Time as a Non-Linear Concept

     Sing, Unburied, Sing presents time not as linear, but instead as a dynamic concept where past, present, and future all occur in conjunction. One way that this idea is represented is through the lack of a traditional plot line. Where in many stories, the resolution leaves characters changed and in a different place than they started — indicating the clear impact of time and its ability to give closure — Ward leaves the novel, in many ways, exactly as it began.

    Leonie, although one might hope she redeems herself as a mother, is unable to give up her drug addiction, unhealthy infatuation with Michael, aggressive tendencies, or selfish and often childlike behavior. The novel’s last chapter solidifies the idea that Leonie will likely never change or be a mother to her children, with Jojo still being Kayla’s caretaker and Pop being his. Much of the book’s storyline centers around bringing Michael home, yet his presence in his kid’s life makes almost no difference to their situation or family dynamic. One of the only moments in the book that might feel final is Mam’s passing, but even that is not an ending because the characters “are all [there] at once,” even when some are “on the other side of the door” (236). 

    A storyline also lacking the typical plot resolution is Richie’s. Richie first claims that he’s “going home” when he was alive at Parchman in the past, but continues his search throughout the book and presumably after (126). We tend to think of death as an end, so when the reader discovers how Richie died, one would expect to get closure on his story. Richie himself expected to find peace and be able to move on after finally knowing what happened to him. However, the non-linear nature of time makes prevents things from simply ending — in this case, that “thing” being Richie’s search for home. 

    Multiple events in the novel are indicative that history repeats itself and, in doing so, keeps the past from truly staying in the past. A recurring theme throughout the many timelines of Sing, Unburied, Sing is hunting. The idea is first brought up through Given’s murder, where an innocent hunting trip turns into Given being killed by a gun meant for the animals they were hunting. Characters are once again faced with the barrel of a gun when Jojo and Kayla are confronted by a racist police officer. The reader later witnesses the end of Richie and Blue’s lives where the two were hunted and killed due to the same racial motivation that led Michael’s cousin to shoot Given. Those who hunted Blue down “[cut] pieces of him off” and “started skinning him” (254). The imagery in this scene alludes to the first scene of the novel, where Pop and Jojo kill and skin a goat. The interconnection of stories and recurring themes instills the idea that history is preserved through the actions of others and that no story is ever truly gone or finished.