Fireweed Case Study Essay

IntroductionFireweed is a short drool written by Skye Brannon about a special day in Balutas life. Baluta is an uneducated work in U.S.A, and lives with his brother Jato and the brothers wife Sama. Baluta has had a rough plump forground, he was witness to his experience and sisters death, and had to flee to America, from Libya from war and hate.Main ThemeThere argon several themes in the invoice, such as, civilisation difference, racism and poverty, but all these, are sub-themes. The overall main theme of this short story must(prenominal) be to cherish the present, and bow out nothing for granted. The fact that Baluta saw his dad getting killed and his sister rape and killed, is a view into an absurd world of violence and hate, described without many feelings. He saw his father, blacken from a tree, on a rope1, and He saw little Alonsos ten-year old body, limp, unclothed in the sun, being passed from one soldier to another, his pants mingling with the dust.2 This is a matt er of course that he will never take anything for granted, because he has learned that he will never know when its going to stop. A more positive sign on the main them, of this short story, is that he is rattling having a better life now, in America. And he wont take that for granted withal though, there are a lot of other people with much better conditions, like Tiffany.The focus the story is structuredFireweed is written with a third person narrator who is omniscient. All the actions are seen from Balutas point of view. Cold like Kpatawee Falls back home, Baluta thought. Yes, today would be a remembering day page 9, line 9. In this quote its clear that the narrator is omniscient since he knows what Baluta thinks. The story is told in the past tense, except for the quotes which are in present.The short story is simple to read, because of the bare(a) language that is being used. It also makes it easier to read when something in the text that catches your attention, like the dia logs between the two brothers, Baluta and Jato, because they communicate with an African accent. Dese Americans, Jato said, if you tell dem your mandika name, dey look loke youve given dem a riddle.3The story also contains a a couple of(prenominal) flashbacks which might get a bit confusing. It is not possible to figure out the story earlier the end, because a lot of important details are revealed that you wont be able to guess. It keeps the seeds attention, and helps out to keep the story exciting and interesting.A Characterization of Baluta/JoelBaluta/Joel is a person that doesnt seek conflicts or controversies with other people which you can see on page 9, line 17 Baluta felt awful for this, but he had to work to get a automobile, and needed a car to get to work and again at page 10 when Tiffany asks Baluta to smash down some diddlyshit which in the theory isnt his job, but he just says Sure, miss because he is a seemly person. Could you please smash down that pile of dirt ? Another example of Baluta trying to fit into the raw(a) society that he is in, is shown by him changing his name from Baluta to Joel, just so he wont be a victim of racism.The fact that Baluta fled from Liberia to a country where he has all these opportunities, that U.S.A provides, makes him not take anything for granted, and I think that Skye Brannon took Tiffany into the story on purpose because she is the exact opposite of Baluta, a rich, white, lady. This has got to be fixed. She looked at Baluta for confirmation. Baluta nodded, but saw nothing wrong. The cabinet was of beautiful hardwood.4 This quote helps to characterize both Baluta and Tiffany.The SettingThe story is built up around three environments the first one is in America, where Baluta lives with his brother and the sister in law. They live very poorly, with cold water in the shower and a car in lousy condition, which they dont contain enough bullion to fix. When he was several numbers away, he took his ft off t he gas. He hoped he could glide to a stop in front of the correct house, otherwise, the Swiss Chevy would let out a loud squeal when he hit the brake.5 This quote shows that they have to take a lot of alternative methods in use, to make it through the day, like saving money on the car.The next environment is even poorer, we hear about his life in Libya. When they would get back to their hut, a square in the shanty-town quilt shadowed by a mountain, Alonso would always tell naan Awa that Baluta had caught some fish.6 Even though Baluta lives in the lower economic class in the U.S, its clam up far better than what he would have obtained in Libya.The last environment is at Tiffanys house, where Baluta has a job to do. She is a rich woman with a monumental house, big lawn, and apparently also big signs of prejudices against African people. When he got out of the car, he noticed a frightened look on her nervus and that she clutched a phone in her hand.7In this quote it is easy to see that, because she belongs to the upper-class, she feels that poorer people might scarcely be here to steal. This is important because it proves the point of one of the storys theme, racism.