Response Paragrah
Martin
Luther King Jr.'s quote "The ultimate tragedy is not the
oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by
the good people," ties greatly to the novel The
Secret Life Of Bees,
by Sue Monk Kidd. In this novel there is a fierce-hearted black woman
named Rosaleen. When Rosaleen is thrown in jail after insulting 3 of
the most vicious racist men in town, the men go to the jail to beat
her up. There is a policeman at the jail but he does nothing to stop
them. The policeman, Mr. Gatson, is not considered a bad man but he
may as well be because he does not go to Rosaleen's aid. He stands
around quietly not daring to speak up to stop the men from beating
her. As a result of lack of courage in Mr. Gatson, Rosaleen is beaten
to a pulp and must go to the hospital where her wounds can be
treated. Mr. Gatson is a prime example of how the silence of good
people is worse than the cruelty of the bad, just like Mr. King Jr.
explains in his quote. The silence of Mr. Gatson allowed an innocent
person to be beaten to the brink of death, if he were to have stood
up to the bad people he would have changed everything. The silence of
the good people such as Mr. Gatson, is the "ultimate tragedy"
in this crime.
Your description and detail throughout the paragraph made it very interesting to read.
ReplyDeleteYour description of the situation and circumstances that the woman was found out gives me a tightening feeling that something could have been done. I would have done something because I cant stand people's judgment over others and their actions about that. If he had done something, maybe he would be more happy after all. I am not reading The Secret Life of Bees, but it gave me a really good perspective of your comparison with the quote and it gave me an idea of comparison with the novel The Help.
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ReplyDeleteGreat job Lee..you made it clear as to why Mr. Gaston isn't a bad man but how he stood by and did nothing he might as well get thrown in jail himself.
ReplyDeleteI like how you linked Mr.Gaton to the quote by saying he was the "ultimate tragedy." You made it very clear how this situation in the novel, ties to Mr. Luther King Jr.s qoute.
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