Little Bee

Globalization, world economies, and development all play a role in the plot of Little Bee. What does the novel have to say about the globalizing world? What are its benefits, and what are its downsides?

Think about the male and female figures in Little Bee. How does gender shape around conflicts in the text? Does gender build solidarity or create opportunity for any characters? Think through gender-specific possessions and rituals that connect characters who share a gender across the text.

Sex appears in both tender and violent guises across Little Bee. How do characters make sense of sexual desire, sexual need, and sexual violence? What role does it play in the world order that the book wants to portray?

Little Bee and Sarah both, as narrators, wander off into their own minds. Why does Cleave include memories from either woman’s past? Select specific examples that might shed light on, or offer insights into, the events of the present moment of the text.

The telephone, and the act of calling, play many roles in Little Bee. For whom does the telephone matter, and why? Is its connection and connectivity beneficial, in the end?

Most of Little Bee is an act of storytelling: between Sarah and Little Bee, between Little Bee and Charlie, and between people in general and those to whom they make their testimonies. How does storytelling communicate? What is its value in the globalizing world?

What is a refugee, by the definition Little Bee could offer? Turn to moments in the text during which different characters describe refugee status and the feelings and fears that accompany it.

Why do Little Bee and Charlie go by different names at different points in the text? Do names give power or take power away from their bearers?