Week 4 Post A

Theme

What would you do to cope with the thought of never seeing your family again? Would you cry or would you put it out of your mind forever? Beah uses strangers and friends to help him get through the tough times and he soon learns that a friend can mean the difference between life and death.

Thatched (p.93)-Plant stalks or foliage, such as reeds or palm fronds, used for roofing.

humongous (p.77)- Extremely large; enormous

Appeals

This quote is a very personal quote for me because it reminds me of a death in my family. "What was left of him was only a memory."(86) For me, the emotional part is tough to deal with and it makes me sad to think that nobody will remember you after you die. Sure there will be people in your family who think about you but after the grandchildren die, not even the memory of your existence will survive.

"But I knew that the chances of coming back to the village were slim, as we had no control over our future. We knew only how to survive."(87) I feel bad for Beah because he had no control over what happened to him. People at Edina High School have lots of choices and hold the future in their own hands. Many times, we mistake that as a bad thing when we don't want to study for a test or do homework but really, it is a gift to control our own future.

"Sometimes the night has a way of speaking to us, but we almost never listen."(81) I had to re-read this sentence in the book before I got the actual meaning. Beah is foreshadowing a terrible death to come, but at the same time, he is saying that humans don't think about their consequences of their actions. Global warming immediately comes to my mind when I think about human consequences. This quote shows insight on Beah's part to see that humans can create bad consequences without even knowing it.

Quote

"That night we stole a pot of rice and cassava leaves. We ate it under coffee trees at the edge of the village, washed the pots, and returned them." This quote relates directly to what we have been talking about in class. At what point is it o.k. to steal from others and break the law? In this case, because the reader is able to relate to the main character and knows him very well, I feel that it was justified. I don't believe there is one right answer to the question but I think that most people would sympathize with Beah when he has to steal food to survive.