2. Little Bee
According to Kennedy and Gioia when interpreting symbols, it is began by listing the specific object, people, and ideas, with which a particular symbol is
associated 1999: 242. Little Bee is another character in the novel. She can be considered as a symbol because she is mentioned many times in the novel and she
plays a big character to O‟Rourke. Little Bee gives many emotion towards O‟Rourke‟s life in the novel.
Ferber states in his book A Dictionary of Literary Symbols, that bees are social insects with a highly organized hive government, they cull nectar from many kinds
of flowers, and they are both useful and dangerous to people. These obvious characteristics and others less obvious have made them frequent emblems or
analogues in literature 1999: 21. Little Bee in The Other Hand is a strong person who faced horrible situations in her life. In this novel, Little Bee started calling
herself this name because she saw a bee flying towards the ocean and decided to name herself Little Bee. It is seen through her personality that she is like a bee. She
can be useful and dangerous to people meaning that is strong and she can defend herself just like a bee. She adds the term little because she is still young at the age of
16 and she had an older sister which made her feel little. O‟Rourke did not have a clue where Little Bee had gone after all this time
after the incident. O‟Rourke had thought that she was dead after what had happened. In shock, in front of her doorstep was a strange face she knew she had met before.
O‟Rourke could not say anything and just simply stared at her face for a long time,
Little Bee had done the same thing. O‟Rourke had let Little Bee in but she did not ask Little Bee any questions yet. O‟Rourke was already confused enough because Little
Bee had occurred the same time her husband had his funeral. Little Bee stayed behind me with me. We stood by the side of the grave and
we stared at one another pg. 63. After the funeral, O‟Rourke was still not thinking straight because she was
thinking too much about her dead husband and their son that he had left her with. Little Bee did not want to make any pressure on O‟Rourke as she just stayed with
O‟Rourke fearlessly making sure that O‟Rourke was all right. Little did not make any words and left O‟Rourke thinking her perplexed mind and so she just stared at
O‟Rourke and O‟Rourke did the same thing. Little Bee respected her so much that she did not want to make anything worse because of her dead husband and herself
showing up all of a sudden. According to Barton and Hudson, “a literary symbol designates an object or a
process that not only serves as an image itself but also refers to a concept or abstract idea tha
t is important to the theme of a work” 1997: 491-493. O‟Rourke had realized that for two years after the incident, she did not want to look back at it and
remember such terrible memories. But when Little Bee showed up, everything was turned around differ
ently. “No, it wasn‟t going to work anymore, denying her, or denying what had happened in Africa” pg. 141. The quotation shows that Little Bee
helped change O‟Rourke in the way she thought about her missing middle finger.
O‟Rourke could not live a life by denying what had happened in the past especially that her husband is dead and she is left with a child she had to raise by herself. For
two years, O‟Rourke was only depressed about Nigeria and Little Bee but she thought by thinking of it would make it even worse so she slowly forgot about the incident.
The image that Little Bee is representing through this act is that she put change in O‟Rourke‟s way of thinking. O‟Rourke could not deny what had happened because it
would seem to make things even worse. O‟Rourke was starting to realize that with the presence of Little Bee there with her, it had meant something more to make
changes in her life. O‟Rourke did not think she could raise a child all on her own as she said when
Andrew was still alive. A four year old child she had to accompany who was at the age where he would question everything he passes and sees. O‟Rourke was more
devastated after her husband passing away because it was their child he had left her with. After Little Bee showing up at O‟Rourke‟s doorstep, she was confused on how
to explain who she was to Charlie. Charlie was too young to understand what was going on in her life and what was pressuring her. It was a coincidence that Little Bee
had liked little kids and they started playing together under her initiative. There my son was ready with the water pistol to deliver the coup de grace. I
marveled at how quickly they had become a team pg. 140. At this time, O‟Rourke was not so sure that Little Bee would be a good
influence to Charlie but she was surprised on how well and quick they had went along. Even though it was hard for O‟Rourke to see them play together, there was
something that convinced her that Little Bee‟s stay would be helpful to both her and
her son. Little Bee is a helping hand for both Charlie and O‟Rourke. Something that O‟Rourke really needed when facing the incidents she had in her life.
„We are not going to be sad, Charlie. Not you and me. Especially not you, Charlie, because you are the luckiest boy in the world‟. pg. 207
I gave Charlie a little push towards his mother and he ran to her. He buried his face against her dress and they hugged. Sarah was crying and smiling at the
same time pg. 208.
As Ferber also explains in A Dictionary of Literary Symbols, “Theocritus said
Eross is like a bee, so small yet able to make so great a wound. The two-sideness of bees, producers of honey and stings, made them good symbols of love” 1999: 23.
Littbe Bee can symbolize love in this novel as it is seen by her personality as a young small girl who is stong and sweet yet she can defend herself if anyone tries to hurt
her. She helps Charlie when O‟Rourke could not handle Charlie all by herself because he would not listen to her. Little Bee had told him that he was to be happy and not sad
because of how lucky he was to have a mother. While O‟Rourke was confused in facing Charlie, she was also very shocked and impressed that she did something she
could not succeed to do. Little Bee could handle the pressure that Charlie was facing and she had done it well and smooth. At the same time, Little Bee also helped
O‟Rourke because she was confused on how to react to the anger of her son. All O‟Rourke really needed was a helping hand to face all of her child drama that was
happening. Little Bee gave him motivation to be a happy child but in a way that a little 4 year old boy would understand. He suddenly ran to his mother and gave her a
big hug. O‟Rourke was very touched by this moment and tears came out of her eyes. Little Bee not only was helping but she knew where her position was when she was
around O‟Rourke. Little Bee only wanted to make things better for O‟Rourke and pay her for the missing finger.
McMahan states that the meaning or theme of a literary work is often conveyed through symbols 1978; 58, whereas Rohrberger and Woods say symbols
are no things invented by an author to confuse the reader, not strange objects with far- fetched meanings arbitrarily attached to them, but they are, in literature as in life, a
vital part of our experience 1971: 15 „If you want me to stay then this is how it will be between us. Maybe I will
only be able to stay for a month, maybe only one week. Someday the men will come. But I while I am here I will be like you daughter. I will love you as if
you were my mother and I will love Charlie as if he was my brother.‟ pg. 212
The quotation above explains the meaning of Little Bee as a symbol in the novel. As Littl
e Bee showed up in O‟Rourke‟s life, she gives aspiration to O‟Rourke and her family. Little Bee wanted to make everything normal again by making her
stay comforting for O‟Rourke and Charlie. O‟Rourke needed the help to move on from the incident in Nigeria, and her dead husband, and Charlie needed help growing
up. Little Bee was ready to be there for them as loyal as she could as long as she does not get caught by the authorities. O‟Rourke was inspired by Little Bee as she brought
warmth into their house. O‟Rourke would never have thought to continue the research her husband was doing on Nigerian oil conflicts if she had not inspired her to do so.
O‟Rourke sacrificed her job as a magazine editor to study and collect as many
information as she could to do her research. They both realized that they needed each other‟s help going through their tough days. Little was a very tough young girl who
had encouraged O‟Rourke and Charlie to move on and see the future. She had very much hope in her for O‟Rourke because she knew O‟Rourke was capable of doing
things after the courage O‟Rourke had done to her finger to save Little Bee‟s life. Little Bee brought out the positive reflection of O‟Rourke that was kept away for so
long.
C. The Significance of the Symbols to the Characterization of Sarah
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