For example, Leonie sees Given when neglecting her kids and taking meth. This illness is clear through her prioritizing destructive self-interests and having deliriums of Given’s disapproving specter. Just Leonie, a name wrapped around the same disappointed syllables I’ve heard from Mama, from Pop, even Given, my whole fucking life. It feels good to be mean, to speak past the baby I can’t hit and let that anger touch another. Vulnerable and grief-stricken, she possesses an illness which could be detected from her substance abuse, self-absorption, and guilt of letting everyone down. ‘I couldn’t count how many times he fought for us on the bus, in school, in the neighborhood when kids taunted me'(22-23). Her champion, Given, had buffered the toxic hostility of their prejudiced community for her. Traumatized by her brother, Given, dying of a hate crime, she is rendered unable to cope and be a maternal figure. Leonie’s relation to both Jojo and Kayla naturally passes down her illness to her offspring.

(99) Unsurprisingly then, Jojo pukes when the goat’s death overwhelms him, symbolizing that despite his maturity, he is still too young for its demands. ‘Misty’s shirt, which is cut wide and loose around the neckline, stretches out even more so that the top of her bra peeks through”.(37) Susceptible, Jojo’s innocence is further shown in his near-fatal encounter with a police officer: ‘It’s easy to look at him, his weedy height, the thick spread of his belly, and think he’s grown. Leering at Leonie’s friend, Misty, Jojo shows a sexual curiosity just like any other boy his age. (68) Although very responsible of him, this overdevelopment contributes to his illness, as he is still an adolescent. He can tell she’s ‘her animal self’ in his arms and she can always count on him to let her be in them. Possessing an almost telepathic bond, Jojo and his sister are effectively ‘each other’s light’ (92). A substitute parent to both Jojo and Kayla, Pop is a compassionate and selfless influence on Jojo’s care for his sister. Brown skinned tinged with red and family oriented, Jojo’s ideal male paragon is his grandfather. ‘I don’t want him to read my slowness as fear, as weakness, as me not being old enough to look at death like a man should'(3). Willing to participate in visceral disembowelment, Jojo naively perceives that through emulating Pop and acting untroubled, the label of manhood would be bestowed upon him.

I try to look like this is normal and boring so Pop will think I’ve earned these thirteen years, so Pop will know I’m ready to pull what needs to be pulled, separate innards from muscle, organs from cavities.

Sing unburied sing