Actions speak louder than words

The scene after the dance with Yolland and Marie was my favorite one of the whole play. It was so interesting because Yolland speaks English and Marie cannot speak English. I think it shows how important language is but demonstrates that language goes deeper than mere words. The essence of what is being spoken and the moment they share is more important than the actual words. They are not able to understand what comes out of the other's mouth but they know how they feel- Yolland says, "Don't Stop- I know what you are saying" (67). He obviously cannot understand the literal words but they are able to read each other because of their actions. They are sharing this moment and expressing how they feel all the while the other one can not understand a word-- it is a powerful scene.

Omishto's Power

I enjoyed the end of the book. I think this is where Omishto's real power comes out- she develops as a character since Ama is gone and she does not want to stay with her real mother. You can see her power most blatently when she deals with the sheriff on page 205 saying, "and I look at him without my eyes wavering or lowering." Another place you can see it is on page 209 when Herm comes, "He steps back and I see him grow smaller than I thought he could, heavy in the stomach, his back weak." Omishto grows into her own person and lives her own life, not the life of someone else as she had been, as she says. Omishto has the power to decide what to do with her life now: "I grow like the roots and stems of plants, as if I am coming up out of the ground to the light after the dark season." She is growing into who she wants to be- she goes back to the old ways and lives with the old people. Omishto is a mysterious girl and in that she has power over others. She has power because she knows exactly what happened, but she is the ONLY one, she has power because no one is able to tell her what to do- they can not make her go back to school and in a sense they could not make her go to the hospital, and now she has the power to do what she wants.

power

I found it interesting how at the end of the reading for today Omishto grabbed her things and walked out on her mother. It was not surprising considering the relationship she has with her mother and family but I do not think she really thought this through. Where is she going to stay? What is she going to eat? She does not have anywhere to go; Ama is not at home. She does not have an "outside mother" at this point. Omishto is like many teenagers though who leave when something does not go their way- so it will be interesting to see how long it takes her to return home.

Pretty/ beautiful

Today in class when we were talking about "pretty" I found this passage on page 19 that really grabbed my attention: "Today is a day Ama is beautiful, but a person has to look for it. If she was a flower, she'd be one of those hard-living ones that hang on the earth for dear life and have tiny blooms a person can barely see, but they are there." I think Ama is a beautiful person not on the outside but on the inside. One may not be able to see it just by looking at her but it penetrates from her- it is infectious. She is beautiful for reasons that lie deep within her: her fearlessness and courage. These are words Omishto uses to describe her and they help to shape the beautiful person she sees. She is not a perfect flower that grows tall and strong but she carries herself this way anyways. She acted like she was a flower with full blooms that everyone adored-- the confidence she had in herself allowed her to look past superficial looks and know that she was royalty because she felt like royalty.