Memory, Mourning, and Dealing With the Past

The contrasts between Mam and Leonie's response to Given's death illustrate how dealing with the burden of that past can either affirm or destroy life. As Mam tells Jojo, ghosts are spirits who come into being "when someone dies in a bad way, sometimes it's so awful even God can’t bear to watch, and then half your spirit stays behind, wanting peace" (236).

Given is presented as a golden child in the narrative--he mastered whatever he set his mind to, and he was at the center of his parents and sisters' affections--and was, prior to his death, the picture of proud, unbroken black masculinity. He is a particularly modern figure in that he refused to accept Pop's caution that his white friends' acceptance of him only went so far. Given's death was a violent one: Michael's murderer shot him point...