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Sarah’s missing middle finger represents her loss of innocence as she is forced to recognize that people around the world suffer many horrors while she lives her safe, comfortable, insulated life. When Sarah and Andrew meet Little Bee and Nkiruka on the beach in Nigeria, Sarah cuts off her finger in exchange for Little Bee’s life. On the plane ride home, as Sarah feels the stump of her finger throb, she reflects that it feels like the end of her childhood, now that she has witnessed firsthand the kind of horror that goes on in the world. However, on her return to England, Sarah manages to hide herself from both the traumatic memories and their implications for her own life—namely that her career is meaningless and her lifestyle is selfish—by focusing herself on maintaining her identity as a career woman and a working mother. As Sara numbs her pain, her awareness of her missing finger dims; she sees its absence only as a minor inconvenience, reflecting the fact that she has largely pushed the events in Nigeria out of her mind. However, when Little Bee arrives at her house and tells Sarah how Nkiruka was murdered after she and Andrew left, Sarah finds that her middle finger itches and throbs, suggesting that her loss of innocence is weighing on her mind once more, since Little Bee, who suffered many horrors, now lives with her. As Sarah’s relationship with Little Bee develops and she begins to take steps to lead a purposeful life and help other people, Sarah stops mentioning her missing finger at all, though this time because she has dealt with her loss of innocence and decided that in response, she will do what she can to help people like Little Bee.
Sarah’s Missing Finger Quotes in Little Bee
The Little Bee quotes below all refer to the symbol of Sarah’s Missing Finger. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter Two
Quotes
In place of my finger is a stump, a phantom digit that used to be responsible for the E, D, and C keys on my laptop. I can’t rely on E, D, and C anymore. They go missing when I need them most. Pleased becomes please. Ecstasies becomes stasis.
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Chapter Four
Quotes
How calm my eyes were, since that day on the beach in Africa. When there has been a loss so fundamental I suppose that to lose just one more thing—a finger, perhaps, or a husband—is of absolutely no consequence at all.
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Sarah’s Missing Finger Symbol Timeline in Little Bee
The timeline below shows where the symbol Sarah’s Missing Finger appears in Little Bee. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter Two
...Until now, the only reminder that Sarah had of that day was the missing middle finger of her left hand, taken off by a machete. It’s a minor nuisance, though it...
(full context)
...text message and she reaches for it. When one of them stares at her missing finger, Sarah assures them that it’s no big deal, though sometimes she dreams that she has...
(full context)
Chapter Four
...wonders if she lost something “so fundamental” that day in Nigeria that any additional loss—a finger, a husband—seems inconsequential. Sarah rubs her eyes hard so that at least they’ll be reddened...
(full context)
...Little Bee and face what happened in Nigeria. Sarah stares at her stump of a finger, her eyes wet with tears.
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...Andrew were staying and “being unconventional,” Little Bee was fleeing her burning village. Sarah’s missing finger itches as she thinks about it.
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...Andrew made his choice. However, Sarah kneels, takes the machete, and chops off her own finger instead. Sarah thinks they will all die anyway, and the act is easier than she...
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...her childhood has ended. Holding her hand aloft to ease the throbbing pain where her finger should be, Sarah decides that she will never let Andrew touch the wound for the...
(full context)
Chapter Five
...be Sarah helping Little Bee. Little Bee reminds her that Sarah already cut off her finger and saved Little Bee’s life, though Sarah feels like she should have done more.
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...hand underneath Sarah’s and stretches them both out, aligned together so that the Little Bee’s finger fills the space where Sarah’s middle finger is missing. She tells Sarah that if she...
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Chapter Six
...between him and Little Bee, Sarah tells him that if she already cut off a finger to save Little Bee, she’ll certainly cut Lawrence off too. Lawrence rises to leave, gathers...
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Chapter Eight
...claims Sarah has already done more than enough for the world by cutting off her finger to save Little Bee. Sarah replies that it was only one finger out of ten,...
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