Passage Analysis

“Don’t you dare even say that girl; curiosity gets a body in a whole lot of trouble. Be patient,” Grandma commanded once more as she smiled at me. “Be patient, and one day, God willing you’ll see inside that school, I promise” (21). This quote is said by Grandma India, she is trying to tell Melba that if she is patient she will one day get to enter inside Central High an All-white high school. Grandma India knows that if you just take your time and not try to rush everything eventually you will get what you want.

 

This quote is important because it demonstrates foreshadowing and flashback. It shows foreshadowing because later on in the novel Melba gets the opportunity to integrate into Central High School and see what it is like to go inside that school. This quote also demonstrates flashback because one day Melba was walking home and it was the first day that the community got word that white schools would integrate with black schools and her teacher had told her to walk home in a group of friends but melba didn’t do that and walked alone on a vacant block and then a segregationists walked up and tried to harass her and then she started to run away and he jumped on her and tried to rape her but she got away. Melba wasn’t being patient and didn’t wait for a group of friends and walked by herself and she wanted to be curious by walking in the vacant lot by herself. I think that this quote is important because it relates to all parts of her life.   

Emotional Reaction

While reading “Warriors Don’t Cry” by Melba Beals there was a part that really struck me, it was when Melba and her mother were on their way to Central High an all-white high school for the first day of school.  Before that day Melba and her family had read that Governor Fabus had National Guard coming to protect the integration students but actually they were there to keep the students from entering the school. While Melba and her mother were trying to enter the school a bunch of segregationist came running towards Melba with a rope screaming “Niggers, go home! Niggers go back to where you belong!” That part of the book really broke my heart because Melba was trying so hard to make a change in her community and her surroundings and it all backfired on her, but I am really surprised that she didn’t freak out and tried to keep her cool because I know that if that was me I would have had a panic attack. I felt that when Melba was writing this chapter she became really emotional and it might have brought back a lot of old feelings for example when she wrote “I could hear grandma India’s voice saying, God is always with you, even when things seem awful.” That quote seemed to have a lot of emotion because it is stated multiple times in the book. I think that this part of the book was the beginning of a very long struggle for not only Melba but for the entire community.

Before I Read

I am very excited to start reading “Warriors Don’t Cry” By: Melba Beals. I really hope this book is a heartwarming tale about her struggle to accepted into an all-white high school. I selected this book because I am really interested in black history and I have always heard about them but I never knew in depth what they did. I also chose this book because I really liked the book and movie about Brown vs. Board of education and I feel like this is a continuation of that. I have heard that Melba Beals did an excellent job writing this book because it came from such a personal place, I can’t wait to read this book for myself. I really expect to enjoy this novel and be able to connect with it. “Warriors don’t cry” seems like a very compelling novel that people should read because people need to know what the little rock nine went through so that it does not happen again. While browsing through the book I saw that the format was verysimple and easy to understand I am so glad that I pick this book because I know by the end of it I will have learned something new, and that I will have a new perspective on life and not take things for granted anymore, because I know that if it wasn’t for Melba and her eight other friends African American children and caucasian children wouldn't be able to go to school together.