The Glory Field is a collection of 6 short stories that follows a family through its histories. One of the most prominent themes throughout the book is that one should always keep one's eyes on the goal and to work hard to reach it, even if it means facing ridicule, disappointment, and struggles along the way.
From the very beginning of the book this theme has been demonstrated and then more clearly developed along the way.
In the first short story, this theme was very hidden. The story was about a young African boy, named Muhammad, who was captured and put on a slave ship. He vowed to himself that he would not give his capturers the satisfaction of seeing him cry. So, although he was scared and missed his village, he stood proudly and walked his way into the ship. There, occasionally at night, he would cry when he remembered his parents, but never in front of his capturers. This shows that although it was difficult for him to stay strong, Muhammad mustered strong determination and fought his way to reach his goal.
By the time the sixth story comes around, the same theme is much more obvious and easy to uncover. The story involves a teenager named Malcolm. He is trying to get himself and his cousin, Shep, to a family reunion in another state. However, from the beginning there were problems. First his cousin is very stubborn on not going to the reunion. Then Shep 'lost' his plane fare money. Malcolm, thus, has to split his plane fare with Shep and can only afford to ride a very poor bus. Shep feels sick on the bus and throws up. People sitting around them points and talk behind their backs right about these two boys right in front of their faces. Next, when they stop at a diner for some food, the bus leaves them behind . Finally they have to catch a ride in the trunk of a beat- up truck that stinks. It's so stuffy and horrible that the 2 boys almost suffocate to death. But in the end they arrive at their reunion on time, and get to spend time with their family. In the book it says, "These shackles didn't just rob us of being black, son, they robbed us of being human." This quote summarizes the theme, I believe. This is because all the actions and events that occured to the character is because of the injustice, bias, and racial prejudice that they had to learn to overcome.
Both of these stories are examples of people who have a very clear sense of what they want to achieve and work very hard to get there. They battle through obstacles and come out stronger when all's said and done.
The article below is a review of the book The Glory Field. It describes the structure of the book and a little about the general plot line of the book. Click for more information about The Glory Field.
