Uncle Wiggily Longears

Did you know that there was actually a character named Uncle Wiggily in a series of children's book?

Does this allusion have any significance in "Uncle Wiggily in CT"?

Into the Wild Soundtrack

I couldn't help posting this as well. It's the soundtrack Eddie Vedder did for the film version of Into the Wild. The soundtrack is pretty folksy/rootsy and features the mandolin (which I love!). If you're an Eddie Vedder/Pearl Jam fan and don't know if it, take a listen. :) 

Return to the Wild

The fascinating documentary PBS released a few years ago about the McCandless family dysfunction...

Rabih Chughtai

“He studies his dog, who breathes so hard he sprays the ground with spit and blood, his nose to the earth. Manny kneels next to Rico, whispers. 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. I read, She ain’t shit, ain’t got no heart. He looks at China when he murmurs but it feels like he looks at me” (Ward 172).

This quote shows how similar the relationships of Esch and Medea are. This is very direct by Jesmyn Ward, since she directly refers to the story and where the comparison is. Jason constantly betrays Medea while Manny does the same, but not in the exact same way. When any guy comes near Esch or Medea she turns them down while Manny and Jason are open to being with other people. Both relationships are also very uneven since Jason may slightly be attracted to Medea while she is madly in love with him. The same to a smaller scale is true for Esch and Manny. Esch loves Manny and has not had sex with anyone else since having it with Manny, while Manny pays no attention to the latter. In addition, Esch is pregnant from Manny but does not want to tell him since she has not even revealed her love for him. She is not sure about him yet since she thinks he is always saying things that show the meanness in him. Since both relationships are so one-sided there is also the similarity of Esch and Medea realizing the situation of their relationships and thinking about acting upon it. While Medea impulsively kills due to this, Esch is very responsible and goes through the pains of pregnancy including but limited to throwing up and excessive urination.

This Campanian red figure neck-amphora by the Ixion Painter c. 330 BCE depicts Medea killing one of her sons. This image is a somewhat graphic portrayal of the rampage Medea went through including slaughtering her sons. Though this image only shows one of the sons, it is a great portrayal of the event itself.

This image symbolizes Esch at the end of the novel because a lot of damage has been done to her physically and mentally. At the beginning her life is similar to a disaster but she deals with it and improves her life as much as possible to become the house on the right. Her home does not become better after the beginning but more in her mental state overall. She has now organized her life from the mess that she started with.

“‘I love you!’

'Esch!’ The skin on his throat is red, his scar white.

‘I loved you!’

I hit his Adam’s apple with the V where my thumb and pointer finger cross. He chokes.

‘I loved you!’ This is Medea wielding the knife. This is Medea cutting. I rake my fingernails across his face, leave pink scratches that turn red, fill with blood. (204)

In this passage, Ward explicitly connects Esch and Medea. The fury that Esch feels in the moment when Manny says “I ain’t got nothing here,” is very similar to the anger Medea feels towards Jason after he tells her that they are through and that he will be marrying the daughter of the King of Corinth. In this connection, we see two young women, hopelessly in love with a man who is only using her for his own selfish needs. In the case of Esch, Manny is using her for her body and for his own sexual gain. In the case of Medea, Jason is using her powerful abilities to acquire the Golden Fleece. She is forced to betray her father because of her own relentless love for Jason, so, in a way, she is trapped through her love for him. In the same way, Esch is trapped through her love for Manny. She loves him too much to get rid of the baby that was conceived through him, and so she has to find strength to care for it. The two both have physical and mental struggles with their love towards another character, and both must use strength to try and overcome it. 

This painting by Eugene Delacroix, entitled “Medea About to Kill her Children” shows Medea in the moments right before she murdered her two sons for revenge on Jason. It was painted in 1838 and is displayed at the Musée Du Louvre in Paris, France.

This picture shows the DC Superhero Phillipus. Although she is a minor DC character, I thought she represented Esch well because of how strong she is. Philippus is an Amazon warrior, which not only makes her one of the fiercest women known to history, it also means that she would have come into contact with Jason and the Argonauts. By the end of the story, Esch has grown so much as a person. Through all of her hardships, such as surviving the hurricane, finding out she was going to be a single teenage mother, and accepting the fact that Manny would not be there for her, she has acquired an amount of courage and bravery that would not typically be expected from someone her age, especially who was pregnant. All of this makes her perfect to represent Esch.

Esch vs. Medea Period D

Erin Bowen

8/31/16

Period D

“Manny kneels next to Rico, whispers.  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 this passage from the novel, Ward explicitly makes a connection between the characters of Salvage the Bones and “The Quest of the Golden Fleece” through the perspective of Esch.  She invests many of her emotions into the relationship with Manny, although it’s mainly one-sided and not reciprocated.  This is a pivotal point of the plot in which Esch has not yet told Manny of her pregnancy, though has been admiring him from afar without expressing her feelings.  A lot regarding Manny is revealed to the reader about the side of his personality that is harsh and aggressive.  Tension is at its peak between Manny and Esch’s brother, Skeetah, as both characters oppose the other in a dog fighting match.  The concept of Esch’s brother not having a positive relationship with Manny is similar to how Medea’s brother interferes with her intense love for Jason.  Currently in the book, Manny has chosen a relationship with Shaliyah and Esch alludes to how Jason picks the daughter of the king of Corinth.  This situation illustrates a main conflict in the book in which Esch struggles between her family and the boy she loves.  Since a large portion of the novel is the preparation for the hurricane, this allusion highlights the overwhelming amount of emotions Esch experiences, much like Medea does.  Often being consumed by thoughts of Manny serves as a distraction for the young protagonist to potentially greater problems.  

This is an image of artwork that dates back to 330 BC- 340 BC.  The artist is unknown though the piece is currently preserved in the Louvre in Paris, France.  The scene is on a calyx krater, which was a large vase used in Ancient Greece to mix wine and water.  It depicts Jason bringing Pelias the Golden Fleece as he is about to be crowned with a wreath.  

The character Esch can be symbolized by bamboo in a storm.  While this plant may sway in the wind, it will bend to far extents but not break due to its deep roots and great flexibility.  It grows tall and strong as an adaptation that allows it to reach for the sun.  Esch is much like bamboo because she has learned to grow up fast in order to have a strong role in the family and be somewhat of a mother figure for her younger brother Junior.  There’s a lot of misfortunes and hardships that she deals with, though by the end of the novel, she has become a strong woman who is heading for a positive direction in her life.  Like bamboo, Esch may seem vulnerable, but she cannot be broken, and motherhood has even made her stronger than ever.  She stands tall without the overwhelming need to lean on others.