Thursday, 22 May 2014

Little Bee Chapter 1-4 - Refugees

I will be reading the novel Little Bee by Chris Cleave and blogging about it for my English summative assignment. 
Little Bee by Chris Cleave

 These first few chapters of Little Bee open with a Nigerian refugee named Little Bee being held in an immigration detention centre in the United Kingdom after having escaped from her home country. She spends two years being detained during which she spends her time learning  the Queen's English out of a dictionary. Little Bee is released from the detention centre along with several other women, although they are released without proper paper work making them illegal immigrants. Little Bee walks from the detention centre in Essex to Kingston-Upon-Thames, making most of the journey alone and with nothing to guide her. She arrives at her destination, the house of Andrew and Sarah, a couple she met in Nigeria years ago, only to find the man she has came to see has died and she has arrived just in time for his funeral. Throughout the chapters the event that brought Little Bee, Andrew and Sarah together is mentioned frequently although the details of the event remain elusive. Only at the the end of this section are more details about the event revealed, although it is still unknown how Little Bee escaped alive.
A beach in Nigeria. Beautiful right? What terrible tragedy could have happened here?

Something that both interested and shocked me while reading the first few chapter of Little Bee was Little Bee's unnatural fear of men. It is clear that Little Bee's fear of men was caused by something that happened while she was in Nigeria, likely the event on the beach. Little's fear of the men is so severe that she plans how to quickly kill her self in whatever location she is in, "In the immigration detention centre, they told us we must be disciplined to overcome our fears. This is the discipline I learned: whenever I go into a new place, I work out how I would kill myself there. In case the men come suddenly, I make sure I am ready" (Cleave, 129). This part really stood out to me and I find it hard to imagine what the men could have done to Little Bee that is so terribly she would rather take her own life. Little Bee's fear continues while she is being held in the detention centre. The men are separated from the women at night but were to walk among the women during the day. To make herself look undesirable and protect her self from these men Little Bee winds cloth around her breasts, wears loose fitting clothes and cuts her hair short. Little Bee also hears many stories from the other women of how they came to be at the detention centre, all of which begin with "The men came and they" (Cleave, 33). It is horrible to imagine how Little Bee lives with this fear and it is very easy to forget while reading this book that Little Bee entered the detention centre when she was only 14.
The Black Hill Immigration Removal Centre was more like a prison. The immigrants were treated horribly when the only "crime" they had committed was trying to escape the horrors of their own countries.


I have to admit, so far I am enjoying Little Bee much more then I thought I would be. The story sad but intriguing and suspenseful. Little Bee's character is caring, intelligent, determined and all-together likable. I am looking forward to reading the next section of the book and hopefully learning more about what happened to Little Bee and how she escaped.

What does everyone else think of the book so far? 

Photo Citations:

 Little Bee: A Novel. 3 Dec, 2009. www.npr.org. NPR. Web. 22 May, 2014.

 Lacampagne Tropicana Beach Resort. 10 Dec, 2010. www.cometonigeria.com.Guide to Nigeria Tourism. Web. 22 May, 2014.

 Cantu, Aaron. America on Lockdown: Why the private prison industry is exploding. 15 April, 2014. www.salon.com. Salon Media Group, Inc. Web. 22 May, 2014.
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4 comments:

  1. Anonymous26 May 2014 at 13:43

    I was shocked at her fear of "the men" being so extreme as well, it only made me imagine the worst that could have happened but then again that was very hard from my shoes as someone who's never had to be a victim of some kind of oil war or grow up in an developing country like Nigeria. When you continue on reading to the next section it's understandable, i probably would have been much worse off at controlling my emotions than Little Bee. For instance,these are the very words of Little Bee," In a few breaths’ time I will speak sad words to you. But you must hear them the same way we have agreed to see scars now. Sad words are just another beauty. A sad story means, this storyteller is alive." . The way she refers to sadness with such optimism even though her life is nightmare from the way I see it really makes her a character to look up to and envy as crazy as it sounds. Keep on reading, I'm excited to see your take on the second section :)

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  2. Ariana27 May 2014 at 07:53

    Like you mentioned, I find it very difficult to imagine myself in Little Bee's situation, having none of the experiences she does. It is easy to forget that Little Bee is close in age to us (she leave's the detention center when she is only 16) because she seems so advanced in maturity, a result of the experiences she has been through. Little Bee is so strong for her ability to get through unimaginable situations and even remain optimistic while doing so. This quote (from the second section of the novel) demonstrates Little Bee's optimism "I smiled. Lawrence frowned. 'I don't get you,' he said. "If you understood how serious your situation is, I don't think you'd smile.' I shrugged. 'If I could not smile, I think my situation would be even more worse.'" (Cleave, 494). I look forward to continue reading as well!

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  3. Anonymous1 June 2014 at 18:54

    I found that Little Bee was somewhat brave to take her own life than to face the men. Killing yourself is a hard thing to do and in every situation she is ready. Even though it is frowned upon in most religions and I myself would never consider this, I think she is brave. "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) It's hard not to feel bad for Little Bee being in this situation everyday of her life, I'm fortunate to be safe everyday and I can't even imagine what she is going through.

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  4. Ariana1 June 2014 at 22:05

    Whether or not the suicide is a brave action, I think Little Bee herself is incredibly brave just for surviving all that she has been through. Little Bee has faced such horrible things that she imagines how to kill herself quickly if the men were to come again, yet she is still able to care for others and have a positive outlook on life.

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