Pitiable Girl

“It’s time for you to have a husband.” (page 1) This changes Koly’s whole life. Homeless Bird is written by Gloria Whelan. It won the National Book Award. This is a story about an Indian girl called Koly. She leaves her house and looks for happiness by spending a cruel life. This is a sad story, but the sadness creates a beautiful and a great plot. I like this story.

Koly gets marry with sickly husband. She finds out that the reason she married with him is to get money to make him well. But soon he dies and Koly becomes window. She must live in a terrible life. How does her struggle help her to live in her life? If you want to know then buy the book!

First, she teaches me how she tries to be independent. Her character is  patient and steady. She gets marry with an unknown boy. Koly follows what Sass orders her to do every day. In the morning, she brings a cow to the field and brings it back in afternoon. She makes the fire to make dinner. Sass orders Koly to take water and sweep the courtyard. She washes clothes. When Koly has small mistake, Sass shouts through the house and across the courtyard. Koly also works hard on writing and reading. Each evening, she goes to see her Sassur to take a lesson. Because of her effort, she learns to read a book little by little. I like this story because Koly makes me think about my own life.

Second, the story is educational. Koly lies and goes to Mala’s party despite warnings from Maa Kamala. Koly gets in trouble and has hard feeling. Because Sass shouts people with her sharp tongue, she is hated by everyone. Mala steals skein of gold and gets fired. Koly does a good job on her work, so Mr. Das keeps giving her the job even though she is moving. These mean that all bad things you have done will come back to you. The good, you do for other people will come back. This teaches me what is right thing and wrong thing to do.

Third, This story is cultural. It talks about Indians’ traditional wedding style. For example, a bride needs to prepare a sari for her wedding. Her family has to give a gift of money to bridegroom’s family. The ceremony is taken place at bride’s house. Bride has to put golden turmeric powder and tikka mark on her face. There are Indian words such as Sass and Sassur in the book. So it’s easy to image the set of the story.  I like it because I can understand other traditional culture and can step closer to an universal person.

Fourth, I like this story because it’s addictive. Problems in the story occur one by one. Parents force Koly to get marry when she is thirteen years old. Koly lives with weak husband. After he dies, she has to spend a time with cruel Sass. Koly get along with sister in law but she leaves her house. She studies reading book with Sassur but a problem occur again. I want to know what’s going to happen next.

I like this book because it’s addictive, cultural, educational, and it teaches me to be independent. If you read the book, you will be moved to tears by the story. I rate five stars for the book. Go buy the Homeless Bird now.