The Pit as a Sacrifice Zone: Environmental Injustice in Jesmyn Ward’s Salvage the Bones

Abstract

This study explores Jesmyn Ward’s novel Salvage the Bones (2011) through an ecocritical and ecofeminist lens, with a focus on the critique of environmental and social injustice in the American South preceding and following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. By exploring Esch’s experience during Hurricane Katrina, the literary analysis highlights the intersection of environmental racism, animalization or dehumanization, as well as the politics of disposability. Central to this discussion is the symbolic significance of “the Pit,” the land of Esch and her family, and its connection to the historical and ongoing exploitation of the marginalized community in Bois Sauvage and in the American South as such. The article also employs ecofeminist and ecocritical perspectives to investigate Esch’s journey as a young African American woman, emphasizing her resilience and agency amidst neglect and dehumanization.&nbsp