"In ancient Greece, for all her heroes, for Medea and her mutilated brother and her devastated father, water meant death. I heard the clanking of metal on metal outside, some broken machine tilting like a sinking headstone against another, and I knew it was the wind pushing a heavy rain." (Ward 216).

With all the drama going on, it is easy to forget that this is not just a love story but a chronicle of Hurricane Katrina too, and vice versa. In the myth, the Argonauts face many trials and tribulations getting from one place to another: The water itself with its currents, waves, and ability to pull anyone to their deaths; Charybdis who was also a challenge in The Odyssey; storms, magical rocks, the wrath of gods and everything in between. The heavy rain is a harbinger of what's to come when the hurricane hits full-on, the flooding, the water, and the desperation pull apart the lives of many living in Mississippi, take the lives of so many. With Esch at the center of her own personal storm, it was incredibly insightful for Jesmyn Ward to include that very bit to remind us that this is both a story of unrequited love and pain, and at the same time nature's treachery that no mortal can control. 

This image represents Esch at the end of the book because she has finally let go of her love or what she thought was love, and realized she has more ("this baby got plenty daddies") that is worth keeping close to herself. She is recovering from devastating events, both nature and the war going on inside herself and with Manny.

Jason and Medea Charming the Sleepless Dragon by C.G. Battista

In the above painting, we can see Medea leading the way and Jason gladly taking her help.