Sing, Unburied, Sing Lesson Plan

What role do drugs play in this novel? How are drugs tied to poverty?

In many ways, we see how detrimental drugs are to the characters' lives. Part of Leonie's lack of care for her children can be attributed to her substance use; she almost dies when forced to ingest the entire bag of meth when they are pulled over by the police. Leonie and Michael's continued absence and meager figures imply continued substance use in the last chapter. However, we also see the ways in which communities are forced to turn to drugs because of poverty: the only way that Leonie is able to pay a lawyer for her husband is by bringing him meth. As a result, Ward paints a vivid, nuanced, and...