Little Bee By Chris Cleave
Chris Cleave, is an amazing writer with many popular books in his name. “Little Bee” is one among his collection which was shortlisted for the 2008 Costa Book Awards in Novel category. The book is about the struggle of a Nigerian girl who seeks happiness through that struggle and an English magazine editor who tries to help her out through the struggle. The book scrutinizes the themes about British colonialism, globalization and the people who can play their part in making this world a beautiful or a worse place. The story is considered to be related with Cleave’s work in an asylum detention center during his childhood in West Africa. Through the characterization of Sarah, it has argued that the serious transformations are required regarding
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the thought about the immigrants. The novel demonstrates the transformation and hope that something bad will pass to bring the good result and the scars might be the evidence that the life has been saved.
It was the British colonization that has started it all at the first place.
Nigeria was very rich in oil and many of them were depending on it to carry out their day to day activities. However, it had to stop as some English company came to take over the oil business and the local officials started to destroy their illegal mines. “White man been giving me this finger all my life. Today you can give it me to keep. Now cut off your middle finger mister and give it me” (113). The hunter might be referring to the British colonization here. He thinks that, it was the fault of the white people that they are being destroyed. He thinks of every white man as rich and selfish and his reason for suffering and tragedy in his country. So, it might be a small gesture of making white people realize of their action and he might see it as …show more content…
justice.
The book shows the interaction of psychological and physical transformation. The main characters in the novel; Little bee, Sarah and Charlie go through the physical as well as psychological transformation. Little bee mentions that she had to either look good or talk good if she wants to survive in the asylum. She chose to speak good and cloak her beauty. “I made myself undesirable, I declined to wash, and I let my skin grow oily” (Cleave 6). She had to go through her physical transformation to survive in the asylum. She was terrified of the men in there as they were being treated like animals and they would act in the same manner when given the chances. It was also the incident with her sister about how the men raped and murdered her sister that made her fear the men. She cloaks her beauty during the day as she is afraid of men. It is only at the night when the men go to sleep, little bee would go back to the detention center and be herself. Sarah has also put herself through the necessary changes without even thinking of her interest. When she was in the beach in Nigeria she didn’t even think about her finger while saving little bee. She recalls of the incident in the beach, “It started on the day we met Little Bee, on a lonely beach in Nigeria. The only souvenir I have of that first meeting is an absence where the middle finger of my left hand used to be” (25). She has been physically and psychologically transformed when she chops her middle finger to save some random girl. She doesn’t care about the scar or the consequences that will follow but only cared about the life of little bee. Even after her husband’s death when little bee shows up in her door she lets her in and tries to find a way to help her out. Even though she hesitates at first she feels like it is good to invite her because of her transformation after the incident in the beach.
Charlie has also gone through his physical change where he now wears only the batman suit after his father’s death. Batman is thought of as a superhero without superpowers but with humanity. He is driven to fight for justice when his parents are murdered. Charlie is young and can be easily transformed by the tragedy and he feels like he should be strong to fight for justice. He feels like his father died because he wasn’t strong enough and now being in the suit will make him strong to bring his father back. Charlie says, “… if I is not batman all the time then mine Daddy dies” (223). He doesn’t know much about the rules of life and thinks that his father is in the heaven. He thinks of the suit and being the batman will protect his father from dying.
It is not only their change that has been portrayed in the story but the scars that were left with all those incidents and the hope that they have provided. Little bee thinks of scars as something beautiful and a relief that the life has been spared.
“On the girl’s brown legs there were many small white scars. I was thinking, Do those scars cover the whole of you, like the stars and the moons on your dress? I thought that would be pretty too, and I ask you right here please to agree with me that a scar is never ugly. That is what the scar makers want us to think. We must see all scars as beauty. Okay? This will be our secret. Because take it from me, a scar does not form on the dying. A scar means, I survived” (9). The above statement shows the positive thinking of little bee. It suggests that she's trying to appreciate the injustice in her life and think of it as a new lesson to begin a new life. This spirit of survival, of overcoming, burns bright in Little Bee, both girl and book (Thomas 2009). It shows her desire for survival and her hope to overcome the struggle that she is going through. She thinks of the scars as beautiful as stars and moons which are adding more beauty to the body. She takes them as hope of new living. By the end of the novel the author portraits the imagery of hope and transformation. Little bee makes Charlie give up his suit. They were all able to move ahead leaving their scars behind because of the help of one another. Together they face wrenching tests of a friendship forged under extreme duress (Perkins 77).
Sarah asks little bee to hide as she wants to save her because of her love and friendship towards her. However, little bee can’t see them in trouble and runs out to save Charlie. She was able to change the perspective of him that he does not need the suit to have justice. It is not only the persons that were transformed but the beach itself is now transformed back to the land of joy. Charlie was laughing without his suit for the first time and he is running with all the children with his happy arms spinning. Little bee expresses her happiness, “… and I cried with joy when the children all began to play together in the sparkling foam of the waves that broke between worlds at the point” (266). This scene depicts the transformation and hope. The world seemed like a different one as the children from different race, worlds were playing together with joy. Although everyone is surrounded by the soldiers, the author shows us the ray of hope where everyone was smiling, and the beach was looking beautiful
again.
Although little bee is portrayed as a loving character with hope in the story, many might argue with her selfishness when it came to Andrew’s life. Little bee cannot be thought of as hopeful always as she has given up on helping Andrew while he was dying. She chose to save her life and left Andrew in his suffering to die. Little bee tells Lawrence, “And first I thought, Of course I must save him, whatever it costs me, because he is a human being. And then I thought, Of course I must save myself, because I am a human being too” (194). Andrew tries to hang himself with his feeling of guilt, but little bee does not even help him while he was dying. Rather than telling the truth to Sarah, she tries to hide it with every means possible. She realizes that it was not humane what she had done, and Sarah would make her leave if she finds out about it. Therefore, she thinks of herself here and even blackmails Lawrence as he was threatening her about telling it to Sarah.
Despite some flaws and weaknesses in the story, the author has played so well with his characters and it makes the readers feel the pain they go through. The characters went through different incidents in their life which has brought the physical and psychological transformations. Although everyone was surrounded by police, they were all smiling with hope and feel like something beautiful is awaiting in future. The scars that the characters have had only helped in making them stronger and hopeful in life. Through small details and descriptive words, Cleave carries out brilliant arguments, making the readers feel like something bad will pass to bring the good. Therefore, the story is effective in bringing change in a reader’s mind and hoping for the good transformation.
the thought about the immigrants. The novel demonstrates the transformation and hope that something bad will pass to bring the good result and the scars might be the evidence that the life has been saved.
It was the British colonization that has started it all at the first place.
Nigeria was very rich in oil and many of them were depending on it to carry out their day to day activities. However, it had to stop as some English company came to take over the oil business and the local officials started to destroy their illegal mines. “White man been giving me this finger all my life. Today you can give it me to keep. Now cut off your middle finger mister and give it me” (113). The hunter might be referring to the British colonization here. He thinks that, it was the fault of the white people that they are being destroyed. He thinks of every white man as rich and selfish and his reason for suffering and tragedy in his country. So, it might be a small gesture of making white people realize of their action and he might see it as …show more content…
justice.
The book shows the interaction of psychological and physical transformation. The main characters in the novel; Little bee, Sarah and Charlie go through the physical as well as psychological transformation. Little bee mentions that she had to either look good or talk good if she wants to survive in the asylum. She chose to speak good and cloak her beauty. “I made myself undesirable, I declined to wash, and I let my skin grow oily” (Cleave 6). She had to go through her physical transformation to survive in the asylum. She was terrified of the men in there as they were being treated like animals and they would act in the same manner when given the chances. It was also the incident with her sister about how the men raped and murdered her sister that made her fear the men. She cloaks her beauty during the day as she is afraid of men. It is only at the night when the men go to sleep, little bee would go back to the detention center and be herself. Sarah has also put herself through the necessary changes without even thinking of her interest. When she was in the beach in Nigeria she didn’t even think about her finger while saving little bee. She recalls of the incident in the beach, “It started on the day we met Little Bee, on a lonely beach in Nigeria. The only souvenir I have of that first meeting is an absence where the middle finger of my left hand used to be” (25). She has been physically and psychologically transformed when she chops her middle finger to save some random girl. She doesn’t care about the scar or the consequences that will follow but only cared about the life of little bee. Even after her husband’s death when little bee shows up in her door she lets her in and tries to find a way to help her out. Even though she hesitates at first she feels like it is good to invite her because of her transformation after the incident in the beach.
Charlie has also gone through his physical change where he now wears only the batman suit after his father’s death. Batman is thought of as a superhero without superpowers but with humanity. He is driven to fight for justice when his parents are murdered. Charlie is young and can be easily transformed by the tragedy and he feels like he should be strong to fight for justice. He feels like his father died because he wasn’t strong enough and now being in the suit will make him strong to bring his father back. Charlie says, “… if I is not batman all the time then mine Daddy dies” (223). He doesn’t know much about the rules of life and thinks that his father is in the heaven. He thinks of the suit and being the batman will protect his father from dying.
It is not only their change that has been portrayed in the story but the scars that were left with all those incidents and the hope that they have provided. Little bee thinks of scars as something beautiful and a relief that the life has been spared.
“On the girl’s brown legs there were many small white scars. I was thinking, Do those scars cover the whole of you, like the stars and the moons on your dress? I thought that would be pretty too, and I ask you right here please to agree with me that a scar is never ugly. That is what the scar makers want us to think. We must see all scars as beauty. Okay? This will be our secret. Because take it from me, a scar does not form on the dying. A scar means, I survived” (9). The above statement shows the positive thinking of little bee. It suggests that she's trying to appreciate the injustice in her life and think of it as a new lesson to begin a new life. This spirit of survival, of overcoming, burns bright in Little Bee, both girl and book (Thomas 2009). It shows her desire for survival and her hope to overcome the struggle that she is going through. She thinks of the scars as beautiful as stars and moons which are adding more beauty to the body. She takes them as hope of new living. By the end of the novel the author portraits the imagery of hope and transformation. Little bee makes Charlie give up his suit. They were all able to move ahead leaving their scars behind because of the help of one another. Together they face wrenching tests of a friendship forged under extreme duress (Perkins 77).
Sarah asks little bee to hide as she wants to save her because of her love and friendship towards her. However, little bee can’t see them in trouble and runs out to save Charlie. She was able to change the perspective of him that he does not need the suit to have justice. It is not only the persons that were transformed but the beach itself is now transformed back to the land of joy. Charlie was laughing without his suit for the first time and he is running with all the children with his happy arms spinning. Little bee expresses her happiness, “… and I cried with joy when the children all began to play together in the sparkling foam of the waves that broke between worlds at the point” (266). This scene depicts the transformation and hope. The world seemed like a different one as the children from different race, worlds were playing together with joy. Although everyone is surrounded by the soldiers, the author shows us the ray of hope where everyone was smiling, and the beach was looking beautiful
again.
Although little bee is portrayed as a loving character with hope in the story, many might argue with her selfishness when it came to Andrew’s life. Little bee cannot be thought of as hopeful always as she has given up on helping Andrew while he was dying. She chose to save her life and left Andrew in his suffering to die. Little bee tells Lawrence, “And first I thought, Of course I must save him, whatever it costs me, because he is a human being. And then I thought, Of course I must save myself, because I am a human being too” (194). Andrew tries to hang himself with his feeling of guilt, but little bee does not even help him while he was dying. Rather than telling the truth to Sarah, she tries to hide it with every means possible. She realizes that it was not humane what she had done, and Sarah would make her leave if she finds out about it. Therefore, she thinks of herself here and even blackmails Lawrence as he was threatening her about telling it to Sarah.
Despite some flaws and weaknesses in the story, the author has played so well with his characters and it makes the readers feel the pain they go through. The characters went through different incidents in their life which has brought the physical and psychological transformations. Although everyone was surrounded by police, they were all smiling with hope and feel like something beautiful is awaiting in future. The scars that the characters have had only helped in making them stronger and hopeful in life. Through small details and descriptive words, Cleave carries out brilliant arguments, making the readers feel like something bad will pass to bring the good. Therefore, the story is effective in bringing change in a reader’s mind and hoping for the good transformation.