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Kaila DeBonville
, October 12, 2018
When the Moon was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore details a story that parents tell their children about when the old water towers fell and a girl who seemed to be born from water, named Honey. Like any birth, she was screaming, fearful of being surrounded by a town who could not, would not, take the time to understand her and how she had lost the moon. This story also tells of a nurturing boy, who was the first, and only person, to approach Honey, giving her his jacket among other things, his time, patience, caring, and love. The story being told of them addresses them at face value, how she had roses growing from her wrist that the town gossiped and thought the petals held magic, enough to make young men fall in love with the one who placed them under their pillows or baked them into sweets.
The stories that were told about Honey and Moon criticize our society today, people’s unwillingness to accept something that is different from them, and an unwillingness to love someone they may not fully understand. More importantly, the stories told about the children in this town scream for justice and morality, by calling into question the ways in which people have behaved and perpetuated certain “stories”, more specifically ways of thinking about people, humanity, and society. It brings to light humanities need to understand and how limiting this is as it dictates what we deem important and how we use this knowledge to identify others and ourselves.
"Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad."
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