Mortality Quotes in Little Bee (The Other Hand)

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

For the first six months of the detention center, I screamed every night and in the day I imagined a thousand ways to kill myself. (3.10)

Death is on Little Bee's mind at almost every moment in the story. After witnessing the death of her family, and the beating, rape, and murder of her sister, she is acutely aware of her own mortality. We learn that her plans to kill herself are motivated not by a desire to die, but by a need to avoid being raped and tortured.

Quote #5

[The girl with no name] had hanged herself from one of the long chains that reached up to the roof. (3.383)

The girl with no name is so traumatized that releasing her from the detention center seems to actually have an adverse effect on her. She suffers flashbacks of the horrors she's experienced and witnessed. The pressure of being on the street with nowhere to go only exacerbates her condition. It's possible that if she'd had a social worker and a support system, she wouldn't have killed herself, but we can't know this for sure.

Quote #6

My sister, my mother, my father and my uncle. Every face I see I am looking for them in it. (3.401)

Little Bee's entire family is dead, but her memories of them remain strong. If you've ever lost someone close to you (to death or otherwise), you may have experienced something like what Little Bee does. These lines give us a sense of the deep loneliness she's carrying around.