Hope Quotes in Little Bee (The Other Hand)

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

I said, Your daughter is very helpful. Look how she chases those hens. (3.368)

When the girl with no name hallucinates her dead daughter, Little Bee and Yevette feel it natural to indulge her. They are trying to help her hold on to some bit of home. The girl with no name kills herself not long after the incident, so hope didn't win out for her after all. But, we might argue that at least she experienced compassion and kindness from Little Bee and Yevette before she died. Or, maybe you feel their actions weren't really all that kind and helpful?

Quote #5

At first I thought, Of course I must save him, whatever it costs me, because he is a human being. And then I thought, Of course I must save myself, because I am a human being too. (7.172)

Although Little Bee probably couldn't have acted swiftly enough to save Andrew from his own suicide, she is faced with a grim reality in which one's own safety seems to be at the cost of the lives of others. This is an example of Little Bee walking a fine line between hope and desperation.

Quote #6

"And Bee, you take my phone and you go up on the embankment and you call the police. Then you wait for them, so you can show them where we are when they arrive." (10.52)

We are never explicitly told whether Lawrence's instructions are calculated to get Little Bee arrested, or if he simply forgets that in her reality, the police are the last people she needs to be calling. Our hopes for Little Bee's safety really plummet at this point in the novel.