Week 3 Journal 1

The Secret Life of Bees
This whole incident is reminiscent of Rosaleen’s encounter with the white men at the gas station (seems like the major plot changing situations start at a gas station), where the pride of the black race will not tolerate the injustices caused by white people. In Rosaleen’s case, it was their attempt to deny her right to vote, and in this case, it’s simply an injustice towards the kids’ right to be there in the first place. What I think happened here is that the white guy with the shovel didn’t appreciate being criticized over waiting for the celebrity that was supposed to come into town, so he decided to start some trouble when his intelligence and gullibility came into question. The boys’ adherence to the snitching rule only strengthened the bond that they had with each other, and allowed them to stand together as the black race, not letting one another be put down by the white man. Though throwing a bottle into someone’s face is wrong, the white men reacted quite civilly, and didn’t do anything more than just calling the police. It seems as if the boys sticking together put them off to any more unnecessary violence. The whole entire street even came out to watch from their shops, and there was no show of dominance over the young black kids; absolutely nothing was done to “teach them a lesson”.
When Zach looks over at Lily and gives her that look, I feel that he is sticking to his race. Even though he has seen her as a good person and a non-typical white, she does not appear to be so to the other whites, and cannot stick to her and betray his friends. Had he done that, he would have been ostracized and out casted from his friends.