Week #2 - post by friday, may 15th - Ms. Sockett's English Courses

Week #2 - post by friday, may 15th

5/11/2015

Click on the comment box below in order to start your blog post. Follow the blog posting set-up as described in your instructions. Identify yourself with first name and last initial only.

Post on a DIFFERENT topic this week.

Be sure to check all of the posts by your group members AND also check in to see what other students are posting. This is a forum for added discussion so feel free to post comments on other peoples' postings. POSITIVE FEEDBACK ONLY!

6 Comments

Mahdiyyah Kasmani

5/16/2015 10:41:53

Conflict/Clash of Culture:
Sarah’s pov Quotation: ““Please,” said Little Bee, looking directly at me. “Bad men are hunting us. They will kill us.” She spoke to me as a woman, knowing I would understand. But I didn’t understand. Three days earlier, just before we left for Heathrow, I had been standing on a bare concrete slab in our garden, asking Andrew exactly when the hell he planned to build his bloody glasshouse there. That was the biggest issue in my life-that glasshouse, or the lack of it. [...] I was a modern woman and disappointment was something I understood better than fear. The hunters would kill her? My stomach lurched, but my mind still asserted it was just a figure of speech. “Oh for goodness’ sake,” I said. “You’re a child. Why would they want to kill you?”” (Cleave 106).

In this part of the book, Little Bee relives the terror of what happened in Nigeria. The men she now fears came to Little Bee’s village to burn and destroy it but Little Bee and her sister Kindness were able to escape. Little did they know that they would not get far as “the men were hunting down the fleeing women and children and burying their bodies under branches and rocks” (Cleave 101). The two girls had only gotten as far as the beach when the men found them. That is where Little Bee first met Sarah who was on vacation with her husband. Little Bee tried to explain her situation from one woman to another hoping Sarah would understand. However, ignorance of one’s surroundings in this case was the reason the husband and wife were unable to protect these young girls and the reason for the guilt they suffered from which ultimately led to Andrew committing suicide. After knowing the real danger the two girls were in, both Sarah and Andrew walked away due to fear unlike they had ever faced. This is a prime example of the clash of culture between two very different people such as Little Bee and Sarah. Little Bee who is only 16 has faced more difficulties in her life than Sarah who is twice her age. Little Bee’s life has been all about protecting herself from the world and living in fear which is why Sarah was unable to understand the danger Little Bee was in. The word “horror” is something very significant to Little Bee as she explains the difference of what it means to people. In England, horror is a genre in movies that people watch to feel scared for a while. In such a country, horror “is something you take a dose of to remind yourself that you are not suffering from it” (Cleave 45). However, in Nigeria, such a small word has an entirely different meaning that haunts everyone throughout their lives. For Nigerians, “horror is a disease and [they] are sick with it. It is not an illness you can cure yourself of by standing up and letting the big red cinema seat fold itself up behind you” (Cleave 45). Horror is a continuous part of their lives that they are unable to escape. Horror is just one example of a difference in perspectives out of many between the English and Nigerians. Both Sarah and Little Bee live completely different lives due to the clash of culture which also plays a big role in the difficulties they face of understanding each other.

Taneah Ugwuegbula

5/19/2015 02:09:36

I completely agree with the cultures clashes you have covered in your post. It is devastating to think that some people have it far better than others, simply because of where they are from and what they have been exposed to. I think this novel gives multiple examples of clashes of culture, which i enjoyed because it is always shocking and ironic to compare the different life styles. The example involving horror was an effective on to use because it shows directly how privileged some people may be and not even realize. The example involving the glass house was effective too, and also stood out to me while I was reading the novel. It is very relatable to think of the small things we fuss over. Ss Sarah said "the biggest issue in her life" was about a material object, but for others, it may be survival.

Dante A

5/26/2015 02:21:39

Wow. Imagine being on the run, assuming you're getting somewhere when you're not, and most likely never will be. It is terrible to think this is reality for some people. We in Canada are privileged enough to not have to consider this a reality.

Sockett

6/22/2015 12:34:59

Checked, mark updated. June 22/15

Madison R

5/20/2015 02:56:10

Within the second part of the novel, we notice how Little Bee starts to grow as the main protagonist. She leaves the centre, and she's on her way to see Sarah. Little Bee explains how no matter where she goes, she always has a plan to kill herself in order to escape "the men". When she describes this, I think that these men are the ones that had taken Little Bee into the detainment centre. The setting of this point within the book is kind of disturbing. For Little Bee to escape her problems, she wants to kill herself…”I lay back on the bed and I looked up to the ceiling, but all that was there were those long chains dangling down. I thought, I could hang myself by the neck from those, no problem” (Cleave, 77). The context within the book is very heavy and sad because you read about a girl who leaves Nigeria, only to become an illegal immigrant...

Sockett

6/22/2015 12:37:59

Checked by me and mark updated. June 22/15

Week #2 - post by friday, may 15th

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