Cleave utilizes a complex narrating style which tells the same story from two characters with very different pasts, values, and knowledge. Immediately Cleave uncovers Little Bee and Sarah as characters from two diverse worlds. We know they had an encounter in the past, but the story is as ambiguous as the relationship between Little Bee and the O’Rourkes. Initially, we know very little about the situation encompassing all of the characters, just as Little Bee and Sarah know little about each other. As Sarah and Little Bee come to know one another and have shared experiences, they open up and understand the other, just as they open up with us and help us understand their story. The more experiences the two share, the more they begin to act in the best interest of the other. After Little Bee reveals her story to Sarah, Sarah feels great sympathy for Little Bee and guilt for not doing more to save her sister; however, Little Bee is optimistic concerning the situation because Sarah was willing and able to save one of them. Since Little Bee has encountered significantly more death than Sarah, she is able to see the importance of saving one life. Because Sarah has so little familiarity with death, she is unable to look past the death of Bee’s sister, Nkiruka. As Sarah conducts research and continues Andrew’s book on refugees, she obtains awareness and begins to see the way Little Bee does. Sarah’s realization and sympathies with the refugee story causes her to bear their problems as her own. At this point we notice that cultural and linguistic boundaries have been crossed, and Sarah and Little Bee have let their experiences guide them to a unified understanding. At the end of the novel, Sarah validates their union, “We won’t ever give up on Little Bee. Because she is part of our family now. And until she is happy and safe, then I don’t think we will be either” (Cleave 261). Though Little Bee and Sarah appear to be opposing characters in the opening of the novel, their differing viewpoints come together as the characters become a family. In the end we see that the switch in narration creates unity between Little Bee’s world and Sarah’s world.
In contrast to Sarah’s motherly ability to look past herself and sacrifice a finger for a strange child, Andrew reacts to the situation selfishly. Because he is unable to see a connection with the Nigerian girls and view them as equals, he refuses to take on their problems as his own. Ironically, his inability to lose a finger to save Nkiruka ends up costing him his life. Once he returns home and researches the plight of the refugees, Andrew begins to understand what occurred that night on the beach. His knowledge moves him to begin writing a book publicizing their dilemma. Andrew becomes so linked to the refugees that he is burdened with guilt for his past and takes his own life. The sacrifice of Andrew’s life seems to bring the story of Nkiruka’s death closure. Cleave cruelly creates unity through Andrew’s death.
The English language presents various complexities because of the ability of a word to “split into two separate meanings” (Cleave 12). These complexities are bred by misunderstanding and create opposing ideas in various cultures. At times it is the Nigerian girls who are baffled by language barriers, other times it is us, the readers and the British, who are met with novel concepts of commonplace words, but in the end Little Bee, Sarah, and the readers understand the terminology of both worlds because we all face the same story. In the opening of the novel, Little Bee explains how the word “horror” means something different to the people in her village in Nigeria than it does to people in the United Kingdom (Cleave 45). For us, horror is a feeling that we experience for entertainment; however, for the people in Nigeria, “horror is a disease and [they] are sick with it” (Cleave 45). The difference in meaning comes from experience. Because we have not experienced the terrifying inhumanity of war, rape, and death, we cannot even comprehend words to the same degree. Another example of differing word usage is “topless” (Cleave 4). Little Bee explains that the girls at home would assume the woman in the newspaper that the detention center guard was reading had no upper body, but in our country we immediately presume the girl was not wearing a shirt. In Nigeria law would not permit a newspaper to print a picture of a naked girl, so people in Nigeria would not conceive of this happening elsewhere; however, in countries with more freedom and modernization, “topless” is a common phrase. Initially, Little Bee refers to Nigerian dialect as her language, and British jargon as “your language” or “the Queen’s English.” As the novel progresses, Little Bee understands both of the translations for many English words because she has experienced both worlds. By reading newspapers, magazines, and books, and watching British television at the detention center, Little Bee assimilated into a new world of understanding. By the end of the novel, Little Bee says, “I was scared that my Queen’s English would fail me” (Cleave 240). In comparison to earlier in the novel, we see that Little Bee has accepted the language of the Queen as her own. Throughout the novel, Little Bee explains how it would be to describe situations to her friends at home. Their reactions are always disbelief and utter confusion because they have a very different way of life. They grow crops instead of go to offices, they hide in the jungle instead of beside washing machines, and they use their imagination for suicide rather than for games. Little Bee uses the reactions of her friends at home to show how she initially reacted to the British world before the detention center and experiencing life with the O’Rourkes. After spending time in the United Kingdom, Little Bee can speak the language of both cultures, the one of her past and the one of her present. To connect with the unique expressions, she must rely on her experiences in each culture to lead her to understanding.
Another mechanism Cleave uses to demonstrate how Little Bee’s experiences have given her a different mindset than those outside of her village occurs when she describes her opinion about scars. Little Bee says, “take it from me, a scar does not form on the dying. A scar means, I survived” (Cleave 9). Since we have not suffered as Little Bee and the other refugees have, we think of scars as symbols of terrible events and we feel sympathy for the person bearing the scar. After surviving such horrific events, Little Bee has learned to appreciate the beauty of scars as a symbol of life and survival. Sad stories parallel scars in Little Bee’s world, “A sad story means, this story-teller is alive” (Cleave 9). Little Bee believes scars and sad stories to be cheerful only because she has lived through them. Without experiencing what she has, we would not award these concepts with positive connotations.
Cleaves allows the account of Little Bee to come to life in a manner that awakens the narrow minds of those she encounters and causes them to broaden their boundaries with understanding. One does not merely listen to or read the story of Little Bee, they experience it and in return, it changes their lives.
Questions:
1) Do you think the topic question is too broad/unfocused?
2) Is the analysis too shallow?
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