Medea Esch comparison Ethan Pinkes

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Quote: “‘I love you!’ ‘Esch!’ The skin on his throat is red, his scar white. ‘I loved you!’ I hit his Adam’s apple with the V where my thumb and pointer finger cross. He chokes. ‘I loved you!’ This is Medea wielding the knife. This is Medea cutting. I rake my fingernails across his face, leave pink scratches that turn red, fill with blood.” (Ward pg. 204)

This happens near the end of Salvage the Bones as the facets of the story are resolving themselves. Esch opens up to Manny about her pregnancy and her feelings for him. She is getting her revenge on Manny by harming him, just as Medea got her revenge on Jason by killing his wife. Esch is trying to end her and Manny’s relationship with herself on top, the winner. She wants Manny to walk away feeling as though he is a lesser person and that Esch is stronger. The mythical Medea was in love with Jason and did many things to help him including murdering her own father and brother and leaving her home country. Esch does not pay attention to her father, nor does she help him to prepare for the storm, she instead has sex with Manny. Esch betrays her father and he ends up losing his fingers because of Esch and her brothers carelessness and disregard of their father’s concerns. Manny, like Jason, doesn’t recognize his role in what she has lost and sacrificed for him.

Comments

  1. AnonymousAugust 30, 2017 at 11:16 AM

    In the case of Medea and Jason, Medea got back at Jason by killing his wife, while in the situation of Esch and Manny, Esch tried to physically injure Manny. In this situation Manny even overpowered her as he threw her off of him. So what did Manny truly lose? Esch's father lost some of his fingers, but what did Manny lose?

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