There's Only Room for One

Laura Liu

Ms. Tompkins

World Literature Honors 1

April 24, 2015

There’s Only Room for One

The words, MISSING BOY’S BODY FOUND, splatter across the front page of the local newspaper. Bridget’s stony gray eyes scan the article about their missing neighbor, James Harrington, who never came home after leaving for school last Tuesday morning. She gives a carefree shrug and lifts her eyes from the pages to search her sister’s face. Rebecca’s eyebrows furrow, forming creases on her forehead, a flaw on her otherwise disgustingly flawless oval face framed by luxurious amber waves. A few seconds pass before Rebecca finally recovers from her shock. She meets her little sister’s enigmatic eyes and reaches over to caress her hand.

“We know no more than anyone else does. It never happened. You got that?” Rebecca instructs, expecting obedience. Bridget balls up her fist and tugs on the hems of her faded shirt. It is a hand-me-down from Rebecca that has a hole on the left shoulder. She had asked her father for a back to school shopping trip so she could finally wear something that hadn’t been her sister’s. But he refused, on the pretext that he needed to save money for Rebecca’s college tuition fee. As if she’d ever get into college, she had thought. She hates the shirt almost as much as she hates the way Rebecca speaks to her condescendingly.

That night, they had stared down at the mangled body.

Rebecca flung her hand over her mouth to muffle a long, blood curdling scream. Her heartbeat hammered in chest, sending trembles through her body. Her sister’s fragile frame seemed oddly relaxed under her tight grasp. Moments later, the repulsive odor hit them. Invaded their nostrils. Brought them back to their senses. Shock gradually crept away, triggering fear to settle in. Having not quite recovered from the horror, she heard Bridget’s blunt and even voice.

“Let’s bury it.”

“Are..are you insane?” Rebecca’s cracking voice managed.

“It is in our backyard! People are going to think we did this!”

Rebecca sighed, relenting. Bridget’s eyes glimmered in the moonlight. For once, she called the shots.

“They’re going to figure it out, you know?” Bridget stares right back into her sister’s pleading eyes.

“Stop it! Just stop saying that, Bridget!” Rebecca screams, her voice thick with fear.

“They’re coming over to interrogate us about the homicide in five minutes,” Bridget states nonchalantly.

Rebecca shuts her eyes. She takes a deep breath in, and out. With a sigh, she commands in a calmer tone, “Listen to me, don’t say a word when they come. Let me do all the talking.”

Bridget gives her sister a slightly cryptic smirk. Rebecca continues to stare at Bridget until, finally, Bridget gives in with a small, reluctant nod, her eyes trail back to the untouched newspaper sitting neatly on the coffee table.

Hot, angry lava boils in Rebecca’s chest, erupting, spilling out her mouth. “Bridget! Why are you so indifferent about this? We could end up rotting in jail all because of your stupid idea!”

Anger is contagious.

“Rot in jail? Speak for yourself!” Bridget spits back. For a second, she almost wishes that it doesn’t have to be this way. Bridget liked it better when they were younger. Before Rebecca treated her as if she were inferior. Before Rebecca had become a “cool kid”. Before Rebecca complicated things. Because they genuinely had been best friends. Because their relationship had been so simple. Because she had been Daddy’s favorite, not Rebecca.

Baffled by her sister’s ferocious, abrupt words, Rebecca blinks in shock, eyes narrowing, trying to put together the pieces.

Too late.

The harmonic chime of the doorbell intrudes, as if mocking her destined fate. Bridget glides across the creaking wooden living room floor, eager with anticipation. Her delicate fingers wrap around the cold metal knob, but right before she turns it, her head swings around to give Rebecca a coy smile.

Rebecca watches in panic as police officers file into the house. “Rebecca Sowards, you are under arrest for the murder of James Harrington. Hands behind your back.” She stands motionless, speechless‒panic plugs her mouth, her words bubbling inside, trying to escape. A warm tear of shock slithers down her cheek, meeting the cold metal cuffs, sending a chill through her entire body.

Her eyes widen in realization. Her shoulders jerk backward violently, causing the police officer to tighten her grip. A timid, breathless gasp escapes her lips as they form a perfect “o”. Her eyes twitch with anger as she thrusts her body with all her might towards her sister.

“I trusted you! How could you do this to me? What did I ever do to you to make you hate me this much? Tell me! Why…,” She crumbles into a pile of tears.

Bridget looks apologetically at the police officers, her face fills with concern. “Please forgive my dear sister, she’s been suffering from antisocial personality disorder, lost in her own little world. But...we never knew it could ever end this way.” She lets out a soft, feigned whimper, pity piercing her voice.

The hot, angry lava explodes, shattering Rebecca’s heart, soul, body into jagged pieces. How could she do this? How could she betray me? We’re sisters! Too angry to express with words, she lets out a violent howl, lunging for her sister’s hair. Bridget gives a frightened shriek as she dives into the corner. “See? She’s having another one of her episodes!”

“Calm down, sweetie. It’s going to be okay.” The officer looks at Rebecca sympathetically. The patronizing words shatter the last piece of hope she has.

As she is dragged out the door, she hears her sister’s menacing whisper, “I’ll tell Daddy you said goodbye.”

Mandela's Fading Legacy

Laura Liu

Ms. Tompkins

World Literature Honors

March 13, 2015

Mandela’s Fading Legacy

Around two years ago, a precious blue diamond was discovered in South Africa’s Cullinan Diamond Mine. Immediately, the flawless gem was auctioned off for nine million dollars (Kielburger). Yet, with a flourishing mining industry, why is the black population of South Africa still in deep poverty?

During Nelson Mandela’s presidency, he made many reforms to South Africa’s politics in hope of ridding the country of apartheid once and for all. Although the country experienced great progress, and blacks and whites are considered equals according to the law, the aftermath of apartheid is inevitable and still plagues the native Africans with immense consequences. In a country full of underground riches, 47% of the population live under the poverty line, natives being the majority (Vanderbilt). Essentially, the unwritten racial inequality in South Africa induces income inequality between the races, which not only puts blacks in poverty, but also makes it difficult for them to overcome poverty.

Racial inequality in South Africa create an income inequality between the blacks and whites, forcing blacks under the poverty line. Despite Mandela’s attempt to diminish apartheid, South Africa still possesses a white-dominant society. The Economist Intelligence Unit, an article in Global Issues in Context, confirms that, “Whites still control most of the capital in the country...”, in turn, “...widening income gap between the black and white populations” (Economist). Since the white South Africans are still dominating the economy, they are able to obtain higher paying occupations while the blacks are left with low wage jobs, which creates income inequality between the two races. In fact, this inequality is extremely severe; Michael Brown II of Stanford University reports that the wage difference between the blacks and whites is 40%, making South Africa one of the most unequal in the world (Brown II). All revenue that South Africa receives from its elaborate mining business falls into the hands of the educated white South Africans (Kielburger). Hence, in this economic system, the black South Africans still do not profit from the treasures of their own land, despite Mandela’s goals. Furthermore, The Telegraph quotes President Jacob Zuma emphasizing that “...at the bottom of the rung is the black majority who continue to be confronted by deep poverty” (Liang). Being separated from the whites by the wealth gap, they are being put in poverty, as all the wealth is being hoarded by the whites. Evidently, income inequality, induced by racial differences, leaves the black population struggling in poverty.

Furthermore, income inequality prevents the blacks from rising out of poverty, permanently stranding them under the poverty line. Vanderbilt University cites the World Bank explaining that, “Inequality limits economic upward mobility, as those children in the lower income brackets are forced to work rather than go to school. It is impossible for further development to occur in such bifurcated societies” (Vanderbilt). Blacks who live under the poverty line due to low wages induced by the wealth gap cannot afford sending their children to school. Instead, they need their children to work in order to support the family. Unable to obtain sufficient education, these children are bound to low wage jobs for the rest of their lives since higher wage occupations require high levels of education. Yet, even for the minority of blacks in poverty who do manage to attend school, they still are unable to break from the perpetuating cycle of poverty. The Economist reported that the blacks continue to attend schools that are inferior to the ones that whites attend. Therefore, whites always outperform them in terms of scoring (Economist). As long as they are academically inferior to whites, black South Africans will not be able to narrow the income gap between the two races and progress financially. The problematic issue arises that once blacks are put into this cycle of poverty, they do not have access to resources that will help them rise out of it.  

It is a tragedy that Mandela’s achievements are not brought about to their fullest potential in modern South Africa. Apartheid’s shadow still hovers over many. Despite racial equality granted by the law, their access to resources allows the majority of whites to maintain superiority from an economic and financial standpoint, as they are the ones running the wealthy industries. The income gap between the two races not only forces blacks into poverty, but also makes it extremely arduous for them to break free from it.

Works Cited: Mandela’s Fading Legacy

Brown, Michael, II. "Social Inequality in South Africa: At What Price?" Stanford University. Stanford University, 19 Sept. 2014. Web. 12 Mar. 2015.
"Income Inequality in South Africa." Vanderbilt University. Vanderbilt University, 9 Sept. 2013. Web. 12 Mar. 2015.
Kielburger, Marc, and Craig Kielburger. "Why South Africa Is Still Dealing With Segregation and Poverty." The Huffington Post. The Huffington Post, 18 Dec. 2013. Web. 7 Mar. 2015.
Laing, Aislinn. "South Africa's Whites Still Paid Six times More than Blacks." The Telegraph. The Telegraph, 30 Oct. 2012. Web. 9 Mar. 2015.
"Last in Class." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 05 June 2010. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.
"South Africa: Economic Background." Economist Intelligence Unit. Global Issues in Context, 28 Aug. 2006. Web. 7 Mar. 2015.

Well, Gertrude...

Statement:

Alan Paton is using Gertrude to represent the widely perpetrated sexism in South Africa, as well as the negative effects of Westernization on native people. Gertrude suffers from both the consequences of sexism and racism in South Africa’s whites dominated society.

Quotes:

“Johannesburg is not a place for a woman alone” (38).

“There is laughter in the house, the kind of laughter of which one is afraid. Perhaps one is afraid already, perhaps because it is in truth bad laughter”(29).

“You have shamed us” he says, not wishing to make it known to the world. “A liquor seller, a prostitute, with a child… Your brother is a priest. How could you do this to us...” (30).

In South African society, black women are the lowest on the social hierarchy. This well represents Gertrude’s perspective as she is cast down by society. She is stranded in the dank bottom of the well, reaching for the bright lives that the whites have the potential to live. The treatment Gertrude has received makes feel as if she is stuck at the bottom of a well. She can see the light of the toleration towards men in society, but it is impossible for her to escape to the the top of the well.

Cycle of Oppression

Buffalo

“The buffalo was still alive.  I will never forget how affected I was by its long drawn-out, plaintive bellows”(93).

“On top of the neatly stacked books lay the buffalo tail: black, with a tufted end, and stained with dark blood.  It was exceptionally long, and no doubt once belonged to the unfortunate buffalo responsible for breaking Four-Eyes’s glasses”(105).

Banned Books

“‘So, are you weeping tears of joy?’ I said.

‘No. All I feel is loathing.’

‘Me too.  Loathing for everyone who kept these books from us’”(99).

“‘What happened to her books?’

‘They went up in smoke.  Confiscated by the Red Guards, who promptly burnt them in public, right in front of her apartment building’”(51).

 

Sijie adopts the symbols of the buffalo and the banned books to demonstrate people’s inclination to oppress the ones that defy their accepted ways, showing an overall cycle of repression. They are attempting to prove their dominance over the buffalo. Four-Eyes tries to prove his adulthood by showing how he can dominate over the buffalo and assert his power. Likewise, Luo and the narrator are trying to become adults and learn by accessing the books while the government is trying to repress them and keep them from becoming educated adults.

The Train Will Only Run on Its Railroad

Wind is the Tao

Blowing calmly

When you try to go beyond it

It becomes a tornado

A calamity

Wave is the Tao

flowing smoothly

When you try to exceed it

It becomes a hurricane

A catastrophe

Nothing can overpower the Tao

If you challenge it

You will feel the wrath of the universe

You find yourself in chaos

Let the course of nature

Run on the railroad

The universe built

Emotion+Values+Memory; the Equation For Perspective