Little bee reaction paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Little bee reaction paper - Essay Example e, two Nigerian sisters were trying to escape the clutches of Nigerian men and their dogs who were hunting them for witnessing the massacre of village people. The sisters came upon the O’Rourkes and pleaded for help until the hunters caught up with them brusquely pulling the sisters apart from the O’Rourkes. Sarah refused to let the men take the girls. Andrew offered the men money to let the girls go. However, the leader of the men refused the money and negotiated to release the girls if Andrew will cut off the middle finger. He said, "White man been giving me this finger all my life. Today you can give it me to keep. Now cut off your middle finger mister and give it me"1 Upon rejecting their offer, Sarah realized that the men were serious so she took the initiative to cut off her own middle finger. The men agreed to release Little Bee in return for Sarah’s sacrifice but announced that her sister will die because of Andrew’s refusal to do as they wished. From the events that transpired, there were clearly cross-cultural communication issues that surfaced. In the short but heavily stressful interaction between the English O’Rourkes and the Nigerian men, the stumbling blocks to communication that Barna2 referred to impeded the understanding between the parties. Andrew held a stereotype of the men as desirous of money, that is why he offered them some in exchange of the girls’ release. He assumed that they were similar to him, coming from a culture where money talks and gets things done. He may have held on to a stereotype of the men being materialistic. He did not realize that the men were serious with their negotiation of him cutting off his third finger in exchange for the release of the girls. For them, humiliating a White man by cutting off his middle finger which they always found insulting when they are given the ‘dirty finger’ gesture was more rewarding than any amount of money he may offer. Andrew ma y have assumed that they would not