Little Bee blog
The norm is now to fight for peace. We must demand goodness and require decency from ourselves if we want to see it in anyone else. This book speaks about outside forces trying to destroy an individual but it spoke to me because of my own internal threats.
The book Little Bee is compulsively engaging. It deals with honor, immigration, bravery, death, redemption, flaws, honesty, and ultimately the choices we make that define not just who we are but who we want to be. I was glad to have read it and simultaneously sad to have been exposed to the story. I want the opportunity to sit down with the author and say wow that was amazing and fuck you (as I punch him in the face).
I began the book on a roat trip to D.C. and could barely put it down. Little Bee comes from a country where the natives are destroying each other for the privilege of servicing the western world’s commercial needs. She lived in a small village that was simple and easy going until some oil company discovered there were oil reserved underneath and fuck all ensued.
There is an inappropriate voyeuristic component that captured my attention when reading about the violence in the Nigeria described in Little Bee. It mirrors the destruction that is happening throughout the African continent. With primitive weapons and modern methods Africans have become the world’s most methodical mass murders. Rape has become the first line of attack. Machetes are the most common weapon of force. Guns are more prevalent than books The armies there have taken their internalized hatred and created diabolical travesties. They tear children from their families at a young age. They break the girls morally and emotionally through sexual/physical torture and they destroy the boys humanity by making them commit the acts that subjugate the girls. Small boys sleep with guns and are giving drugs and alcohol to dull the pain of lost childhood and deadened hearts. The cycle is vicious and more effective than an atom bomb . . mostly because it’s in internal weapon. When was the last time you heard of a country dropping an atom bomb on itself? This is the world Little Bee escapes from.
The norm is now to fight for peace. We must demand goodness and require decency from ourselves if we want to see it in anyone else. This book speaks about outside forces trying to destroy an individual but it spoke to me because of my own internal threats.
The book Little Bee is compulsively engaging. It deals with honor, immigration, bravery, death, redemption, flaws, honesty, and ultimately the choices we make that define not just who we are but who we want to be. I was glad to have read it and simultaneously sad to have been exposed to the story. I want the opportunity to sit down with the author and say wow that was amazing and fuck you (as I punch him in the face).
I began the book on a roat trip to D.C. and could barely put it down. Little Bee comes from a country where the natives are destroying each other for the privilege of servicing the western world’s commercial needs. She lived in a small village that was simple and easy going until some oil company discovered there were oil reserved underneath and fuck all ensued.
There is an inappropriate voyeuristic component that captured my attention when reading about the violence in the Nigeria described in Little Bee. It mirrors the destruction that is happening throughout the African continent. With primitive weapons and modern methods Africans have become the world’s most methodical mass murders. Rape has become the first line of attack. Machetes are the most common weapon of force. Guns are more prevalent than books The armies there have taken their internalized hatred and created diabolical travesties. They tear children from their families at a young age. They break the girls morally and emotionally through sexual/physical torture and they destroy the boys humanity by making them commit the acts that subjugate the girls. Small boys sleep with guns and are giving drugs and alcohol to dull the pain of lost childhood and deadened hearts. The cycle is vicious and more effective than an atom bomb . . mostly because it’s in internal weapon. When was the last time you heard of a country dropping an atom bomb on itself? This is the world Little Bee escapes from.
We are then allowed to see our world through her eyes. The book focuses mostly on her time outside of her native land with flashbacks and memories providing us with a vivid view of what she left behind. She spends two years in a depressing detention center that is cold and unfeeling. It is common knowledge that without some sort of miracle she will be deported. Not all of her memories are bad. She spent a good portion of her life living a simple life. Simple for me used to mean boring which used to mean bad. . .now it just means simple. . . nothing more and nothing less.
Little Bee learns English while in the detention center and her dialogue is mature and calculated. She is full of pithy observations and simple conclusions that describe her surroundings exceptionally well. Her perspective is at turns amusing and sobering.
The author juxtaposes Little Bee’s point of view with that of a British woman Little Bee has a past connection to. Looking at the world through each of their eyes is like switching tv channels switching from a documentary to a realistic sitcom. I recommend the read because I think there are some really engrossing passages and some deeply memorable characters.
On the drive home from D.C. I saw several houses that were in the middle of open fields and I remembered family trips from my youth and how I used to LOATH those types of houses. I used to think that those homes would have been my idea of hell on earth. Why would you want to live away from noise and bustle and excitement? Fast forward to a sub par performance evaluation from my job and my subsequent spiral into situational depression. Later that evening I contemplated throwing myself out of my 11th floor window. Then I realized there’s a balcony 6 floors down and unless I could figure out how to project myself far enough and land squarely on my head I would most likely only maim myself and that would just be further proof of how pathetic I truly am. . . another visit to my therapist is clearly forthcoming. . . So there at the hinterland my emotional well being and with my mental health rolling boldly down a hill of self loathing I picked up Little Bee to finish the 1/3 I had left to read.After finishing that book I struggled to accept the validity of my own anxiety disorder and depression. A quote that I remember vividly from the book is “Until I was 14 my entire world was 3 casava fields and some jungle”. Ten years ago that would have seemed horribly boring to me. I would have felt pity for that girl. I would have said, “But Bee! You are missing parks! And movies! And fireworks! And basketball! Broadway! Smoothies! Trains! Waterslides!! And air conditioning! Oh poor Bee! If only the rest of the world could be as civilized and advanced as we.” I think . . .would I have Lupus if I lived in that village? Would I get so many headaches? Would I need to be so busy? If I had never heard of a Broadway play would I have the desire to see one? This desire for more is like a cancer that continues to consume not just those who want but those you have what is desired. I myself am a gadget ho. I am fully aware of this. I have two laptops, a Kindle, a tv, cable, a dvr, countless things in my kitchen, and dvd’s up the ying yang. I am fully convinced I acquire these things to make up for the abysmal failure that is my personal (and recently my professional) life. But what if my life was 3 cassava fields, my mom, my dad, my siblings, and a boy from a neighboring village that I was bethrothed to? Would life be easier then? Would I need to take medicine for Lupus and migraines and depression and anxiety? Would I be a walking pharmacy if my life was 3 cassava fields and maybe some jungle?
Then I think. . . what utter bullshit. Despite my flare for the dramatic I know better. I could not marry Thembe from the next village because penis makes me gag. I would dream of something more than my cassava field. I would dream of something more than my village. I know that the world is a big place and I want to see it even if it’s just on my television. When my world gets tough I want to run to a cassava field and pretend like I’m a root. I want to disappear and forget about Avenue Q and
Lorraine Hansberryand
Nina Simoneand Muddy Waters. . .
but then I come out of my sadness and I appreciate all the things that have enriched my life and have shown that beauty is a limitless horizon.
Nelson Mandela spent the most virile years of his manhood in prison working his body into degradation. I am young and full of enough potential to change at least one life in this world. I have charged myself to do at least that. . .even if it is my own. Benazir Bhutto was the daughter of a man who was assisanated. She woke up everyday with a purpose and looked death in the face. They are bigger than life but who says that one day I can't be bigger than my imagination too? The very LEAST I can do is take my soft Johnson and Johnson baby oiled ass to the doctor and get something to regulate my wretched mood. Inspiration much like despiration comes softly and slowly and then snowballs into substance.
Little Bee is a fictional character. But she embodies a truth that I can adapt to my life. Her situation is intense and severe. Mine is light and not life threatening. If I was to ever fail I could retreat and regroup in my parents basement and probably live off someone else until I got back on my feet. Every time I fall I have to get back up. I have to pull myself together. I make stupid decisions and then have difficultly dealing with the consequences. Lesson you dolt. . .stop making obviously stupid decisions. I am more sensitive than I'll realize. Lesson you wanker. . .do not open yourself to people who obviously have nothing to offer in return. Work is work.. . I know I can succeed at it I just have to do it. I'm still learning and still growing.
We are all given our own personal demons and sensitivies and if I ignore mine they will one day overtake me for lack of attention to detail. They will creep into my mind and overtake my senses because I did not vigilantly keep them at bay. Admitting flaws and weakness have never been my strong suit. But this story reminded me to face my fears and shortcomings for they are not afraid to make themselves known. A fake story helped me come to terms with a real problem. Alright Little Bee you are the new emblem for my new Do Better express.
