Little Bee By Chris Cleave Essay
Simran Sandhu
Ms. Koziey-Kronas
ENG 3U
15 December 2014
Moving Forward Life changes almost instantly – in the blink of an eye the world can transform – though it is up to the individual to embrace the changes or fall behind as the rest move forward. In Little Bee the author Chris Cleave conveys the message that nothing lasts forever: feelings of helplessness and fear only exist as long as one believes in them. Nonetheless, it hurts tremendously when it is known that it is in no one’s hands to stop something horrible from happening; as a result, individuals live in constant fear of the unimaginable. If one allows fear to exist in their life, they give it the potential to take over. Furthermore, if the inner strength is developed to look towards …show more content…
a better tomorrow, the fear will cease to exist. To recollect, it is always better to move on from the past and draw a clean slate as it enables one to forget the memories that hurt them the most and create new ones that allow them to reach their full potential.
How can we forget the horrific memories that haunt us day after day, like how we eventually forget the heartbreaking stories that reach us at lightning speed through the power of social media?
The answer is simple: there is no way to forget; one can only acknowledge the pain, forgive those who inflicted it, and move on. Without a doubt, it is hard to look past all the negative connotations and forgive those who caused us so much distress. There are times in life when conflicts arise and many feel like giving up and finding a way to escape. I have realized over the years that I forgive people, yet do not forget the pain they inflicted on me. I simply gave up holding grudges against people because I knew that my Dad would have done the same. I do not remember my Dad because I only knew him for a little while, but from what family members have told me, he was indeed the father I dreamed of but never had. As Little Bee says, “If the men come suddenly I will be ready to kill myself. Do you feel sorry for me, for thinking always in this way? If the men come and they find you not ready, then it will be me who is feeling sorry for you (Cleave, 47).” The repetition of her suicidal thoughts throughout the novel are unbearable and unfortunately relatable as I felt that, after losing almost everything I wished would stay in my life, living did not seem that important. Furthermore, when people like Little Bee and I come to our senses, we begin to understand that life is too short to mourn what could have been; rather, just long enough to build a new future with new people and new destinations. “You travel here and you travel there, trying to get out from under the cloud and nothing works, and then one day you realize you've been carrying the weather around with you (Cleave, 168).” In this quotation, Little Bee says that after hard times we as individuals try to continue on with life – trying to live optimistically – yet do not realize that the reason why we are still sad
inside is because we never found and cherished the positivity yet. Moreover, when changes occur unexpectedly it does not mean that the path ahead is going to be rough. Not only have all the changes I went through been a blessing, but they made for a great adventure. To conclude, a great quote on positivity that is incorporated in Little Bee is the Nigerian proverb; “If your face is swollen from the severe beatings of life, smile and pretend to be a fat man.”
We are always told that if one door closes another will open. This means that there is always a way out of hard times no matter the situation; though, if this is the case, then why is it so hard to cope with the loss of someone we knew? How come, in the moment of hearing about this loss, we cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel? “But the film in your memory, you cannot walk out so easily. Wherever you go it is always playing (Cleave, 46),” this quotation reveals how memories are not easy to forget, especially when they are formed from personal experiences. In all honesty, sometimes I feel like if I push people away it would help me forget the memories, but it just makes it worse. After grasping the concept of loneliness, till this day I thank my cousin for being someone who had my back and helped me realize that there are always better things in store for us. My cousin’s comfort and motivation to be positive relates to the relationship between Sarah and Little Bee as even though Sarah did not what to deal with the lost Little Bee in the beginning, she managed to help her. She realized that she had brought the security and relief to Little Bee to open the gate to a new life for her in this new country. People like Little Bee and I wonder why these individuals were destined to be in our lives. Eventually, we realize that it is because they are here to help us. Under this circumstance we tend to trust them and feel like they will be there for us forever. The both of us could not trust anyone but we had to understand what that would do to us. Life is a very tricky game and as my cousin told me sooner or later I was going to have to learn to trust others, because if we live life with all our feelings bottled up inside, it would make us go crazy.
To conclude, Buddha said, “There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to the truth; not going all the way and not starting.” Feeling inferior to the world and what good or bad can happen in our lives is truly only up to us. If we decide that one day we are going to make a change in our lives for the better then we will. Life is beyond a doubt a test of fear, love, hate and every good and bad thing that could potentially get thrown at us. We lose and we gain. After all, every gift has a story and meaning behind it and I think that Little Bee and I saw the light at the end of the tunnel at the right time because we went through all the struggles and both ended up happy. This entire story and my life shows that as humans we are all going to face highs and lows, but everything always end up right. As a final point, I would like to say that looking at the past, from both my perspective and Little Bee’s, is with faith, love and comfort, a person can achieve everything they have always wanted. God shall bless everyone He has introduced to us in our lives.
Ms. Koziey-Kronas
ENG 3U
15 December 2014
Moving Forward Life changes almost instantly – in the blink of an eye the world can transform – though it is up to the individual to embrace the changes or fall behind as the rest move forward. In Little Bee the author Chris Cleave conveys the message that nothing lasts forever: feelings of helplessness and fear only exist as long as one believes in them. Nonetheless, it hurts tremendously when it is known that it is in no one’s hands to stop something horrible from happening; as a result, individuals live in constant fear of the unimaginable. If one allows fear to exist in their life, they give it the potential to take over. Furthermore, if the inner strength is developed to look towards …show more content…
a better tomorrow, the fear will cease to exist. To recollect, it is always better to move on from the past and draw a clean slate as it enables one to forget the memories that hurt them the most and create new ones that allow them to reach their full potential.
How can we forget the horrific memories that haunt us day after day, like how we eventually forget the heartbreaking stories that reach us at lightning speed through the power of social media?
The answer is simple: there is no way to forget; one can only acknowledge the pain, forgive those who inflicted it, and move on. Without a doubt, it is hard to look past all the negative connotations and forgive those who caused us so much distress. There are times in life when conflicts arise and many feel like giving up and finding a way to escape. I have realized over the years that I forgive people, yet do not forget the pain they inflicted on me. I simply gave up holding grudges against people because I knew that my Dad would have done the same. I do not remember my Dad because I only knew him for a little while, but from what family members have told me, he was indeed the father I dreamed of but never had. As Little Bee says, “If the men come suddenly I will be ready to kill myself. Do you feel sorry for me, for thinking always in this way? If the men come and they find you not ready, then it will be me who is feeling sorry for you (Cleave, 47).” The repetition of her suicidal thoughts throughout the novel are unbearable and unfortunately relatable as I felt that, after losing almost everything I wished would stay in my life, living did not seem that important. Furthermore, when people like Little Bee and I come to our senses, we begin to understand that life is too short to mourn what could have been; rather, just long enough to build a new future with new people and new destinations. “You travel here and you travel there, trying to get out from under the cloud and nothing works, and then one day you realize you've been carrying the weather around with you (Cleave, 168).” In this quotation, Little Bee says that after hard times we as individuals try to continue on with life – trying to live optimistically – yet do not realize that the reason why we are still sad
inside is because we never found and cherished the positivity yet. Moreover, when changes occur unexpectedly it does not mean that the path ahead is going to be rough. Not only have all the changes I went through been a blessing, but they made for a great adventure. To conclude, a great quote on positivity that is incorporated in Little Bee is the Nigerian proverb; “If your face is swollen from the severe beatings of life, smile and pretend to be a fat man.”
We are always told that if one door closes another will open. This means that there is always a way out of hard times no matter the situation; though, if this is the case, then why is it so hard to cope with the loss of someone we knew? How come, in the moment of hearing about this loss, we cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel? “But the film in your memory, you cannot walk out so easily. Wherever you go it is always playing (Cleave, 46),” this quotation reveals how memories are not easy to forget, especially when they are formed from personal experiences. In all honesty, sometimes I feel like if I push people away it would help me forget the memories, but it just makes it worse. After grasping the concept of loneliness, till this day I thank my cousin for being someone who had my back and helped me realize that there are always better things in store for us. My cousin’s comfort and motivation to be positive relates to the relationship between Sarah and Little Bee as even though Sarah did not what to deal with the lost Little Bee in the beginning, she managed to help her. She realized that she had brought the security and relief to Little Bee to open the gate to a new life for her in this new country. People like Little Bee and I wonder why these individuals were destined to be in our lives. Eventually, we realize that it is because they are here to help us. Under this circumstance we tend to trust them and feel like they will be there for us forever. The both of us could not trust anyone but we had to understand what that would do to us. Life is a very tricky game and as my cousin told me sooner or later I was going to have to learn to trust others, because if we live life with all our feelings bottled up inside, it would make us go crazy.
To conclude, Buddha said, “There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to the truth; not going all the way and not starting.” Feeling inferior to the world and what good or bad can happen in our lives is truly only up to us. If we decide that one day we are going to make a change in our lives for the better then we will. Life is beyond a doubt a test of fear, love, hate and every good and bad thing that could potentially get thrown at us. We lose and we gain. After all, every gift has a story and meaning behind it and I think that Little Bee and I saw the light at the end of the tunnel at the right time because we went through all the struggles and both ended up happy. This entire story and my life shows that as humans we are all going to face highs and lows, but everything always end up right. As a final point, I would like to say that looking at the past, from both my perspective and Little Bee’s, is with faith, love and comfort, a person can achieve everything they have always wanted. God shall bless everyone He has introduced to us in our lives.