It was the chaotic political life of contemporary America coming alive again in fiction but more meaningfully, and with a moral center.
Emeritus University Professor Michael Zimmerman
An African utopia? Not really.
What then is the attraction? asked a boy in the back.
Living day and night without fear of violence, an honor system that has to be experienced. I love the friendliness, the energy, the optimism. It reminds me of small town America in the sixties.
I assume most of the people are black, said a boy on the aisle. How are they different from us?
Joshua was helping Ruth put on her coat when she asked him, How are they different?
Joshua hesitated to criticize his wifes admirers, but then said, Americas young people are more cynical than the people there. Youre too smart to be fooled, probably because you never believed in anything in the first place. You say our justice system is racist. Our economy perpetuates privilege. Our institutions are tools of the power elite. Our founders were hypocrites. Would you agree they are different, if every person of color in Bessedelya will tell you that they love their country?
Maybe they dont have a memory of the injustices and humiliations we suffered, said a voice in the back. When I look in the mirror, I see a man with the wrong color. I know I wont be treated the same as you.
They definitely see themselves differently than you do, Joshua said. They love their blackness. Although everyone there is taught Africas terrible history, they dont look back in anger. They are not still shackled to the past.
