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…
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
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…
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