„Yes. Which brings us back to my original point.‟ „Which was what?‟
„That I‟m difficult sometimes.‟ Lawrence laughed, but I think he was forcing himself.
From the dialogue between O‟Rourke and Lawrence above, it can be seen that O‟Rourke had defended Little Bee even when Lawrence knew that Little Bee would
only bring tr ouble. O‟Rourke did not care whether she had already lost a finger for
Little Bee, she was brave and strong enough to think positive about what good Little Bee can bring to her. O‟Rourke knew that the pain in her life was nothing compared
to what Little Bee had faced in her life. O‟Rourke did not care what Lawrence had thought and how much hate was in
him when he saw Little Bee. All she wanted to do was to make people in her life happy because she the effort that she made in the past was not enough. She did not
want to be hung up about one particular incident that happened in her life and she had to move on.
2. Helpful
O‟Rourke is helpful when the incident in Nigeria happened. As Andrew had a machete in one hand and his finger ready to be cut on the sand,
O‟Rourke had helped Andrew to embolden himself to cut his finger fro the sake of everybody.
„Oh, Andrew. I think you have to do it.‟ „I can‟t.‟
„It‟s just a finger.‟ „We didn‟t do anything wrong. We were just walking down the beach.‟
„Just a finger, Andrew, and then we‟ll walk back again.‟ …He said, „How do we know he won‟t kill the girls anyway, Sarah, after I‟ve
done it?‟ „You‟ll know you did what you could.‟
„I could get Aids from this blade. I could die.‟ „I‟ll be with you. I‟m so proud of you.‟
O ‟Rourke reacted encouragingly to Andrew to do what was told by the men
because he was a man and O‟Rourke expected him to do so. Even O‟Rourke knew that he would be in pain, O‟Rourke tried to strengthen him that if he failed to do so,
he would regret it because the girls would all be dead. Murphy states that “The author can give us insight into the character of one of
the persons in the book through what the person says. The character can be seen whenever heshe speaks, having conversation with others, and stated in hisher
opinions” 1971: 164. O‟Rourke had always wanted to fix things up and make them better after she had regretted something or when something bad had happened to her.
She had the keen to help Little Bee escape her sufferings even if Little Bee thought that O‟Rourke had helped her enough.
„I‟m not sure it‟s easier out here, Bee.‟ „But I will help you.‟
Sarah smile. „You‟re sixteen years old. You‟re a refugee. You‟re an orphan, for God‟s sake.
I‟m the one who ought to be helping you.‟ „Look, Sarah. You have helped me enough already. You cut off your own finger
for me. You saved my life.‟ „I should have done more. I should have saved your sister too.‟
„How?‟ „I should have thought of something.‟
I shook my head. „You did everything you could, Sarah.‟
„But we should never have been in that situation, Bee. Don‟t you see? We went on holiday to a place we had no right to be.‟
„And what if you had not been there, Sarah? If you and Andrew had not been here, then Nrikula and me, we would both be dead.
I turned to Charlie.
„Your mummy saved my life, did you know that? She saved me from the baddies.‟ pg. 210
Little Bee had thought that the help she had received from O‟Rourke was more than enough but O‟Rourke thought it was nothing for Little Bee just because she had
cut her finger off for her. O‟Rourke thought that Little Bee came to her doorstep for a reason and that was to help her. O‟Rourke was very confident that she would help
Little Bee in anyway possible so her life could be in peace. O‟Rourke continued to help Little Bee to find her legal papers so she could stay in England with her by the
help of Lawrence‟s profession. But that had failed and Little Bee was caught by the authorities before the papers were ready. O‟Rourke did not want to give up because
she still wanted to help Little Bee no matter what. O‟Rourke went on the same plane that Little Bee was on to go back to her country. She wanted to start a fresh start in
Nigeria and continue the paper that Andrew was making before he died. It was about the oil conflict that was hidden from everyone around the world and she wanted to
expose it. They started to collect stories from local people. O‟Rourke had only believed that if Little Bee was around near her, then she will always be safe.“I was
very frightened but Sarah gripped my hand. I will not leave you, she said. So long as Charlie and I are here, you are safe.
” p.353 From the dialogue above, O‟Rourke was unconcerned that Little Bee would be in any kind of trouble unless both Charlie
and hers elf were there with her. O‟Rourke had followed Little Bee wherever she went
and that was even if she was deported back to Nigeria. In anyway possible, O‟Rourke had to stay with Little Bee because she believed that would make her happy.
O‟Rourke was not quite sure with her life when she had to face a dead husband, a relationship with her lover that she was feeling guilty with, a job that was
not making sense anymore and a child to take care of all at once. She felt very naïve to have face it all by herself because it was the first time in her life something really
hard happened. O‟Rourke was unstable and she was confused in sorting out what she really needed and what had to be omitted in her life, like her job in the magazine
business. However, as O‟Rourke faced a life she would not think she could go through on her own, Little Bee came all of a sudden to support her and inspired her to
move on. A person who she thought would cause trouble because of her past in Nigeria in her mind turned out to be someone that accompanied her to face her new
life as a widowed mother. Little Bee had helped her open O‟Rourke‟s heart to be a better person that thought of other people other than herself. O‟Rourke would not be
satisfied unless she took care of Little Bee herself and make research about her people in Nigeria.
Our problem is that you only have your own story. One story makes you weak. But as soon as we have one hundred stories, you will be strong. If we
can show that what happened to your village happened to a hundred
villages, then the power is on our side. We need to collect the stories of
people who‟ve been through the same things as you. We need to make it
undeniable. Then we can send the stories to a lawyer and we‟ll let the
authorities know, if anything happens to you, those stories will go straight to the media. Do you see? I think that was what Andrew hoped to do with his
book. it was his was of saving girls like you pg. 355.
O‟Rourke was trying to give an understanding to Little Bee to help her find more information about the oil conflicts back in Nigeria. Little Bee was not quite sure
of the idea because she knew that it would be dangerous to do so. But O‟Rourke had to do it for the sake of her husband and to help him finish the research that he was
do ing before he died. O‟Rourke knew that this was the right thing to do. The whole
world had the rights to know what was being secreted by the Nigerian government. With the conflicts that had happened, this was the least that she could do for her
husband and help Little Bee so people like her would not be harmed again. O‟Rourke
had intentions to make things better for people because that had made her happy. O‟Rourke would do anything to collect stories from local people in Nigeria and let
then tell her what had really happened to their villages and families so she could make stories for the world to know. O‟Rourke changed herself from being a fairly
naive and sheltered woman to being someone helping and loving for the sake of others after all the conflicts that had happened in her life.
Until the end, O‟Rourke still wanted Little Bee to have a better life and had dreams of what might or can happen.
„Sarah,‟ I said. „How long do you think you will stay?‟ „I don‟t know. Do you want to try coming with me to England? We could try to
get you papers this time.‟ I shrugged.
„They do not want people like me.‟ Sarah smiled.
„I‟m English and I want people like you. Surely I‟m no the only one.‟ „People will say you are naive.‟
Sarah smiled. „Let them,‟ she said. „Let them says whatever gives them comfort.
O‟Rourke did not give up and she still offered Little Bee to try and go to England with all the consequences. O‟Rourke wanted to help Little Bee until she was
settled and help Andrew to get his papers done so that everyone can know about the oil conflicts that had happened.
B. The Symbols Related in The Other Hand.
