"As she put me down at the entrance of the schoolhouse, I shrank from its doors, with that immediate and strange dead of the unknown so common to childhood."
We've all been there. That moment of uncertainty, no confidence and completely unsure of what the future holds. Perhaps it's the first day of school, as you stare wide-eyed and petrified by the big yellow vehicle taking you away from your mother, as if you are never seeing her again. Those horrifying bus doors open with a screeching noise, and the fear of uncertainty overcomes you. In this sentence, I felt a further dictation than just her experience of the first day of school. This was the beginning of her future. She was uncertain of what was going to come, as Kaikai "put [her] down at the entrance," she will no longer be comforted by a more knowledgeable presence. This figure, "tall, stout" and large, emphasizes that protection Liliuokalani has had from the beginning of her life. However, she immediately "shrank fro its doors," as her future became too overwhelming to her with no certainty of what lies behind those doors. That "strange dread of the unknown so common to childhood," indicates her fear of what her next moves will be. No one is ever certain of the direction their life will go. One day, life may be the most amazing, unbelievable, and overwhelming experience; yet tomorrow may hold emotions and incidents so wretched to contemplate, but no one ever knows. I feel we are always experiencing that uncertain moment, when we shrink from the doors and are filled with countless tests to learn and live by. Constantly we are living in our childhood world, where we feel smaller than we truly are in order to overcome life's struggles. Similarly, Hawaii, though scattered and small compared to the cohesive United States, was faced with the struggle of overcoming the Treaty and learning to represent themselves, no matter how small they were.
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