“The boat ride to Yamacraw became a celebration of sorts. It was a time when I became aware of tides ebbing and flooding in accordance with the transcendental clockwork; a time of the pale, wafer-thin moon the early morning sky and of the last star to vanish with the coming of the sun over the green waters.” In this part of the book it talks about Conroy’s ride over to Yamacraw. He left the island to live with his family and he seems to be happier in this part of the book. These sentences explain what Conroy saw in the morning on his trip to Yamacraw.
A big part of chapter six were the students getting ready for their trip to Beaufort for Halloween. The parents told them that they could not go at first because they were scared that the river would take them like it had other family members. The children got to interact with other children that lived normal lives at the school. One of the children fell and hurt her knee, so Conroy had to take her to the doctor to get it stitched up. The children of Yamacraw stayed with families who had volunteered to keep them and take the trick-or-treating. The children had a great experience and a lot of fun.
In the book, it told about how to obtain a bus license. The only thing that the person had to do was to have reached puberty and be able to recite the alphabet to be able to drive a bus. The children of the island hated Mrs. Brown. She made them feel as if they were nothing. She would carry two “straps” around and beat the children as discipline if they did not listen. She also embarrassed one of the students for peeing the bed and belittled them. In chapter nine, Conroy’s friends wanted to visit Yamacraw. He would bring them back and forth to the island. He explained to the children of his classroom that the people wanted to come to the island to learn about their culture and how they lived. When the friends of Conroy would actually come over, they would teach the children different things. Conroy’s friend Dick taught the class about Boston and the Revolutionary War.
At first I thought it was incredibly strange how the people of the island were terrified of the water. This is the main reason why the parents would not let their children go with Conroy to Beaufort for Halloween. Then I started to understand because so many had lost their loved ones to the water. The majority of those on the island do not know how to swim and they rely heavily on the water for a source of income and food. It’s a testament to Conroy’s relationship with the community and relentlessness that he was able to convince the caregivers to give their permission!
ReplyDeletePaige,
ReplyDeleteI also thought the halloween trip was a good experience for the children, despite the various mishaps. Mrs. Brown was very inappropriate withe the students. I liked how Conroy addressed his concerns with how she treated the children. She acted as if the children meant nothing to her and like they were not even human beings. I especially liked peter because he reminded me of Conroy, and the children seemed to have a great connection with him. Ic ould not believ that in one year Conroy managed to get 40 speakers to come to the school. That is more than I have ever had come into a classroom in a single year.