Little Bee is a modern 21st century story illustrating themes of human nature and immigration written by Chris Cleave. The narrator in this book, a sixteen year old Nigerian girl wishes she was a white British girl. In the Beginning of the Book Little Bee was in an immigration detention center in Essex, England. She was in there due to her fleeing Nigeria two years prior by stowing away on a British cargo ship.
Little Bee comes from a small village in Nigeria that was affected by the presence of an oil company. They witnessed the guards hired by the oil company setting things on fire and those guards wanted them dead.
She’s put in the immigrant detention center as soon as she arrives in England. For six months, she screams every night. During the days she thinks of ways to kill herself. After six months, she feels some hope mixed with her horror and starts learning the Queen’s English and learning about British history and culture. She was in there for about two years, one thing positive she got from beginning stuck in there was she mastered the English language.
When she was released from the detention center, she was released with three other women. The only thing Little bee had in her possession was a driver’s license and a business card belonging to Andrew O’Rourke, a white man she met on the beach two years ago in Nigeria. This is where the story takes a turn for the worse.
http://www.shmoop.com/little-bee/chapter-1-summary.html
http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-little-bee/themes.html
After reading Little Bee, I have an better understanding of the consequences of peoples actions. People can trick each other into accepting an alternate reality. Sometimes we are more influenced by our fears and we lie to ourselves. The odyssey of Little Bee is depressing but it also highlights some of the dark sides of human nature that all of us possess.
This book captivates the readers attention because it tells a story of human uncertainty and fear.