Dysfunctional parents’ exist in all social classes, whether rich or poor. However, there are many more dysfunctional parents in lower income families because of their circumstances. In her Sing, Unburied, Sing, Jesmyn Ward shows that struggling circumstances in lower income black families causes bad parenting through Leonie.
Leonie is a struggling adult with two kids, and her significant other is in jail for three years, leaving her to take care of the kids by herself. Despite Leonie having this grand responsibility, she is often not home for her children, and Leonie’s parents end up taking care of Jojo and Kaeyla. Leonie’s abusive tendencies to hit her children is very shocking, but at the same time, the novel hints that Leonie is not this way at her core. When Kaeyla was throwing up on the way to Parchman, Leonie says she wants “her to burrow in to me for succor instead of her brother” (98), but at the same time, her devotion is “inconstant” (98). In Leonie’s heart, she wishes she could take care of her children in the way that Jojo takes care of Kaeyla, but her circumstances distract her from her children. She will do anything to distract her from her life by either being with Michael or doing drugs.
Additionally to being lower income, the racism in Leonie’s life further dampens her life. Given was killed by Michael's family, but there was no significant repercussions to Michael’s cousin. It was a “hunting accident.” Leonie has had to cope with this racism through ways such as drugs, because when she does drugs, she can see Given. Towards the later half of the novel, Big Joseph believes that his grandkids are rude because they are “Raised by her, what you’d expect?” (207). He believes that no black person could raise a family well. Dealing with this kind of blatant racism can be very difficult, and in the novel, Leonie’s ways of coping are by being with Michael because he “Saw past skin color” (54) and escaping through drugs.
Throughout the novel, we witness the abusiveness and negligence of Leonie towards her kids, and many, including myself, are quick to judge. Jesmyn Ward tries to show us why we should not be quick to judge. She is not giving an excuse for bad parenting, but she tries to show us that there are reasons people act the way they do. Many black families have to deal with racism and lower income households. By being more understanding, we could do more good to society by helping them instead of judging.
I think it is important how you noted that Leonie has suffered greatly because of the instilled racism where she lives. As a result, she has had to cope through unhealthy means - her addiction to cocaine - as well as not being a nurturing parent towards her children. You mention how Leonie regrets being an inconsistent parent to her kids when Kayla is throwing up, which further demonstrates how Leonie is aware of her parenting skills yet has not acted upon them. In the book we even see Leonie and Michael claiming their kids made them distant stating, “Ever since then we had Jojo and MIchaela around us, making those spaces bigger between us” (153). In this moment too, Leonie is seen as blaming the kids, in a sense, for causing her and Michael to drift apart, yet her and Michael already have a toxic relationship with one another to begin with. This ties into your point of negligence towards the kids on Leonie’s behalf and as you mentioned this further strains the relationship she could have towards her kids. In terms of judgement, I agree that Ward is projecting to her audience that circumstances should be taken into consideration and to not have an initial judgement early on, as we see Leonie has had to cope with the death of her brother Given throughout the book and “seeing” him constantly.
ReplyDeleteI find your analysis of Leonie's parenting very interesting and would have to agree with you. At first I will admit I was quick to judge Leonie because she neglected Kayla and especially JoJo. She would leave them alone, hit them and overall not being a supportive mother figure. This has lasting effects on JoJo and Kayla that will be carried with them.
ReplyDeleteHowever, later on in the novel, it is shown that Leonie is trying and due to her circumstances she cannot be "perfect." One example that stuck out to me was when Leonie was watching JoJo comfort Kayla. "He rubs her back and she rubs his, and I stand there, watching my children comfort each other. My hands itch, wanting to do something" (Ward 101). By Ward offering Leonie's perspective in the book, readers see that Leonie really does want to do something, she just cannot overcome it. She sees how close her children are and I think she wants to be apart of that. However, due to the limited amount of time Leonie had to prepare for being a mother, drug abuse and numerous other circumstances, she is unable to be close to her kids. For reference, I am not saying that what Leonie did was acceptable but showing the other side to the story offers this new meaning.
I think that all the factors that you have pointed out are interesting ways to think about what influences Leonie's parenting style. In the beginning of the novel, I was very quick to judge and was not able to understand why Leonie acted the way that she did. However, as we progressed and learned more about where she was from and how she was treated, as well as the addictions she suffered and why, I began to empathize with her and see what was holding her back as a parent. Looking at this novel, I believed that due to some of the things that were occurring (such as some of the forms of racism we see throughout the story) that this story had taken place very long ago. I quickly learned that this novel is very recent and thinking from her perspective, the racism that she undergoes throughout the novel and the way that she struggles financially is a stress that must be so hard to deal with especially in today’s day in age, and this may lead to her not always having her heart one hundred percent there for her children. Aside from this, she is in love with a man who spent time in jail and was not able to help her for a period of time. All of this alone would make being a mother very hard especially when most would think the number one priority would be making a good life for a family. The odds are not generally in Leonie’s favor, which is what leads to the way that she treats her children.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciated how Ward attempted to dissuade the reader from making and holding snap judgements towards the characters in the novel. It would be very easy to just write off Leonie as a drug addicted absent parent who doesn't care about her children, but Ward expands her character throughout the novel and ensures those initial perceptions should be challenged. The passage that really struck a chord with me was the flashback to when Jojo was singing the songs to Kayla that Leonie had sang to him as a child, and the better times that Jojo and Leonie had prior to Michael losing his job. People are not immediately bad people, but everyone has their vices and faults. Ward makes it obvious that Leonie wants to be a good mother, but does not have the instinct nor the ability to put her own interests aside that a good mother needs. She harbors resentment towards her children for blocking her opportunities, and is never able to get over the mountain of issues, and in the end resorts to choosing Michael over their children.
ReplyDeleteYou make an interesting point in that a major contributing factor to Leonie's dependence on drugs is due to racism. However, in my opinion, poverty has more of a pull towards the issue of drug addiction than racism. This is not to say that racism doesn't play a role in Leonie's struggle, but I believe poverty is the main culprit. My evidence for this is that character's who are not plagued with the injustice of racism, such as Michael and Misty, still are grappling with addiction to hard drugs. These drugs offer an escape, a blissful experience that temporarily relieves the pressure of life. Yet when the high is over, an individual is left lower than they were previously, in poorer economic state as well as poor health. As we've seen with the opioid crisis that ripped through impoverished regions of America, a prominent example being Appalachia and its associated states. This is not to diminish in any way the importance of race in the book, but I believe that racial injustice intensifies the cycle of poverty, and that poverty is what contributes to drug addiction. The absence of substantial parenting by Leonie is an example of how drug abuse spans generations, with children potentially developing mental health issues due to problems with parents, making them more susceptible to drug use.
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