Nature vs Humanity in Jesmyn Ward’s Salvage the Bones Anonymous College

The debate on whether Nature or Humanity controls the other has been going on for years. On the one hand, some people argue that humans exercise control over nature in that they can alter or destroy nature at will. For instance, humans can create rivers and lakes, but they can also completely destroy these water sources. On the other hand, others maintain that nature exerts control over humanity in that humans have been unable to control disasters like hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes. Jesmyn Ward, an American novelist, wades into this controversy in her second novel Salvage the Bones. First published in 2011 by Bloomsbury, this novel centers on the plight of a poor Black American (Batiste) family in Mississippi before, during, and after Hurricane Katrina. In the award-winning novel Salvage the Bones, American novelist Jesmyn Ward suggests, through the Batiste family’s preparations for Hurricane Katrina, the arrival of the hurricane, the family’s unsuccessful efforts to survive the storm, and the death of Mama while giving birth, that it is nature rather than humanity that dominates the other.

When news about the hurricane first spread through the radio, not many people take it seriously. In fact, in the entire Batiste...