Pleased with Penury
Atarhe Ekedayen
Often times in books, movies and generally any form of media, we are subjected to and made to stomach the same cliché ideology and format surrounding the representation poverty. A metaphorical hell on earth repeatedly depicted by themes of squalor, hatred, greed and suffering just to name a few, where the character or characters, often times of marginalized ethnicity, try desperately to escape this reality for what they perceive to be a better existence elsewhere. In Jesmyn Ward’s Novel ‘Salvage the bones’ and the film ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’ directed by Benh Zeitlin, we are treated to very nearly the opposite experience. These two pieces of work dare to break the mold with how they choose to illustrate …show more content…
The role that poverty plays in the novel is indistinguishable; it looms large in their lives and weighs them down, from a financial perspective, it is arguably what makes the premise behind the story feasible, Esch states “Before a hurricane, the animals that can, leave. Birds fly north out of the storm, and everything else roams as far away from the winds and rain as possible.”(45) This statement to me was aimed at the people as well, in that only those with the means to leave are capable of escaping the hurricane, but those like Esch, whom largely due to immense poverty are forced to stay and manage their situation the best they can, which is what sets the stage for the novel. Despite the reality of the situation they are faced with, the characters exude very little, if any hatred and negativity towards their situation and instead seem to be very occupied with their own personal affairs, such as, Randall pursuing his basketball career and Skeetah’s obsession with his dog China, this brings the concept of a light within the darkness to the story, in that they are able to find happiness while remaining as is.
In ‘Beasts of the southern wild’ the refusal of Hushpuppy and residents of the bathtub’s to leave their home, arguably illustrate the happiness they
Atarhe Ekedayen
Often times in books, movies and generally any form of media, we are subjected to and made to stomach the same cliché ideology and format surrounding the representation poverty. A metaphorical hell on earth repeatedly depicted by themes of squalor, hatred, greed and suffering just to name a few, where the character or characters, often times of marginalized ethnicity, try desperately to escape this reality for what they perceive to be a better existence elsewhere. In Jesmyn Ward’s Novel ‘Salvage the bones’ and the film ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’ directed by Benh Zeitlin, we are treated to very nearly the opposite experience. These two pieces of work dare to break the mold with how they choose to illustrate …show more content…
The role that poverty plays in the novel is indistinguishable; it looms large in their lives and weighs them down, from a financial perspective, it is arguably what makes the premise behind the story feasible, Esch states “Before a hurricane, the animals that can, leave. Birds fly north out of the storm, and everything else roams as far away from the winds and rain as possible.”(45) This statement to me was aimed at the people as well, in that only those with the means to leave are capable of escaping the hurricane, but those like Esch, whom largely due to immense poverty are forced to stay and manage their situation the best they can, which is what sets the stage for the novel. Despite the reality of the situation they are faced with, the characters exude very little, if any hatred and negativity towards their situation and instead seem to be very occupied with their own personal affairs, such as, Randall pursuing his basketball career and Skeetah’s obsession with his dog China, this brings the concept of a light within the darkness to the story, in that they are able to find happiness while remaining as is.
In ‘Beasts of the southern wild’ the refusal of Hushpuppy and residents of the bathtub’s to leave their home, arguably illustrate the happiness they