Difference between revisions of "68-75 Summary"

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== Summary ==
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Return to[[ History 8 Human Origins Bone From a Dry Sea]]
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==== Overview ====
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'''Summary:'''
  
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In pages 68-75 in ''A Bone from a Dry Sea'', there are two main themes. The first is the importance of ritual challenge, and the second is the consequences of not following ritual and customs. In the chapter, Greb, a surly, young male, challenged Presh to a fight for dominancy. First, they perform the challenge ritual (which is meant to be tiring so that no one is seriously injured in the fight), and then they fight. Greb's head becomes cut (an injury that would allow a challenger to give in without loss of prestige), but continues to fight. The tribe realizes that it could be a fight to the death. The two males continue to fight, and Presh appears to be winning. Presh forces Greb to the edge of the rock, meaning to throw him into the sea, but his foot becomes trapped in a fissure and breaks his leg. Greb is victorious and begins his victory dance. However, the tribe is only half-heartedly parsing him, and so he grows angry. Li and her mother turn their backs on him, and he hits Ma-ma and puts Li on his shoulders. The tribe attacks Greb and he swims away, defeated, never to return again.
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In this chapter, Greb and Presh are compared for their different ways of living: [1] Greb does not follow the rules, is very angry, and does not have many people that like him; [2] Presh on the other hand is well-liked, friendly, and easygoing. A usual challenge for leadership in this tribe would be led up to over a few days and also the challenge ritual would be a very tiring process carried out in a series of displays, so that when it came to a full-blooded fight the two combatants would be too tired to seriously injure each other. Greb does not like to follow the rules, so he challenges Presh out of nowhere, then he immediately goes into a fight, ignoring the challenge ritual, which leads to Presh's leg being broken. Greb took on his role as leader after this, but because he did not follow the rules the tribe attacked him in his triumph ritual and they exiled him into the sea.
  
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==== The Importance of Ritual Challenge ====
 
  
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The chapter shows us the importance of ritual challenge in a few ways. Without ritual challenge, a male would remain dominant until he died. That would be bad because for two reasons. First of all, the male could be unfit for the fast of finding food and shelter for the tribe, and second, the male could be disliked by the tribe. If he was disliked by the tribe, he might not make the correct decisions because he would not care as much about the tribe. Ritual challenge weeds out the unfit males and attempts to place the most worthy male in charge. An example of the weeding of the unfit males would be the challenge ritual, which is purposely hard and tiring. It is not only tiring so that none of fighters are seriously injured, but also so that weak males tire quickly and give in. 
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'''Importance of Ritual Challenge:'''
  
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==== Examples from ''A Bone from a Dry Sea'' ====
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The importance of Ritual Challenge in this chapter is that so when the males end up fighting they are too tired to seriously injure one another. "The challenge ritual was exhausting. (It was meant to be, so that if it came to a full-blooded fight, both combatants would already be very tired and the weaker would quickly give in. That way neither if them would get seriously hurt.) (71)
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"A hoot of challenge broke her musings...had the whole tribe behind him." (71)
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"The challenge ritual was exhausting...Presh was her brother and they always been close." (71)
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==== The Consequences of Not Following Ritual and Customs ====
 
  
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The chapter also shows us the consequences of not following ritual and customs. The tribe went against their customs by exiling Greb after he beat Presh in the fight. Because they did this, they now had a leader who was unfit to find food and shelter for them. This is a consequence because the tribe needed food to survive, and the dominant male's main job was to provide that. The tribe would also be forced to move slower because Presh was unable to walk. They now had a helpless dominant male, who they had to care for. At the end of the chapter, and in the following chapters, the reader can see how the tribe suffers the consequences of keeping Presh as their dominant male.
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'''Consequences of not following ritual and customs:'''
  
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==== Examples from "A Bone from a Dry Sea"====
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In this case, the consequence to Greb not following the rules was that he was beaten and then exiled into the sea. "Li thought they must have killed him, till he moved... The tribe watched him limp down the shingle and wade into the healing sea. Followed by their hoots of ''Shame!'' He swam awkwardly away, using only his left arm, out along the cliffs of the farther headland, and disappeared." (75)
  
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""Ma-ma stayed with Presh,...along after the others." (74)
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'''Sources:''' Quoted from A Bone From a Dry Sea
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Dickinson, Peter. A Bone from a Dry Sea. New York: Bantman Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers. 1992. Print.

Latest revision as of 18:15, 23 September 2013

Return to History 8 Human Origins Bone From a Dry Sea

Summary:

In this chapter, Greb and Presh are compared for their different ways of living: [1] Greb does not follow the rules, is very angry, and does not have many people that like him; [2] Presh on the other hand is well-liked, friendly, and easygoing. A usual challenge for leadership in this tribe would be led up to over a few days and also the challenge ritual would be a very tiring process carried out in a series of displays, so that when it came to a full-blooded fight the two combatants would be too tired to seriously injure each other. Greb does not like to follow the rules, so he challenges Presh out of nowhere, then he immediately goes into a fight, ignoring the challenge ritual, which leads to Presh's leg being broken. Greb took on his role as leader after this, but because he did not follow the rules the tribe attacked him in his triumph ritual and they exiled him into the sea.


Importance of Ritual Challenge:

The importance of Ritual Challenge in this chapter is that so when the males end up fighting they are too tired to seriously injure one another. "The challenge ritual was exhausting. (It was meant to be, so that if it came to a full-blooded fight, both combatants would already be very tired and the weaker would quickly give in. That way neither if them would get seriously hurt.) (71)


Consequences of not following ritual and customs:

In this case, the consequence to Greb not following the rules was that he was beaten and then exiled into the sea. "Li thought they must have killed him, till he moved... The tribe watched him limp down the shingle and wade into the healing sea. Followed by their hoots of Shame! He swam awkwardly away, using only his left arm, out along the cliffs of the farther headland, and disappeared." (75)


Sources: Quoted from A Bone From a Dry Sea

Dickinson, Peter. A Bone from a Dry Sea. New York: Bantman Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers. 1992. Print.

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