In the novel Sing, Unburied, Sing a prominent, and immediately evident, theme revolves around the loss of innocence the novel’s main character, Jojo, has to endure at a very young age. The very first line in the novel is from Jojo’s point of view where he says, “I like to think I know what death is. I like to think that it’s something I could look at straight” (Ward 1). Right from the very beginning of the novel, we are immediately introduced with a main character who we soon discover is very young, yet is forced to deal with such complex topics even some adults cannot handle. This loss of innocence has stemmed due to the neglect of Jojo’s parents, both emotionally and physically.
This sense of premature loss of innocence only builds as we read further into the novel. At only thirteen years old, Jojo takes on a caregiver role for his three-year-old sister, Kayla, due to their mother’s emotional unavailability to raise children and their father’s imprisonment. Throughout the novel, it is evident that Jojo and Kayla’s basic needs are neglected by their rather selfish and indifferent parents. While on the drive to pick up Michael, their father, from the prison, they are given close to nothing to eat or drink. Then, Kayla becomes sick and while Leonie, their mother, attempts to help Kayla, she quickly gives up when Kayla does not act exactly like she wants her to. In defeat, Leonie says, “I’ve had enough. ‘Goddamnit, Michaela! Can you get her to drink some of this?’ I ask. Jojo nods and I’m already handing her over. Without her, my arms feel weightless” (100).
Due to the fact that Leonie has been largely absent for Kayla’s youth, Kayla rejects her. Here, we see how emotional neglect has led to Jojo being forced to take on a parental role towards his younger sister, even though he is only thirteen. His mother immediately gives up on trying to comfort and soothe her own daughter, making her young son provide for her when she cannot. This is constantly seen throughout the novel, where Jojo must provide for Kayla. Because this is not normally the role a thirteen-year-old must bear, he is forced to behave much older than he actually is, and ultimately lose a sense of innocence that any other thirteen-year-old boy would normally maintain.
The idea of the loss of innocence being directly intertwined with the neglect Jojo and Kayla have experienced throughout the novel so far also resonated with me. While Leonie’s neglect of Kayla and Jojo result in Jojo’s loss of innocence, I also believe Leonie’s experiences as a young mother contributed to her own loss of childhood innocence, and that this loss of innocence exacerbated her neglectful habits. Jojo’s circumstances force him to rapidly “mature,” and take nearly full responsibility for Kayla. Although he knows how to take care of Kayla better than Leonie at times, (such as when he must make Kayla throw up after Leonie feeds her blackberry leaves), he is still a child that was forced to grow up, and there are gaps in his maturity. Thus, he is forced to hide under a guise of false maturity. Leonie also lacks this maturity. Throughout the novel, Leonie seems to be in denial that she is the mother of Kayla and Jojo, and remains stuck in the mindset of a selfish teenager. She holds a great deal of repressed jealousy and anger for her children, especially against Kayla. As a young mother, Leonie most likely felt as though her independence was stripped from her. She is completely incapable of dealing with her own suffering, and takes this anger out on Kayla and Jojo as a result. This blog post does a thorough job of highlighting instances of this theme in our readings thus far.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree that JoJo has had to grow up early due to Leonie and Michael's neglect and absence. We also see another instance of parental neglect impacting upbringing: Leonie. Leonie recalls that after Given's death when she started going out with Michael, "wasn't no need to sneak out anymore, my parents wrapped in their grief" (Ward 53), insinuating that Mam and Pop's input in Leonie's life dwindled after losing Given. This is coupled with the fact that Pop seemingly doesn’t deal with Given’s death nor process the grief. Richie’s story parallels Given’s: two young boys that Pop couldn’t save. The one aspect of Richie’s story that Pop can’t bring himself to tell JoJo is about Given’s death, indicating that he likely can’t bring himself to acknowledge the death of his son either. Mam’s unprocessed grief is evident as she passes, only willing to finally let go when joined by Given and ushered away by Leonie’s words (Ward 266-269). This grief in both Mam and Pop leads to a breakdown of their relationship with Leonie, ultimately influencing the anger, jealousy, and lack of maturity she harbors which influences her abilities as a parent. These behaviors are only further exacerbated when Michael, the one person who truly gave Leonie attention and grounded her after Given’s death, is taken to prison: “Three years ago, I did a line… it wasn’t my first line, but Michael had just gone to jail. I had started doing it often; every other day…” (Ward 51). Leonie taking drugs further hinders her parenting abilities and heightens the frustration she feels towards her children. While ultimately, Mam and Pop aren’t responsible for Leonie’s parenting skills, nor her drug addiction, their inability to process their own grief did impact Leonie’s upbringing and outlook on life.
ReplyDeleteThe loss Jojo's innocence, is indeed a large theme in the novel. From the very beginning, we are confronted with Jojo's mature and contemplative perspective on death, a perspective that is far beyond his years. As you pointed out, Jojo's loss of innocence is exacerbated by the emotional and physical neglect he and his sister Kayla endure from their parents. Throughout the novel, it's been heartbreaking to witness, time and time again, Jojo being forced into a caregiver role for his three-year-old sister due to their parents' inability to provide proper care. The scene where Leonie gives up on helping Kayla when she repeatedly gets sick in the car is particularly striking. It highlights how emotional neglect has led to Jojo having to assume responsibilities that are far beyond his age, essentially robbing him of his childhood innocence. I think another instance that shares some similarities with Jojo's situation is Richie's past. Richie was robbed of his innocence in numerous ways, but I think the first time, even before Parchman, was during his upbringing. Pop tells Jojo about his first encounter with Richie and how he said "'I been stealing since I was eight. I got nine little brothers and sisters always crying for food. And crying sick"' (Ward 24). Richie was forced to steal food for all of his siblings, and was forced to grow up and understand the reality of his world at that time. Even when he was sent to Parchman, Pop said that Richie often mentioned or was only thinking about his siblings and if they were doing well and if they were hungry or sick, proving that Richie also had to take on a similar parental role. This is likely another reason why Richie seems to latch onto Jojo further into the novel, and perhaps also why Jojo is so fascinated and interested in hearing Richie's story from Pop.
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