Shakespeare

"When I was seven years old, I used to go to the town square to recite monologues from the works of Shakespeare for the adults of my community.  At the end of every week the male adults would gather to discuss matters of the community.  They sat on long wooden benches and at the the end of their discussions I would be called upon to recite Shakespeare.  My father would cough loudly to alert the other adults to be silent so that I could start.  He sat in the front, with his arms crossed and a big smile on his face that looked like it would take years to fade away. I stood on a bench and held on to a long stick as my sword.  I would then start with Julius Caesar.  Friends, Romans, countrymen lend me your ears..."  I always recited speeches from Macbeth and Julius Caesar, as those were the adults' favorites.  I was always eager and excited to read for them because it made me feel that I was really good at speaking the English language". (104)

I chose this passage because I was surprised when I read it.  Here is this little kid doing Shakespeare for adults, and very proud of it.  I have been to a couple of Shakespeare plays at the Guthrie and it is complicated stuff, but really well written.   I was also struck by how pleasant the scene seemed.  Men meeting in a town to discuss things and a small child entertaining them.  This was all so removed from the life Ishamel experienced once he was on the run for his life, and his conversion to being a soldier/killer.  It speaks to the level of education that he had before the conflict broke out, and also that he liked to speak English.   He does not say how he learned it, and he says he read some of it.  It was also interesting that this memory comes back as he sits with the guy who was going to lead him into the life of a soldier/killer.  I cannot imagine this pleasant scene of reciting Shakespeare would be taking place today in a country struggling to survive.  It points to how much they have lost.