Love is such a complicated thing within this novel. Ward gives it many forms, allowing each character to decide how they will give and receive love. There's a protective love or understanding love but also an obsessive love. There are two characters within the story for each type. Pop and Jojo for protective, Kayla and Mam for understanding, and Michael and Leonie for obsessive. The question becomes which of these Ward seems to think is the correct kind of love.
Pop and Jojo both put others before themselves, making sure no harm comes to the people they love and that all their needs are met. Richie notices this love in Pop while waiting for the chance to hear his story. He explains it as, "Riv hugs them even when he's not in the same room with them" (Ward 239). This love can be felt from anywhere but is a quiet sort of love. Pop simply makes sure the kids are dressed and clean without making a big deal about it. This is similar to how Jojo is with Kayla; he never complains or makes a showing out of caring for his sister.
Mam and Kayla's love is placed in the want to show understanding to their loved ones. Mam does not question Leonie when she says that she is taking the kids to pick up Michael, she instead allows her daughter the freedom to make her decisions with the implication that she will always be loved. Even after all the wrong Leonie has done, Mam still pushes the fact that Leonie is her "baby" (Ward 216). Kayla shows this level of understanding surprisingly well for someone so young but instead of her big moment being towards a family member it is with the ghosts in the tree. She understands what they need and does not show fear as she leads them down the necessary path.
Leonie and Michael's version of love, while possibly great for them, does significant damage to those around them. They lose themselves in the love for each other which makes their children fade into the background. This is prevalent from the moment Michael leaves the prison as the two of them become enthralled by each other and seem to entirely forget about their children.
It seems that Ward's ultimate version of love is one based in understanding. Despite the harm blindless understanding can allow, Kayla's desire to understand the needs of the ghosts pushes the plot to its culmination. It could also be said that it is Leonie's brief turn away from her obsessive love towards one of understanding which allows her to give Mam the power to move away from this world.
I really like how you focused on the types of love one can find in this book. Jesmyn Ward does a beautiful job of capturing each form of love in a seemingly perfect picture. I would like to focus on the obsessive love that Micheal and Leonie share with one another. In the very first chapter in which we hear Leonie’s point of view, she describes Micheal by saying, “He saw me. He saw past skin the color of unmilked coffee, eyes black, lips the color of plums, and saw me. Saw the walking wound I was, and came to be my balm” (page 54). This thought is significant because of the timing in which Leonie is thinking this, and the reason why. Leonie develops these feelings towards Micheal right after her brother is murdered in cold blood by his family. She is lost and wounded looking for something to fill the hole that his murder has caused in her. Micheal is that exact filling. He can numb the deep loss and pain Leonie feels by distracting her with the notion of overbearing love. In addition, Leonie and Michael's love mirrors the relationship they have with substances. Their love is an addiction. It swallows them whole and blinds them from other aspects of their lives. In the eyes of Leonie and Micheal the love they have for each other is at the center of their universe, when in reality it is a black hole consuming everything in its path.
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