When Oscar whimpered, Girls, Moms de León nearly exploded. Tú ta llorando por una muchacha? She hauled Oscar to his feet by his ear.

Mami, stop it, his sister cried, stop it!

She threw him to the floor. Dale un galletazo, she panted, then see if the little puta respects you. (Page 14)

In this quote we see Oscar crying to his mom about his girl issues. He was deciding which girlfriend he should keep, Olga or Maritza. Keep in mind he was only seven. Beli is not like your typical mom. “Tu ta llorando por una muchacha?” Beli is asking him why he’s crying over a girl. Instead of comforting him she kind of makes fun of him and puts him down. “Dale un galletzo, she panted, then see if the little puta respects you.” She tells him to hit her and then see if that little b*tch respects you. You would not expect a mother to tell her son to hit a girl, nor would you expect your mother to call someone a little b*tch. We also she that she is a little violent towards Oscar. She hauled him to his feet and she also threw him to there floor. All Oscar wanted was for his mother to comfort him and help him out with his situation but instead she got angry and violent towards him. She wants Oscar to become a man and act the same way normal boys do. She also doesn’t want Oscar to be spending time writing fantasy fiction. Eventually, however, we find out a lot about Beli. We find out that she has been fighting breast cancer and is also working between two jobs.

“‘Don’t argue with white folks,’ [Luke] had said. ‘Don’t tell them ‘no.’ Don’t let them see you mad. Just say ‘yes, sir.’ Then go ’head and do what you want to do. Might have to take a whippin’ for it later on, but if you want it bad enough, the whippin’ won’t matter much.” (96)

This quote is said by Luke to his son, Nigel, advising him on how to interact with white people. He teaches Nigel how to disobey whites’ orders without outwardly  contradicting them. Weylin, Luke’s slave owner, think that Luke does a very good job and makes him overseer. Dana, the narrator of the novel, finds Luke to be very inspiring. Luke shows her how to hide his internal hate and rebelliousness while externally showing servility. However, Luke’s kind behavior and respect he shows to his owner was not enough. Luke was sold by Weylin for supposedly thinking of himself as a white man. One of the important things that I took out of this quote is that the salves behavior is not important. Whether you are good or bad to your owner doesn’t change a thing, you can still be sold. The slaves are not in charge of their lives and have no say in it. Even if you are very careful on how you treat your owner, it doesn’t make a difference. The slave owners make their decisions based on the mood they are in, so pretty much the slaves have to always hope that their owner is always in a good mood. Luke may have been a very inspiring person, but that ended up leading to him being sold by his owner.

“Being once perfected how to grant suits, 
How to deny them, who t’ advance and who 
To trash for overtopping, new created 
The creatures that were mine, I say—or changed ’em,
 Or else new formed ’em—having both the key
 Of officer and office, set all hearts i’ th’ state
To what tune pleased his ear, that now he was
 The ivy which had hid my princely trunk,
 And sucked my verdure out on ’t.” (Act 1, Scene 2, lines 98-106)

Loyalty and betrayal are both minor themes linked to the more prominent themes of servitude versus freedom, in the Tempest. Each is based on what the individual perceives as his relationship or position in relation to those around him. In this quote we see that Prospero values the brotherly bond to a much greater extent than does Antonio. Prospero become involved in the studies of liberal arts and gave over his dukedom to Antonio. Antonio betrayed his brother and stole the dukedom of Milan from him while he (Prospero) was studying. Being the loyal man that he is, Prospero did not expect his brother evil grab for power. Prospero thought that his brother would feel the same way as he does, and be loyal to him, however, Antonio betrayed his brother, and used all the tricks of political treachery that he learnt while serving in place of Prospero. This, of course, became a major source of conflict in the play. We are reminded that even if you are a family member, you are not necessarily loyal.

“It is true that after they have been reassured and have lost this fear, they are so artless and so free with all they possess, that no one would believe it without having seen it. Of anything they have, if you ask them for it, they never say no; rather they invite the person to share it, and show as much love as if they were giving their hearts, and whether the thing be of value or of small price, at once they are content with whatever little thing of whatever kind may be given to them.” (28)

I found what Columbus wrote to his benefactors, Ferdinand and Isabella, to be of particular interest. In this quote, Columbus explains to you his views on the Native  Americans. We see that he was shocked with what he saw. The Native Americans were kind and loving people, something he did not expect. He discusses how they are always willing to give and never say no to someone if they are in need of something. They are always willing to do whatever it takes to make other people happy. Most importantly, Columbus sees that he can take advantage of the Native Americans because of their kind manner. If he is respectful to them, they will respect him. By being respectful to them and by giving them stuff of value, he will gain their utmost respect and attention, making it easier for him to convince them to give him the goods he needs to bring back to his country.