On page three of The Water is Wide Conroy States,
"The island is fringed with the green, undulating marshes of the southern
coast; shrimp boats ply the waters around her and fisherman cast their lines
along her beautiful shores... Yamacraw is beautiful because man has not yet had
time to destroy this beauty." I felt that this was an important part out
of the book because Conroy explains what he sees, and the description Conroy
gives gives the reader a picture of what Yamacraw actually looked like. At the
beginning, I did not think I would like the book, but the further I read the
more I enjoyed it. At the beginning of the book, Conroy tells how he went to
visit the Superintendent, Dr. Piedmont, who was known for being tough. When
Conroy told him he would like to teach on Yamacraw Island, Dr. Piedmont told
him that he was “Godsend.” At this point in the book, I thought that Yamacraw
Island had to be this awful place since by the way the Superintendent was
talking.
I found the part in chapter one
about Conroy’s past interesting. The book told how he would perform a type of
racism by throwing rotten watermelons at the “colored” people. Then, they
called it “nigger-knocking.” I found it interesting how much Conroy had changed
from the person that he was in his past to the person he was in the book. He
wanted to go to Yamacraw Island to educate and help others even if they were a
different race.
Conroy has also given me a history
lesson when it comes to this book. At the point where Martin Luther King Jr.
had died, Conroy worked at Beaufort High School. The white students were very
passive, but the black students were upset. So when Lurleen Wallace died of
cancer, the black students laughed about it because she was white. While
reading I had no clue who Lurleen Wallace was until I googled her. She was the
first female governor in the state of Alabama. After that year, Conroy did not
want to go back to the school.
In Chapter two, Conroy travels to
Yamacraw Island and starts the school year. It amazed me how little the children
knew at their ages. Some of them could not even write their name. Conroy could
not understand what the students were saying. The students, along with other
black islanders, are known for their Gullah dialect.
To conclude, Conroy asked the students
different questions about the presidents. The only president that the students
knew was John F. Kennedy. They knew him because “He good to colored man.” It is
understandable to know why the students only knew John F. Kennedy, but it also
showed how illiterate the students actually were. It is sad knowing that
children at that age lived a life knowing hardly anything.
I agree that is sad to read about children who were that age and hardly knew anything about the world except the little island they lived on. It’s also sad to think that there are more than likely still places like this in other parts of the world. I have also been brushing up on my history while reading this book! Many times I have had to Google names, places, and events that are mentioned in the book. I think that is another great aspect about this book because it’s a great way for us to not only hear and learn from Pat’s story but also so we can hear a prospective from that time period.
ReplyDeletePaige, I agree with your sentence about how beautiful the island was because it had not been destroyed by man. I also enjoyed reading how Conroy tells you about how he was in his past and how he is today. I really liked the fact that he was able to show us that maybe he was not also the "good" person that he is now. He showed us exactly how the white and black people were in that time period, and he did not sugar coat it either. I feel that maybe hom going to the island to teach the black students that no one else wants to teach might be his way of making amends for his past actions.
ReplyDeleteTaylor,
ReplyDeleteI really like the sentence you used at the beginning of your post. Like you, I also chose a sentence from the book that gave me the illusion that I was there on Yamacraw Island with Conroy. I think Conroy did a good job of making the readers feel that they are there with Conroy, rather than sitting at home reading a book. I also wanted to say that I agree with you about Conroy giving a history lesson. By reading this book I feel as if I got a better understanding of what some of the black people went through during the 50’s and 60’s. Conroy was very descriptive and honest throughout his whole book, and didn’t hold out information, even if that information reflected badly on him.
I have found this book to be extremely interesting, and am looking forward to reading more about Conroy’s adventure on Yamacraw Island.
-Kelsey