“In Mythology, I am still reading about Medea and the quest for the Golden Fleece. Here is someone that I recognize. When Medea falls in love with Jason, it grabs me by the throat. I can see her. Medea sneaks Jason things to help him: ointments to make him invincible, secrets in rocks. She has magic, could bend the natural to the unnatural. But even with all her power, Jason bends her like a young pine in a hard wind; he makes her double in two. I know her.”

-       Esch, Page 38

In Medea, Esch sees small pieces of herself. Her situation shadows Medea’s, a girl who gives everything to help a boy she thought she loved. As ties are severed and bridges are burned with Manny, Esch’s Jason, she realizes asking Manny to act as the father is unfeasible and unrealistic. She starts out in the novel as a small, breakable girl afraid to use her voice but grows into something sturdy and fierce-willed. 

Picture of Medea ↑

This artwork was submitted to historywitch.com in 2015. The artist is unknown.

I chose a picture of a wolf to symbolize Esch’s character at the end of the novel because I think it represents the brawn and grit Esch has learned to accept as a part of her life, and additionally, her.