In chapter 18 the story switches to the van Rooyen household. The chapter starts with Benjamin working on cutting notches in a pole, while pitying himself as he realizes that his mother is not coming for him. Benjamin then tries praying however he isn’t sure what to say, he then prays for his old family, even for kicker and Pollie yet not for the van Rooyen family. Barta then asks Benjamin whether he is happy to be in with his new family; however Benjamin doesn’t answer the question.
After this happens Elias comes in and instructs Nina and Benjamin to follow him and to remember the way, as they will sometimes go to the place alone. Benjamin is then told to climb a tree, and then Nina follows him up the tree into a space were there is just enough space for both of them. Both of the children are then told that if they ever hear anything they should just leave everything and climb straight up the tree. Nina then spots another tree which is easier to climb, she tells her father this however he states that that tree is for him. Over the next few days Nina and Benjamin come to the same place and start digging a pit yet they are not told for what the pit is. Both Nina and Benjamin agree that digging the pit is better than making beams. This is then were my section ends.
The main theme in this chapter was family. Even after all the time Benjamin has been spending with his new family he still loves his old family a lot more. This is proven when Barta asks him if he is happy yet he doesn’t answer. Benjamin also doesn’t like the van Rooyen family which is evident after he dosent even mention them in his prayer. I think that after the talk which Barta and Benjamin had that Barta realized that her child is unhappy where he is. I think that this shocked Barta as she didn’t say anything after Lukas didn’t answer him. I think that this was the first time that Barta realized that Benjamin is actually unhappy. This is a major development in her character as I think that it will change the way she acts around Benjamin.
The fact that Benjamin prayed was not something suprising, however who he prayed for was suprising. I was not surprised that he prayed for the entire Komoetie family. I even expected Benjamin to pray for both of the ostriches, as he knows that they will provide a lot of income for his old family. However I was quite shocked that Benjamin didn’t pray for any of the van Rooyen family. This shows how little he cares for any of them.
When Elias said that the easy to climb tree was for him I was stunned. Most people would choose the life of their children before theirs, however Elias decided that the tree which he can climb the fastest Is his. This shocked me as I always thought that Elias dearly loved his children and was just strict to them. The rising action in this theme was when Elias told Nina and Benjamin to dig. I believe that this will soon be important as they can be trampled by the elephants. I think that something bad will happen involving elephants with the pit.
I didn’t really like the first half of this scene a lot. The reason for this was that nothing that was very interesting happened. However I believe that soon something very interesting will happen in the book. Quote ‘What are you listening for, Pa’ Nina asked. ‘Nothing.’ The man seemed afraid of something. This quote shows symbolizes that soon something bad will happen. This is because Elias is scared, even though he usually isn’t scared when he is in the forest.
