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Hurricane Katrina caused severe flooding. The storm surge was so large that it covered some houses. The people in the photo are doing there hardest to survive one of natures most catastrophic events. to make matters worst these people can not go and scavenge for food and supplies because of the water levels. even if you could swim there is so much debris swept into it you are bound to hit something, you might even meet an alligator. The rainbow colors in the water is gas mixed in. Although the gas will not combust if you swallow it it won't be pleasant.

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I relate to the novel because I experienced Katrina myself. I remember bits and pieces of Katrina. I remember walking around my yard after it seeing all the wood and tin scattered around. My house did not get that damaged thankfully. However my neighbors did not have the same luck. My neighbor's barn fell in and he lost his roof. My great grandmothers lost her carport and laundry room. Her front porch also fell in. I remember my dad getting his chainsaw and  cut up downed trees on the road and moved them over. My uncle Billy who run our rescue squad was riding up and down the road on a backhoe clearing trees my dad could not.

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"It's going to cover the dirt. He pulled, a loud pop sounded, and the tile gave (Ward, 59)."

This quote has a few different ways to show nature. The first is survival. They are pulling the floors up from their old house so they can line the dirt where the dogs stay with it. They are lining the dirt so the dogs can not contract the parvo in the dirt. So by building a shelter against the parvo they are enacting a basic survival principle. A second way it shows nature is the act of scavenging. They scavenge wood and stuff to protect the house from the supposed storm. Due to the nature of their lives they tend to scrounge to get by.

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"Nothing can make parvo better. Puppies don't survive that (Ward, 44)."

One of the puppies in the new litter has parvo. Which is a highly contagious gastrointestinal disease for dogs. It has like a 91% mortality rate. When it was born nature dealt it a fatal draw. It sucks but that is how it is sometimes. Sadly the rule of nature is only the strong survive.

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"When Skeetah grabs and twists, his hands are as sure as Mama's (Ward, 52)."

Skeetah decides to kill the puppy by ringing its neck, in a similar fashion to how you would a chicken. He has to kill the puppy because it was dealt a cruel hand and had a  contagious disease for dogs. Due to the disease he was rejected from the litter. He decides to kill the puppy because it would suffer until it would inevitably die anyway. To save the others from suffering a similar fate. It was a matter of survival and Skeetah chose the better option.

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There are no words in the world that can describe what is in this picture. Nature can be beautiful and gives us many wonderful things. However, Nature is also an extremely dangerous force. There is really no telling what the person in the water was attempting to do. Where they looking for food, clean water, supplies, or did they simply just drown. The lady on the bridge has scrounged up some supplies so her and her dog can eat and drink.

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Reid, Kathryn. “2005 Hurricane Katrina: Facts, Faqs, and How to Help.” World Vision, 12 May 2020, https://www.worldvision.org/disaster-relief-news-stories/2005-hurricane-katrina-facts.

INSUARANCE JOURNAL. “A Photo of a Flooded Dead End.” INSUARANCE JOURNAL, n.d., www.insurancejournal.com/news/southcentral/2011/01/25/181993.htm. Accessed 16 Nov. 2021.

Nielson, James. “Body of a Victim Floating in Flood Waters.” HOUSTON CHRONICLE, Houston Chronicle, 1 Sept. 2005, www.houstonchronicle.com/local/hurricane-katrina/. Accessed 16 Nov. 2021.

Laforet, Vincent. “Survivors Seeking Shelter on a Rooftop.” History.com, n.d., www.history.com/news/hurricane-katrina-levee-failures#&gid=ci02319769a00026d5&pid=3-hurricane-katrina-97657313. Accessed 18 Nov. 2021.

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Most of damages caused by Katrina was from the flooding caused by the levees not being able to hold back the waters and breaking. Liquid water is the most essential thing for life to evolve, and yet it caused the deaths of 1,245 to 1,833 people(worlddivision). The picture is a great example of the duality of nature. Perhaps the sign is a warning to those who tread.

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"We know, Daddy says. Fourteen of them drowned in Camille. In their attic. The house lifts off of its bricks again, and rocks. We're not drowning in this fucking attic, Skeet says..." (Ward 229).

This quote shows how nature will take anything away at any given time. Fourteen people ended up losing their lives due to being trapped in their attics while they flooded. It is clear that Esch's family is determined to fight nature's forces to survive this disaster.

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The novel Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward suggests the theme of nature by showing how the Gulf of Mississippi was effected from Hurricane Katrina. Ward did an amazing job by describing what some families have to go through during a natural disaster. This could have helped raise awareness for victims of natural disasters, which promotes others to help with relief plans. This would help rebuild what nature had taken away.

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"...Daddy makes as if he would touch one of the pictures, hesitant, as lightly as if he is dislodging an eyelash, but his glistening finger stops short, and he wraps the pictures again and puts them in his pants. Mama" (Ward 228-229).

This quote suggests the theme of nature by shinning light on how Claude is now showing emotion. He gets sentimental during this scene, which shows how he is fighting for his life and still took the time to look at his wife.

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Image of the Mississippi Gulf days after hurricane Katrina

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This image shows how nature is able to take away anything at any time. The people that lived there had built up a foundation and a city. This was all taken away by the natural disaster.

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"This is a hurricane eclipse, the wood over the windows, the inside of the house so dark that the white of Junior's shirt is the brightest thing" (Ward 188).

This quote suggests the theme of nature by showing how this monstrosity of a storm was able to take away every light source, from the sun to the electric lights, and leave the family in darkness.

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"She would feed me sweet figs, still warm as the day, we picked from a tree behind the house."

This quote shows that nature is lovely, beautiful and giving. Nature provides them with sweet food and good memories, especially for Esch. Throughout the book the family uses natures natural resources for food by getting their eggs from the rooming chickens, getting figs from the trees, getting squirrels from the woods, etc. So is just shows how nature can be giving and beautiful and not just horror filled.

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"You can't give your dogs cow wormer. Yes, I can. Rico was talking about it when his dog and China was mating. Say that's the best kind of wormer to give to a dog. Make them a little sick, but it knock all of them worms out" (Ward 67).

This quote demonstrates how nature gives and takes by mentioning parasites, worms in this scenario, that are attacking the dogs. A man-made drug is able to get rid of the worms and make sure that the dog would survive in an occasion like this.

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The idea that nature gives and takes can be seen from the fact that the Batiste family lost pretty much everything they had, yet were given the baby that Esch carries because it opens new doors for the family. Hurricane Katrina destroyed their home and their land, but in return, at the end of the book the baby opened the eyes of Claude. That means that now that Claude knows Esch is with child, he will step up as a father, which the family really needs.

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"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.

Esch is describing Katrina like a mother, Mother Nature in fact. The way Esch describes Katrina shows that nature can beat one down so bad by destroying everything around them, almost killing them but not.

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Jesmyn Ward's Salvage the Bones brought back the memories of my life during Hurricane Katrina. When the hurricane hit Florida, I was just about 2 years old and my sister was a couple of months old.  I could vaguely remember watching the weather reports on TV, but for the most part I was too young to remember much. Where we were located, the storm was not going to be as brutal as some other areas, but my family had to hunker down in the bathtub with a mattress, which indicates it was still pretty bad. Luckily, our house was not badly scathed, just a couple of shingles gone from the roof and some water damage. However, some families we knew were not so fortunate, and it goes to show just how much nature can impact people's lives.

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China is a big symbol in Salvage the Bones. She is a mother, a family member, a force to be reckoned with. She is a role model to Esch until the end, even though there were many bumps in the road. It opened her eyes to what a mother could truly be.

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Jesmyn Ward's Salvage the Bones depicted the harsh reality that nature has on its environment. I can relate to this novel because my family lived through it. My immediate family was in Pensacola and our apartment at the time was destroyed. At the same time, relatives in New Orleans evacuated and returned to absolutely nothing. This goes to show that nature it capable of great destruction and impacts people in many ways.

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Jesmyn Ward's Salvage the Bones supports the theme of nature by showing how it gives and takes. This can be found in many parts of the book, but one that sticks out to me is when Esch talks about how Katrina would be the mother figure everyone would remember until the next big storm comes. Even though the hurricane brought great destruction, there will still be some things that can be salvaged.

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"The hurricane laughed. A tree, plucked from its branches, hopped across the yard and landed against Daddy's truck with a crunch, stopped short like it had won a game of hopscotch without stepping out of the lines. The sky was so close I felt like I could reach up and bury my arm in it," (Ward 238).

In this quote, the hurricane pulls a tree from the ground and crushes it into Claude's truck. This presents that nature can be brutal and destroy things that are important to people. Claude's truck was important to the Batiste's, and nature continued to take its course and take everything else with it.

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Salvage the Bones represents how nature gives and takes at the end of the novel. This is shown when China was taken away by the hurricane, which makes Esch realize she is capable of raising her own child. This is her first true sign that she is ready to be a mother.

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Nature showed its dark side through Katrina. Nature can be very destructive and devastating too many people and that is shown in this image of a neighborhood after the storm.

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This video shows the effects of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans.

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After reading Salvage the Bones, I made the connection between how nature gives and takes in the book. I see this through the death of their mother from giving birth to Junior. This is nature taking and giving, the mother was taken but Junior was given.

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1) Kdavisillustration. “Kdavisillustration.” Kay, 27 Apr. 2015, https://kdavisillustration.tumblr.com/post/117481907484/this-is-my-full-piece-for-ladies-of-literature.

2) Ward, Jesmyn. Salvage the Bones. Bloomsbury, 2013.

3)NerdyFlow. “Supershero Saturday - Esch from ‘Salvage the Bones’ by @Jesmynward #Womenofillustration #Digitalillustration #Digitalart #Superhero #Literature #Literarysaturday #Procreate #Autumnfrodo #Autumnfrodelius #Artwork #Heroine #Illo #Esch #Salvagethebones #Mother #Pregnant Pic.twitter.com/66qnrbpmyr.” Twitter, Twitter, 26 Sept. 2020, https://twitter.com/nerdyflow/status/1309914254003318785.

4)“A Walk Through Cuaid History: 2005 Hurricane Katrina.” NCUF, 17 Mar. 2020, https://www.ncuf.coop/news/a-walk-through-cuaid-history-2005-hurricane-katrina/.

5) The Weather Channel. "Hurricane Katrina." YouTube, uploaded by The Weather Channel, 27 August 2016, https://youtu.be/5P6GjHQFGvI

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This image represents the beauty in Esch's pregnancy. Throughout almost the whole book her pregnancy wasn't seen as a gift, a wonderful thing, it was seen as a burden to Esch. So it is showing how natural things like pregnancy can be beautiful even if it doesn't seem like it, that is shown at the end of the book when her pregnancy was finally brought to light. The theme of nature is suggested here by Esch's pregnancy itself, it is a natural thing for women, it is in a women's nature.

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"She is fire. China flings her head back into the air as if eating oxygen, gaining strength, and burns back down to Kilo and takes his neck in her teeth. She bears down, curling to him, a loving flame, and licks. She flips over and is on top of him, even though he still has her shoulder. He roils beneath her. She chews. Fire evaporates water," (Ward 175).

This quote demonstrates nature by describing the fight of China and Kilo. Esch portrays the fight as a lover's duel, with China and Kilo embracing in a "loving flame" as they fight each other. Even though the two dogs were originally mates, they now face together in a battle.

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"There are clusters of magnolias that are so tall and green and glossy, they are impossible to climb, and the air around them always smells like peaches. There are oaks so big and old that their arms grow out black and thick as trunks, which rest on the ground. There are ponds that are filled with slime and tall yellow grasses, and at night, frogs turn them teeming, singing a burping chorus," (Ward 158).

This quote describes how wonderful nature can really be. The lush imagery of the surrounding area helps immerse how Mother Nature can supply beauty. Unfortunately, due to Hurricane Katrina, this area was most likely destroyed.

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As I read Salvage the Bones, I noticed that the theme of nature is very prominent in this book, especially that nature isn't always sunshine and rainbows. This novel shows the dark and twisted side of nature, whether it be the hurricane or the relationships between the characters. However, it also provides the good of nature, too. Even though the storm took much of the Batiste's things, it also brought everyone together by the end.

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"Mama squatted, screamed toward the end. Junior came out purple and blue as a hydrangea: Mama's last flower. She touched Junior just like that when Daddy held him over her: lightly with her fingertips, like she was afraid she'd knock the pollen from him, spoil the bloom. She said she didn't want to go to the hospital. Daddy dragged her from the bed to his truck, trailing her blood, and we never saw her again,"  (Ward 2).

This quote presents nature quite well because Esch's mother brought life into the world, her last flower. The imagery in this scene also compared Junior to a hydrangea, a flower, which can indicate the blooming of life through birth. And when there is life, there must also be death. Junior lived, but Esch's mother died. This goes to show that nature can both give and take.

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Salvage the Bones and "Sinners, Saints, Dragons, and Haints, and the City Beneath the Still Waters" both deal with the dark side of nature, and how it effected the poor, being Tookie and the Batiste family. The characters from both of the stories seemed to not be fully prepared, nor did it seem like they knew the severity of the hurricane. So it resulted in a massive hurricane coming through their home towns destroying them taking pretty much everything leaving them with nothing.

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Tree that collapsed Claude's room during Katrina

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This image of a fallen tree demonstrates how nature caused Katrina to rip trees out of the ground and tried to take away Claude's life.

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Jesmyn Ward establishes the theme of nature in Salvage the Bones by showing how the life cycle works. She begins with how Esch's mother died giving birth to Junior. This prompted Esch to mature at a younger age to help raise her brother. Towards the end of the novel, she accepts the fact that she is going to have a child of her own.

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"Skeetah pulls hard, and the skin balloons away from the flesh underneath, stretching, stretching until it is a wet limp rag, and Skeetah flings it away" (Ward 48).

This quote demonstrates the theme of nature by describing how Skeetah skinned the squirrel he caught to eat. It shows how organisms need to consume others to survive.

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Esch on her roof in the middle of the hurricane

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Illustration of Esch and the puppies in the Storm

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Illustration of Esch and the puppies in the Storm

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This image shows a dark side to nature, the sky is dark and the winds are heavy. It shows that nature can be a dark place at times and not so forgiving.

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In the book Salvage the Bones, the idea that nature gives and takes is very prominent. It is shown through the life of China's puppies, they were brought into the world naturally and then nature interfered causing them to lose their lives. The all died from some form of nature, getting sick, killed by the viscous nature of China, and the hurricane.

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”had chunks of skin and flesh crusted over to scabby sores from fighting. When he and China had sex, there was blood on their jaws, on her coat, and instead of loving, it looked like they were fighting”

Here in this quote is the description of when China and Kilo mated and it is used to show how the narrator viewed the ugly, messy, and violent side of nature and sex. Fighting is a means of survival, and the puppies would be survival for the Batiste family because they could bring in a promising amount of money from selling them.

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"At her opening, I see a purplish bulb. China is blooming."

This quote from Salvage the Bones is imagery of when China was giving birth to her puppies and it is a reflection of the fruitful side of China's nature. It is also a comparison of China's birthing to a blooming of a flower. This description of birth shows that it can be beautiful and it's a natural thing, but then we come to find out that China is vicious and even harmful to her puppies. So, the beautiful side of China's fruitful nature does not last long because her vicious nature takes over resulting in her killing one of her puppies.

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"It is terrible. It is the flailing wind that lashes like an extension cord used as a beating belt. It is the rain, which stings like stones, which drives into our eyes and bids them shut. It is the water, swirling and gathering and spreading on all sides, brown with an undercurrent of red to it, the clay of the Pit like a cut that won't stop leaking. It is the remains of the yard, the refrigerators and lawn mowers and the RV and mattresses, floating like a fleet," (Ward 230-231).

In this quote, Esch is describing what is happening to the Pit due to the storm. The harsh winds and choppy water is tearing the Batiste's house apart. This helps convey that nature is not always forgiving, and will take if it wants to.

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This image of Esch and China represents motherhood. In the picture, China is sitting in the foreground, almost proudly, and Esch is in the background, looking away. This can symbolize how the two characters face their problems, with China being aggressive and upfront, while Esch tries to cover or hide them, like her pregnancy.

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Salvage the Bones presents the theme of nature by describing how nature gives and takes.