their father had no job, which presented little income in the family. There was little mention of schooling in the novel, or the father’s credentials for work. Without adequate education, one cannot make a sufficient standard of living as easily as with proper education. Since the father did not have a job, he had little income for the family, which was a correlation for their limited quantity of food supply during the hurricane, and why they had to cut open the roof in the attic. Had the father had a proper education, he could have held a job that had a steady income that was sufficient enough to pay for adequate food supply during the hurricane and could’ve paid for better housing, which would have protected them, and saved them from nearly drowning in the attic.

The reader gets an understanding of the Batiste family life through the eyes of a 14-year girl called Esch. The novel is set in Louisiana and depicts the family preparing for Hurricane Katrina. The novel is filled with foreboding about the incoming storm. The passage is the culmination of all the fear and apprehension felt by Esch's family.

The diction of the passage builds anxiety in the reader, allowing them to share in the desperation faced by Esch and her family. Ward begins 5 sentences with the words ‘we sat’, the reader gets the idea that the time the family spent in the attic feels like an eternity. The storm appears to take on a personality of its own, Esch states the water from the storm receded back into the wood. The imagery of the wind only being quieted by the jets and the description of the sky as a sick orange creates an imagine of the power of the storm. Esch stated that they huddled together, this too creates a picture in the mind of the reader. They huddled together but could find no warmth as their clothes were already wet. She describes herself and family as a pile of human debris. The statement is symbolic of the life Esch and her family lived even before the storm. They were unimportant to society, not seen as valuable enough to be deserving of resources needed for the better of their lives they were simply human debris.

Throughout Ward's Salvage The Bones, the readers are introduced to a family that the system has extraordinarily failed. We are shown examples through the lack of money and opportunities that are given to the family, the lack of medical attention the family has availability to, the high risk of danger the family faces on a daily bases, the fact that the family has no choice but to wait out the storm, etc. My partners and I throughout the discussion have pleaded that articles 25, 26 and 3 are violated throughout the entirety of the novel and shown within our passage! Article 3 states that everyone has the right to security of a person, which is violated as seen within the passage because the family faces danger as their home is slowly being destroyed around them. Article 25 states that everyone has the right to a healthy standard of living, and throughout the passage and our arguments we show that this article is violated because the system has failed to provide support/ safety for the family during their drastic time of need. Finally, the third article that is violated is article 26 that explains everyone has the right to an education, which the family clearly did not have access to. This article is violated because the family does not have opportunities to an education meaning they do not have opportunities to good paying jobs, thus preventing them from having the money to prevent the dangerous problems that are shown within our chosen passage or be able to travel to a safer location to wait out the storm!

Families that come from unfortunate backgrounds/ poor environments are always the people that society/ the system fails because of the lack of opportunities given to these people. The article violations could be avoided if only the system provided better access to better education for families with less money, if there was a possibility for free travel to avoid being hurt/ killed by the storm, and if more equitable opportunities were given to families in these environments.

UN General Assembly, Convention on the Rights of the Child, 20 November 1989, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1577, https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b38f0.html Article #3, 25, & 26. Accessed 18 October 2020. 

Canucks Group

Passage: Page 193

“It’s salty. Taste like pecans. And if worse comes to worst, we can eat like China.” Skeetah rubs China from her shoulders to her neck, up along her razor jaw, and holds her face, which goes wrinkly with the skin smashed forward. It looks like he is pulling her to him for a kiss. She squints. I want to kick her. Randall shoulders his box, grabs the ramen box from me, and turns to walk into the house. Junior is tying his cord around an old lawn mower now, pulling at it like he’s playing tug-of-war. The sun shines, blazes like fire, funnels down in the gaps between the trees, and lights up Skeetah and China so that they glow, each kneeling before the other, eyes together. Skeetah has already forgotten the conversation, and China never heard it.

“We ain’t no dogs,” Randall says. “And you ain’t either.” He walks between the thumb and pointer finger of the house, it clenches, and he is gone. The day goes cloudy and stays.

Jesmyn Ward’s novel, “Salvage the Bones,” depicts the issues that families of low socioeconomic status face through the lens of a family preparing for a hurricane. As the Batiste family prepares for the impending hurricane Katrina they struggle to find resources to properly do this. Faced with the inability to afford to evacuate before the hurricane, the family is seen deconstructing their grandfather’s home and chicken coop to salvage material to prepare their home for the hurricane. After Skeetah goes to buy food for the family’s food reserve he turns up with little and suggests they eat dog food. Out of desperation to meet one’s basic needs he considers eating China’s food even describing the taste as if it were appetizing. Being impoverished and living in a poor community, they did not have access to the resources, opportunities, and sources of income which could have secured them during the hurricane. Despite article 25 of the UDHR guaranteeing an adequate standard of living to a person and their family, socioeconomic disparities have proven to constrain one’s access to such. Persons of low socioeconomic background cannot afford the means to access this security. They in turn must do things that most would deem as substandard in the efforts of survival. With a natural disaster like Hurricane Katrina approaching, as seen in the novel, there comes a point where anything will be done for survival and sadly this is the reality for many.

While the experiences of the Batiste family may be fictional, the socio-economic disparities that placed them in a position where they were unable to properly prepare for the hurricane is a situation with increasing real-world prevalence. Under Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, all human beings have the right to a “standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control” (UN General Assembly). As exemplified by hurricane Katrina, this right to an adequate standard of living is impeded on when those of low socio-economic backgrounds continue to be disproportionately affected. Following hurricane Katrina, mappings of low-income households demonstrate that “almost all zip codes with highest damage had a high percentage of low-income households” (Kamel 3220). Further, where financial assistance of up to $26 000 was available in the hardest-hit zip code, only 0.2 per cent of the eligible households were approved which represents 1555 households in the state of Louisiana (Kamel 322). Where protections should have been made for all vulnerable citizens, their right to an adequate standard of living and security in circumstances outside of their control was disregarded, therefore leaving those of low socio-economic status to suffer the most from the impacts of the storm.

Salvage the Bones is written from the point of view of Esch. In this passage, we see Esch’s perspective and insight on Skeetah’s comment about dog food and the imminent food shortage the Batiste family faces. The tone employed by the author is gritty and foreboding and brings ominous notions to the mind of the reader. This feeling is supplemented by the visual imagery used by the author where the once blazing sky becomes cloudy as if preparing the reader for the tough times ahead. Clouds indicate storms (in this case, a Category 5 hurricane) and are a bearer of bad news whereas the sun and its fire-like rays portray a happier, livelier atmosphere.

This quote focuses on the way Skeetah interacts with China and when read through Esch’s narrative it shows that Esch realizes nothing is more precious to Skeetah than China. The theme of family versus the individual is shown as we see the unity between Skeetah and China threaten the family’s hope of surviving the hurricane, as Skeetah’s choice to buy dog food for China has reduced the rations for the rest of the family. Through Esch’s eyes, Skeetah and China are portrayed almost as lovers: “they glow, each kneeling before the other, eyes together.” The theme of family versus the individual is further highlighted when Skeetah buys food for the family of lesser quantity and lower quality in comparison to China’s. In hopes of leveling the inequality between both, he then offers them some of China’s food if things are to go from “worse to worst”. The emphasis of the “if” shows that it is not something he particularly would want, and this showcases his undoubted love and loyalty to China even if it is to the detriment of his family.

Skeetah justifies buying expensive dog food instead of rations for the family to survive during the hurricane and states that dog food is tasty and nutritious. Relating the taste of dog food to pecans is especially interesting seeing as pecans tend to be a pricier snack. The author's decision to equivalate the taste of pecans with the taste of dog food is indicative of the fact that the Batiste family has been forced to make unimaginable choices when trying to feed themselves. The dog food tasting like pecans helps the reader deduce how expensive the food bought by Skeetah for China is. Randall’s refusal to be equated with dogs represents the symbolic meaning of the word “dog,” which has been historically used to describe colored individuals from lower-class backgrounds. This also brings forth the theme of perception versus reality and denial and the tumultuous struggle that people from lower socioeconomic classes face when dealing with self-identity.

Salvage the Bones exemplifies how individuals with low socio-economic status are not adequately protected when natural disasters hit. As seen in this passage, the Batiste family lacked access to food, among other resources, and were unable to stay safe during hurricane Katrina. There is a longstanding link between minorities and poverty and the root cause of this issue is complex. Often, poorer communities such as Bois Sauvage lack government support and adequate education and can be impacted disproportionately by natural disasters. The Batistes are Black Americans, a group that is continuously discriminated against in the workplace and by institutions such as government and law enforcement, which contribute to the cycle of poverty. The barriers that stand in the way of access to resources to break this cycle are intersectional in nature for families like the Batistes. In their case, class and race overlap to create further disadvantages.

There are possible solutions to help those of lower class through natural disasters. The UN could create a treaty to acknowledge the specific issues that people face through natural disasters. The rights of those affected by hurricanes and other disasters need to be protected. As Article 25 of the UDHR states, everyone has the right to a “standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control” (UN General Assembly). These storms are out of the control of families like the Batistes, and the UN should acknowledge their rights will be protected through natural disasters. Further, more adequate national and local governmental support is needed. There should be legislation within countries, and states, that assures citizens will be safe and protected through natural disasters. Whether you have enough money or not should not be the indicator of your well-being through a storm, and the government should recognize this. Through changes such as these, the real-world Batiste families can be protected as they should.

Works Cited:

Kamel, Nabil. “Social Marginalisation, Federal Assistance and Repopulation Patterns in the New Orleans Metropolitan Area Following Hurricane Katrina.” Urban Studies, vol. 49, no. 14, 2012, pp. 3211–3231. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26144138. Accessed 18 Oct. 2020.

UN General Assembly, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 10 December 1948, 217 A (III), available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b3712c.html [accessed 18 October 2020]

Ward, Jesmyn. Salvage the Bones. Bloomsbury, 2011.

The novel Salvage the Bones follows the Batiste Family and the days leading up to the arrival of hurricane Katrina, the events of the disaster and the aftermath. The book follows fifteen-year-old Esch, and the relationship between her brothers, Junior, Randall and Skeetah, as well as their aloof father Claude. The story presents themes of motherhood, poverty, nature and ultimately survival. The Batiste family does not have the luxury of evacuating, and this is directly related to their socioeconomic position as African-Americans. Natural disasters disproportionately affect people of colour as is seen throughout the novel. The family has always fought to survive, and hurricane Katrina makes this evident. Salvage the Bones is a devastating story of family, loss and resistance, a testament to the systemic racism that is entrenched in American society.

The passage I have chosen to focus on is as follows, “I will tie the glass and stone with string, hang the shards above my bed, so that they will flash in the dark and tell the story of Katrina, the mother that swept into the Gulf and slaughtered. Her chariot was a storm so great and black the Greeks would say it was harnessed to dragons. She was the murderous mother who cut us to the bone but left us alive, left us naked and bewildered as wrinkled newborn babies, as blind puppies, as sun-starved newly hatched baby snakes. She left us a dark Gulf and salt-burned land. She left us to learn to crawl. She left us to salvage. Katrina is the mother we will remember until the next mother with large, merciless hands, committed to blood, comes” (Ward, 255). This passage uses the analogy of Katrina as a mother with “merciless hands” and how she will be in their memory until the next “mother”, or disaster arrives. Their lives have been ridden with disaster, loss and suffering and the next incident is not a matter of if, but when. Esch’s experience with survival is one that evolved when she became pregnant, as she does not just live for herself, but the fetus growing inside her. Hurricane Katrina left the Batiste family with nothing, but miraculously they all survived.

Salvage the Bones is narrated by the character Esch. Throughout the novel she uses imagery to capture the reader’s attention. This passage in particular uses similes such as “bewildered as wrinkled newborn babies”, and “sun-starved newly hatched baby snakes” to describe the struggle of the Batiste family in the aftermath of the hurricane. This imagery allows the reader to envision the feelings and overall perception of life after the disaster. This passage is one of devastation, but can draw comparisons to the biblical story of Noah’s arc due to themes of destruction and creation. Esch witnessed the destruction of her childhood home, but the baby she carries represents new life. The hurricane acted as a rebirth and the child she carried represented a new beginning for her family.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) highlights in Article 25, “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control” (UDHR). The family was not able to adequately prepare for the hurricane or evacuate due to their socioeconomic position, and this is directly correlated to their race. Esch’s family lived in poverty and this is a violation of Article 25, as they did not have access to “a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family” (UDHR). Their social position as people of colour inevitably affected their ability to prepare for the hurricane, as well as their inability to evacuate. This is the devastating reality of racism in the world, and the Batiste family is an example of the cycle of alcoholism, racism and poverty.

The Batiste family faced innumerable hardships over the course of the novel and unfortunately this is due largely to the colour of their skin. Racism is systemic and cannot be solved overnight, however, education and more awareness surrounding these societal issues could be of great importance to people understanding its magnitude. I do believe this is something that people should already be aware of, but this is not the reality. Esch’s experience is reminiscent of the experiences POC face on a daily basis and in times of natural disasters.