“I know that whatever Manny is saying is showing the meanness in him, that he is Jason betraying Medea and asking for the hand of the daughter of the king of Corinth in marriage after Medea has killed her brother for him, betrayed her father.” (172)

In an indirect manner focusing on comparing Jason and Manny, this quotation also shows the connection between Medea and Esch. Both Medea and Esch have fallen in love with a person which makes them, "feel a fire eating up through [them]," (57) while also, "[bending them] like a young pine."(38) In the end they are both disowned or "exiled" by the people they once loved. Jason marries the daughter of the King of Corinth, leaving Medea in exile with their two sons. Manny stays with Shaliyah, while pushing Esch to the side. When Manny realizes that Esch is pregnant, he leaves her their refusing to believe it. Both Medea and Esch are left as a single mother in betrayal. The one difference at the end of their stories, is that Esch moves on and becomes stronger taking on the responsibility for herself and the baby. While on the other hand Medea acts out with violence killing her two sons and running away.

This is an oil painting by Carle van Loo. Van Loo was born in France in 1705 and died in Paris, where he lived, in 1765. It was made in 1759 and titled Jason and Medea. The painting depicts the scene, in which Medea has killed her two sons, and is leaving, from the roof, in a chariot led by dragons. Jason has made his mind to kill her, but it is already too late. This painting currently hangs in Musée des Beaux Arts in France.

I think this picture represents many different aspects of Esch by the end of the novel. The wreckage directly symbolizes the troubles Esch has gone through both with the hurricane, her mom, dealing with Manny, her dad, and her pregnancy. Although her past may still be there, the sun rising represents a new day, how Esch is starting a new chapter in her life. Overtime her troubles may not be as prominent in her life as they were at the end of the novel, but the memories will always be there. The water in the foreground of the picture also represents Esch in that, water represents the source of life. It shows how Esch is a new mother bringing a new life into the world, even with her troubles still prominent in her life, but a new chapter is beginning.