book

Sabine's Dynamic Transformation

21 Pages 2657 Words 1557 Views

The novels often created in today’s society recall or reflect on a past world event that relates to the perspective of the people who had faced a tragic adversity. Often these novels become a blockbuster hit due to the readers’ having the ability to easily connect and relate to the character, who usually transforms and grows into an unexpected character. Similarly, the novel Child of Dandelions, sheds light on a forgotten dark period in world history through the experiences of the protagonist Sabine, as she struggles to deal with the world and her family falling apart. The story unfolds from the perspective of Sabine, a teenager caught amid the conflict between the Africans and Indians in Uganda, during the time of Idi Amin’s expulsion order of the Indians. In addition, as Sabine awakens to the violence and oppression in her community and country, it also awakens the self-discovery of herself and growth from innocence to experience, and a young girl into the brave son her father always desired. Furthermore, Sabine’s transformation and character development occurs throughout her journey in the novel and starts off with her clever disguise and plan to save her father from his haunting death. In addition, her act of bravery amongst the soldiers, especially Baobab and also her determination to find her uncle Zuly, who had gone missing, are only a few incidents that display her growth throughout the story. Clearly, Sabine has grown and transformed into a character, similar to a newborn baby, who grows right in front of our eyes and into an unbelievable and most of the times exceptional person. Throughout the story, Sabine develops and grows out of her shell, due to major incidents that occurs over the duration of the story. Firstly, her act of bravery throughout the story was hidden until the cruel soldier; Baobab is introduced into the story, and causes her to reach her breaking point. As Sabine first encounters the soldiers in the beginning of the story, she receives a bad first impression, as her first interaction with a soldier led to the death of an animal and cruel behaviour towards her uncle Zuly. However, during the wait in the Kipande line for her Ugandan citizen card, she revisits one of the unforgettable acquaintances she had previously met during her home invasion, Baobab. Furthermore, as Sabine approaches the end of the line, Baobab recognizes her from the prior home invasion and scans through her personal documents, only to reject and decline her status for the citizen card, after remembering who she is. This resulted in Sabine having an extreme anger being built in herself, after Baobab embarrasses and attempts to make sexual advances toward Sabine: “I’m going to get your house anyhow, but right now the warmth of a pretty girl you will make me happy” (166). Clearly, Baobab desires Sabine and verbally states his intentions against her, which is to disrespect a woman’s rights and have the chance to sleep with her, for his pleasure. In addition, he pushes his face close enough for Sabine to finally reach her breaking point and express the anger built up inside of her from previously. Sabine awakens a new type of Sabine, one who is not scared to express her emotions and one who unlocks the trait of bravery, through the actions of her spitting in Baobab’s face. Furthermore, Sabine’s actions toward Baobab are significant as it displays the theme of prejudice and loss of innocence in the story. For instance, Baobab would have provided Sabine and her brother Munchken with a Ugandan citizen card if he was not basing his decision off a racist perspective against the Indians and his mistreatment of her because of her gender. In addition, Sabine’s heated decision to spit in Baobab’s face, clearly signifies her loss of innocence that was much displayed during the beginning portion of the novel, and shows her development and maturity as a young girl and her capability of making her own decisions. As it’s often said, all children are full of innocence, until making decisions that they know themselves should not be made. Secondly, her gradual overcome of the soldiers is once again displayed during her second interaction with soldier, Butabika at a road checkpoint. As Sabine’s family attempts to escape the genocide occurring in Uganda, they encounter a gruesome soldier at a checkpoint, which causes Sabine to display a different side of herself from the previous interaction she had with Butabika during the beginning part of the story. As the soldier commands Sabine’s family to exit from the lorry, he commands Sabine’s mother to take off her bangles that she had worn on her hand. However, Sabine and her mother refuse to at first, as those h

Read Full Essay