Chapter 12- The Water is Wide

“Of the Yamacraw children I can say little. I don’t think I changed the quality if their lives significantly or altered the inexorable fact that they were imprisoned by the very circumstance of their birth. I felt much beauty in my year with them. It hurt very badly to leave them. For them I leave a single prayer: that the river is good to them in the crossing.” I know that this is a long quote, but this paragraph kept sticking out to me. This shows hoe Conroy felt about the children and how hurt he was by having to leave them. With that, he also wishes them the best.

In chapter 12, Conroy begins by telling how hurt and angry he was for having to leave the island. He stated that in that year on sadness, he wrote this book to reflect on how the situation affected him and his life.  It is easy to tell that Conroy was angry because he had to leave the island. He stated that Piedmont and Bennington were evil in his eyes. As time went on, Conroy finally started coming out of the sadness and anger so that he could come to “truce” about himself and the people of Yamacraw.

In the middle of Chapter 12, Conroy talked about Mrs. Brown. He stated that the only reason she acted the way that she did is because he was “victimized by her own insecurity.” Conroy said that Mrs. Brown learned to hate him just because he would not agree with how she felt about the people on the island.

In all, Conroy shows how much he actually cares for his students and gives them experiences that they would have never seen. He treats them as if they are human beings, and he truly wants the best for them in life.