Goodies vs. Baddies-- the war wages on

As I progress in Little Bee, I can't help but notice a constant struggle to define "goodies" and "baddies," as Charlie so eloquently puts it. Each character has both good and bad traits, and it's hard to really decide which will win out, or if one has to win at all.

For instance, from the beginning of the book, I saw Bee much like Lawrence did-- as someone who was entirely foreign. Not in the you-aren't-my-problem-get-out way, but in the way that she didn't have the same amount of depth as the British characters. Even as I saw her in the detention center or at Andrew's funeral, I assumed she wasn't capable of the "baddie" qualities the rest were so easily practicing. But as we find out in the pages leading up to p. 200, she very much is, even if her choice wasn't made completely in malice. She started out plotting revenge on Andrew and, whether on purpose or not, she eventually got it. A life for a life. And she was so sneaky as to not mention it to Sarah, even when she had given her finger for her and then taken her in on the day of her husband's funeral. Though somewhat understandable, that's still a pretty "baddie" thing to do. Yet I know regardless of what happens in the rest of the book, I will see Bee as a "goodie" because of how strong she has stayed throughout her struggles and the impact she has on the O'Rourke family after Andrew dies.

Sarah also has a lot of qualities of both goodies and baddies. She has been having an affair for two years that, in a lot of ways, led up to her husband’s depression and suicide. That’s certainly not a cause for praise. But she has the wonderful qualities of wanting to be a good mother and wanting to “save the world” as she later explains.

Even Charlie has “goodie” and “baddie” qualities, even though he demands that every person be either one or the other. He is sneaky and tricks Little Bee into watching TV with him when he knows he isn’t allowed, which definitely doesn’t have as many consequences as, say, letting someone die, but is underhanded regardless.

The line between goodies and baddies, as it turns out, may be incredibly thin, and probably doesn’t exist at all in this novel or the world we live in.