“There are wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful than anything that bleeds,” wrote Laurel K. Hamilton in Mistral’s Kiss. People have hidden trauma on the inside that only they endure, which hurts more than the trauma they show. Another famous author, Jesmyn Ward, conveys in Sing Unburied Sing that Jojo’s family has experienced lots of trauma internally that jeopardizes them more than the one they show. This internal trauma can lead to more hardships like Leonie with drugs. Although Given died many years before the story takes place, Leonie still envisions Given, which is what truly impacts her emotionally. People can see on the outside that Leonie is a drug addict, but they don’t know the trauma that led her down that path. Trauma…show more content… Due to the slaves not owning anything, they had no way of living if they were to be freed. They had to work on their own with nothing to begin with. This event still has an effect on why Jojo is living in poverty, which has led to continued trauma. There are many links to generational trauma; these links come in various ways, but all impact somebody mentally. Jojo's family has experienced death that caused trauma still actively affecting them, such as Mam and Pop being affected by Given’s murder. Seeing Richie’s ghost caused Jojo to rethink why Pop had never told him what happened to him. Jojo had asked Pop about what had happened to Richie. So Pop told Jojo, “I wash my hands every day, Jojo. But that damn blood ain’t never come out” (Ward 256). During Pop’s time in Parchman, he experienced and witnessed many tragedies happen, such as his friends dying. Richie was to be ripped apart if he were to be caught, but Pop had found him and was forced to kill him. Pop felt guilty about killing Richie, causing him to spiral down and fall into depression. Although Pop tries to forget that day, he is constantly reminded of it by Jojo asking what happened to
