the return

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The Return Response Haley Johnston – Humanities 30-1

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Page 1: The Return

The Return ResponseHaley Johnston – Humanities 30-1

Page 2: The Return

THE PAST

REGRET

Archetypal Significance of the Bundle

BITTERNESS

Page 3: The Return

Bitterness:“The bundle held the bitterness and hardships of the years spent in detention camps.” Kamau had kept this bundle all throughout his time as a prisoner. It reminded him of home and that turned into bitterness towards life. It wasn’t fair that he was pulled away from his family for years. When he arrived home to find that everything he had was gone, that bundle became a ball of hatred towards those he loved. When the river swept away that bundle, his feelings of bitterness and hate were washed away as well.

The Past:This bundled contained everything that Kamau had known and loved. It was the life he left behind, and the life he thought he would return to. Times change and people change with them, and life will move on without you. Kamau needed to let go of that past in order to move on, and the river did just that for him, sweeping away the bundle that contained his past.

Selfishness: The bundle that Kamau had held onto was everything that he wanted to return to, it was the life that he was going back to. Kamau wanted everything to return to normal and everything to be the way it was, but that just wasn’t the case. His family had left him after his many years at the camps, and he was so hurt and mad that he didn’t realize that maybe it was the best decision for them. “Why should she have waited for me? Why should all the changes have waited for my return?” When the river engulfed his bundle, Kamau realized that it wasn’t all about him, and that his family needed to make decisions for themselves as well.

Page 4: The Return

LIFE

RE-BIRTH

HOPE

Archetypal Significance of the River

Page 5: The Return

LifeLife can be a very vicious thing and it teaches us lessons when we need to learn them, and that is exactly what the Honia River is to Kamau. The river swallowed up Kamau’s precious bundle filled with bitterness and his past, and it quickly taught Kamau that he needed to move on and start life over again. It was a hard, fast lesson, but life is usually like that.

Re-BirthWhen Kamau returned to his home, he realized that life didn’t wait for him. His friends and family had all moved on without him. Kamau was holding onto his past by carrying around his bundle, but when the Honia River carried it away, it also carried Kamau’s past away. He realized that he needed to let go of the past, just as he let go of the bundle, and be re-born.

Hope“Yet as he approached Honia, he felt more akin to it than he had felt to anything else since his release.” This river represents hope because after all of the years that Kamau had spent in concentration camps, the river was always there and always welcoming. When the river consumed his bundle, it gave Kamau hope for a new beginning and a new life.

Page 6: The Return

Kamau’s Quality of Character

In the section were Kamau accidently drops his bundle into the river, we can learn many different quality's of his character. The fact that he does not jump in to retrieve it tells me that he is…

•Brave: Kamau is brave for letting his bundle float away because it is very hard to completely let go of your past, especially one you loved so much, and that is what he did.• •Forgiving: By not going and repossessing his bundle, it shows that Kamau is forgiving the fact that his family left. He has come to the realization that he will more than likely never see them again, and he seems to finally be okay with that. He has forgiven them for leaving him.

•Strong: Kamau has realized that he needs to start his life over and get through these hardships. It has only been mere hours since he has realized that his whole life has fallen apart, and yet he manages to get through it and start life over. This shows that Kamau is extremely strong.

•Peaceful: Rather than Kamau freaking out and doing anything he could to save his bundle, he simply lets it go. He realizes that it is gone for a reason and this shows me that he is very peaceful and will let life take him where he needs to go.