Those Bones Are Not My Child Analysis

Jones is not the only author who has published a novel about the child murders. Toni Cade Bambara has done the same through her posthumous novel, Those Bones Are Not My Child. Amazingly, the same paradigm of black patriarchal and matriarchal leadership during a crisis seen in Jones’ book, occurs in Bambara’s book. Yet, some may argue that my reading of the roles and perceptions of gendered black leadership in the domestic sphere during a crisis is actually troubled—not corroborated—by Bambara’s novel. Dissenters argue that some household leaders fail to adequately live up to their role. For example, the protagonist, Marzala, fails to comfort and reassure her son, Sonny, through speech, after he is reunited with the family:
He [Sunny] was fuming and would not look at her. When he threw the bowl down on the bed and flung the spoon after, hoping to break the bowl, she said, ‘I’ve done that. I’ve gotten into a car because I thought somebody called my name….’ She measured her words to teach him how it was done. ‘Yes, I got in. And yes, I knew better, but I got in anyway.’ He obviously thought she was making it up…. She tensed …show more content…
Black female leadership is defined similarly to black male leadership: occupations with significant responsibility. Mrs. Grier in Leaving Atlanta, represents black female leadership in the public sphere; she is Octavia’s former teacher. Mrs. Grier is a pivotal character in the novel. Her conversations with Octavia help her recognize the dangers of remaining in Atlanta, and encourages her to live with her father in South Carolina. In other words, Mrs. Grier is the impetus behind Octavia, “leaving Atlanta.” Mrs. Grier’s role in the public sphere is to comfort and reassure the community, her students specifically, through speech. She accomplishes this in her scenes with