Theme Of Power In Chris Cleave's Little Bee
Little Bee: Perceptions of Power
Oil: it powers our cars, planes, and homes; and in all likelihood it was used to generate electricity to power the device from which this essay is being read. Prefer a hardcopy? The ink used to print this page is almost certainly ink made from petroleum. So, as ubiquitous and incredibly vital as oil is, what price is one willing to pay? Chris Cleave’s Little Bee follows the journey of a young Nigerian girl, Little Bee, whose village is massacred in order to turn it into an oil field. After being chased from the remains of her village by mercenaries, she comes across a British couple, Andrew and Sarah O’Rourke, who refuse to hand over the girls to their pursuers. The leader of the mercenaries offers to …show more content…
Sarah, too, misjudges her ability to protect Little Bee. While she is in Nigeria collecting stories for her book with Little Bee, Sarah, in a moment of terror, realizes that she has once again failed to protect Little Bee. “I’m so sorry, Bee” (206) she laments, “I thought I’d paid [the policemen] enough to close their eyes for a few days. But someone must have put the word out” (260). Sarah is not the only O’Rourke to misjudge his or her power; Charlie believes himself to be powerless without his Batman costume. As he confesses to Little Bee when asked if he feared taking off the costume, "Yes, because if I is not Batman all the time then mine daddy dies". (223) In reality, Charlie 's father is no less dead whether Charlie decides to don the mask of the caped crusader, yet Charlie perceives himself as powerless without his Batman suit. Little Bee, too, perceives herself as powerless, but with good reason; she is an illegal immigrant who has fled her country to avoid certain death. Yet, she alone facilitated the creation of a book that would influence the opinions of millions of readers, a feat making her far more powerful than any of Cleave’s other characters. She reclaimed her given name, discarded out of fear of discovery, and reclaimed her power by speaking out against the mass killings she witnessed; in this process Little Bee reclaimed her power but lost her
Oil: it powers our cars, planes, and homes; and in all likelihood it was used to generate electricity to power the device from which this essay is being read. Prefer a hardcopy? The ink used to print this page is almost certainly ink made from petroleum. So, as ubiquitous and incredibly vital as oil is, what price is one willing to pay? Chris Cleave’s Little Bee follows the journey of a young Nigerian girl, Little Bee, whose village is massacred in order to turn it into an oil field. After being chased from the remains of her village by mercenaries, she comes across a British couple, Andrew and Sarah O’Rourke, who refuse to hand over the girls to their pursuers. The leader of the mercenaries offers to …show more content…
Sarah, too, misjudges her ability to protect Little Bee. While she is in Nigeria collecting stories for her book with Little Bee, Sarah, in a moment of terror, realizes that she has once again failed to protect Little Bee. “I’m so sorry, Bee” (206) she laments, “I thought I’d paid [the policemen] enough to close their eyes for a few days. But someone must have put the word out” (260). Sarah is not the only O’Rourke to misjudge his or her power; Charlie believes himself to be powerless without his Batman costume. As he confesses to Little Bee when asked if he feared taking off the costume, "Yes, because if I is not Batman all the time then mine daddy dies". (223) In reality, Charlie 's father is no less dead whether Charlie decides to don the mask of the caped crusader, yet Charlie perceives himself as powerless without his Batman suit. Little Bee, too, perceives herself as powerless, but with good reason; she is an illegal immigrant who has fled her country to avoid certain death. Yet, she alone facilitated the creation of a book that would influence the opinions of millions of readers, a feat making her far more powerful than any of Cleave’s other characters. She reclaimed her given name, discarded out of fear of discovery, and reclaimed her power by speaking out against the mass killings she witnessed; in this process Little Bee reclaimed her power but lost her