The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears

Author: Dinaw Mengestu Digital Curator: Evan Guan

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REWRITE Critical Academic Reflection One

In the novel, The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears, Judith McMasterson is merely an imaginary character that Sepha Stephanos has created in his mind to visualize the outcome of his future after moving into a foreign country. Because he is a black male living in a country that is described to be predominantly white, he is expected to experience discrimination in any shape or form.  He has never experienced such inequality in his past life because in his home country of Ethiopia, Stephanos fits in the physical and cultural traits of a general Ethiopian man. Moving into the United States, he does not understand what sort of discrimination he is to be faced with. As a result, Stephanos has constructed a character in his mind with many similarities to his life in a foreign country: Judith McMasterson. As opposed to a black male moving into a white country, Judith is a white female moving into a black neighbourhood called Logan Circle. As with the other way around, Judith is also expected to experience discrimination in any shape or form as a result of being a white female living in a black neighbourhood. Stephanos constructed this imaginary character in his head to act as a simulation, illustrating what her future will be like living in a black neighbourhood. With this knowledge, he will be able to apply it to his own life since both sceneries are very much alike. He will be able to predict and learn what sort of discrimination or obstacles one will face when moving into an environment he/her is not accustomed to. With such insecurity Stephanos possesses combined with the fact that he lives a solitary and isolated life, it raises the possibility that he will develop thoughts of another person living the same life sooner or later. In this case, the imaginary character that Stephanos constructed in his head was Judith who acted as simulation, helping him visualize the outcome of his future living in a foreign country.

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REWRITE Critical Academic Reflection Three

In the novel, The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears, the selling of goods in Sepha Stephanos’ convenience store represents the selling of his life and soul symbolically. The selling of his store goods is no different from the selling of his life and soul. As a result of his current unfortunate state, it is clear that his future will be anything but wealthy and that he will not go far in life. If Stephanos continues living his life as a store owner in Logan Circle, he will most likely die as the same man since his life would not be profoundly changed in any way. That being said, Stephanos has no other choice but to pursue his current job in order to survive because of his improbable job prospects to become anything else. Because of this, his convenience store is nothing more than his life and soul since that is all he truly has left. Similarly to selling his store goods, it is no different from selling away his life and soul as time passes by. As unfortunate as it sounds, Stephanos’ convenience store is merely a retirement home as he is progressively selling his life away until the time of his death. It is no different than a waiting game as he will most likely not have any great achievements or prosper in life. He will remain as ordinary citizen living in Logan Circle with nothing special in his future. For these reasons being, he has nothing left but the business of his convenience store which represents the selling of his life and soul as time passes by.

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REWRITE Critical Academic Reflection Two

In the novel, The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears, Judith McMasterson is the true antagonist of the story because of the way she directs Sepha Stephanos into making the wrong decisions in life. Judith gradually reconstructs Stephanos into a person without priorities, often putting others in front of him. Unconscious of her actions, Judith was able to dominant Stephanos because of his intimate feelings for her. Generally speaking, it is always the male that does favours for the female in hopes of love being returned in any form. In this case, Stephanos was profoundly hit by this ideology as it is evident that he has developed intimate feelings for Judith. From buying her gifts to sacrificing store work hours to visit her, Stephanos appears to be throwing his life away just to spoil Judith despite his limited wealth and resources. Prior to meeting Judith, Stephanos did all he can to make a living because he was mentally aware that he was financially unstable and low on resources. In contrast to the character he had become after meeting Judith, it was apparent that he was no longer conscious of his current condition and focused mainly on his relationship with her. An antagonist is an individual who is opposed to the protagonist or causes difficulty towards him/her. With this definition being said, it is Judith’s character and personality that appears to be most fitting for the description-she causes difficulty towards Stephanos by directing him in the wrong path. As opposed to encouraging Stephanos to set his priorities right and to focus on his job as a store owner, she caused him to desert his will to continue working and ended up giving everything he has to Judith. In other words, she manages to transform him into a careless and irresponsible person, putting his life at risk despite his financial predicament. For these reasons being, Judith is the true antagonist of the story because of the way she misguided Stephanos into choosing the wrongful decisions and abandoning his priorities.

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Critical Academic Reflection One

In the novel The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears, Naomi McMasterson is a sophisticated character who means more than meets the eye to Sepha Stephanos, representing hope and optimism for him to pursue his life further on despite the countless conflicts he encounters as an immigrant from Ethiopia. As the daughter of Judith, they both moved into Washington D.C. to a residence called Logan Circle, an area described as ghetto and slum-like. It is a lower-class area consisting of mainly black people where the less wealthy families call home. With such a gloomy and depressive environment Stephanos is forced to become one with, he constantly questions himself with thoughts of despair and negativity. Not surprisingly, thoughts of failure or returning back to Ethiopia revolve around his head as he begins to find no real purpose to continue running his convenience store. Resultantly, he feels less and less discouraged open up his financially failing store as time passes on. All was changed for the better when Naomi had entered the picture, visiting Stephanos’ store daily after moving in as his newly neighbour. Despite being a young child, she gave life and purpose to Stephanos’ convenience store with her positivity. This caused Stephanos to open his up eyes and realize the happiness that can be discovered even in the hopeless environment he had become a part of. Both Naomi and Stephanos found positivity in renovating the store, storytelling, conversing with customers, and having occasional teatime together. It is these little things that have a powerful impact on Stephanos’ consciousness, giving him purpose to get up every day, open his store, and run it with reason and prospect. Have Naomi not been in Stephanos’ life with support, the store would have most likely closed up, leaving him purposeless and a stray in life.  For these reasons being, Naomi played a large role in Stephanos’ life, providing the much-needed support, purpose, and hope for him to pursue on his life with the prospect of success despite the predicament he is faced with.

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Critical Academic Reflection Two

The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears presents the conflictual idea of diaspora and acceptance within an individual and his/her environment as similarities are recognized between the geographical relationship of Sepha Stephanos and Judith McMasterson. After fleeing his home country of Ethiopia due to the heightening war and military coup, Stephanos found himself in Washington D.C. of the United States. From there, he is encountered with another wave of conflicts including financial problems, discrimination as a black individual, and diaspora, as well as countless attempts to fit in the “white” way of life. In addition to his financially failing convenience store, he constantly conflicts with himself, indecisive as to which country he truly belongs to: Ethiopia, United States, or neither. Living in Logan Circle, the conditions are evident that living in this residence is not the best for Stephanos due to the continual conflicts that arise. Similarly, Judith is also hit with a wave of obstacles as a result of moving into a Logan Circle. These conflicts include sexism, racism, discrimination, and vandalism. As a white individual moving into a black neighbourhood, she is greeted with a series of unwelcoming occurrences including lack of influence during community meetings, racism, and vandalism of her property. Relating to Stephanos, Judith also has thoughts revolving around moving back to the homeland she believes she truly belongs to; in this case, Connecticut. Both characters experience diaspora that is amplified by the series of conflicts they experience from moving into Logan Circle. In the end, it is Judith that cannot endure the conflicts any further and moves back to Connecticut after her car was vandalized by projectiles and house burnt down by a recently evicted black family. These similarities between Stephanos and Judith illustrate the sufferings they encounter of diaspora and the search for identity as a result of moving into an environment much different from a place they are accustomed to.

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Critical Academic Reflection Three

In the novel The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears, Stephanos’ life back in Ethiopia is not entirely abandoned as his two close friends Joseph and Kenneth are the reminiscence of his culture and customs back in his home country. Known as Congo Joe and Ken the Kenya by Stephanos, both friends also originated from Ethiopia and fled to the United States where they all met and worked together at a hotel as African immigrants. Joseph currently works as a waiter at an upper-class restaurant and Kenneth maintains a favourable income as an engineer. Although their bond is not as close as it used to be due to being separated and working at different jobs, they still experience nostalgia over the period they were in Ethiopia. As a remembrance in regard to their former lives back in their home country, they play a game in which they name coups of African and attempt to describe some of their details such as year, location, and accomplishments. Joseph verifies the longevity of the game and claims that when the coups stop, so will the game. Aside from the game, they also hold discussions with one another at the end of the day, debating about their life back in Ethiopia and what will become of their future, especially that of Stephanos’ as he is seemingly the most unfortunate of the three. Both Joseph and Kenneth are the only close friends Stephanos possesses and possibly the only friends he will ever have in his lifetime. He is able to maintain such a tightly-bonded friendship because of the similarities of their past lives, as well as the ability to relate with one another. With these discussions and the coup naming game, Stephanos is able to relive the past as an Ethiopian man and briefly forget about the present, living in America with diaspora. For those reasons being, Stephanos’ two close friends Joseph and Kenneth as the evidence that he has not yet completely forsaken his culture and life back in his home country of Ethiopia.

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Historical

The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears takes place during a time period not too far from the present-a time where there is a bordering line between the rich and the poor. This modern society of the twenty-first century clearly illustrates the two sides of life: being able to afford all of ones desires and the struggles of keeping up with bills whilst supplying food on the table at the same time. This novel demonstrates that you live either of the two lives and that there is no in between; the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Many characteristics of the environments described in the novel can be found in today’s modern era with ease whether it is describing the higher-class or lower-class areas.

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Biographical

In the novel The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears, the protagonist, Sepha Stephanos, has just recently emigrated from his home country of Ethiopia into the heart of Washington D.C. because of the heightening war and military coup that was occurring. He decides to reside in Logan Circle-an area that is described to be ghetto and a place of poverty. Well into his adult years, he struggles to keep up with bills and payments with a failing convenience store he owns as his only lifeline. In addition to his financial problems, he also struggles to adapt to his new environment, constantly experiencing reminiscences about his former life back in Ethiopia and how he doesn't fit in the “white” way of life. This sort of diaspora is the main dilemma in the story as he regularly experiences conflicts and thoughts about moving back to his home country while realizing even then, he is not the same Ethiopian person anymore. This raises up the question in his head of whether he belongs in Washington D.C. or back in his home country of Ethiopia-or neither.

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Informational

The novel consists mostly of Sepha Stephanos’ collection of thoughts and feeling about his residence in Washington D.C. told from first person. His thoughts are mostly based upon diaspora and the idea that he does not belong in the country or environment he is living his disorganized life in. He believes that he belongs back in his home country of Ethiopia and not in Washington D.C. because of his difficulty of fitting in the “white” way of life. An example of this is his financial problems and his struggle of maintaining a livable income through his convenience store. He also faces his image being devalued as a black person because of the lower-class area he resides in and that white people are more superior in the country of the United States. However, being apart from Ethiopian culture for over 17 years, he raises another issue in his head as to whether or not his life will be the same if he was to move back to his home country again. He acknowledges that he is not the same Ethiopian man he was several years ago which conflicts his decision to move back. In the end, he is stuck between two worlds of Washington D.C. and Ethiopia, indecisive and unknowing of where his heart and mind truly belongs to.

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Geographical

The story takes place entirely in Washington D.C. of the United States. More specifically, Sepha Stephanos resides in a small neighbour called Logan Circle. This local area is flourishing with poverty and is described as ghetto and slum-like. Consisting mostly of black people around the area, Stephanos also happens to be the neighbour of a white mother and daughter who just recently moved in from Connecticut. His home and failing convenience store is just a few blocks away from the much more urban and higher-class area in which he frequently visits with his two friends Kenneth and Joseph. In summary, there is not much interest around the environment in which Stephanos resides in and is not much different than some of the ghetto urban areas found in the modern era we live in presently.

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Vocabulary from the Novel

Negligent (p. 18) – The failure of following your given duties or responsibilities; neglecting or the lack of attention towards something The man was negligent about his choice of clothing and was fired from his job as a fashion designer.

Heirlooms (p. 50) – Property of special value within a family with its ownership passed on from one generation to another When the daughters' father had passed away, he had his significant heirlooms passed onto them.

Eloquently (p. 87) – Expression of an individual through writing or orally in a fluent or persuasive manner The protester eloquently expressed his feelings about the choice to ban cyclists from riding in the car lane.

Reprimand (p. 114) – The official process of rebuking or reproving formally by the authority or one with power The woman received an official reprimand from the authorities after helping an elderly travel up the inaccessible staircase. 

Pompous (p. 157) – Form of characterization of one affectionately or with great importance and dignity My boss at work expressed himself in a pompous way, claiming that he had enough money to buy all of us as slaves.

Congregation (p. 196) – The gathering or assembling of people for the purpose of religious worship The church held a congregation on Sunday so that prayers can be conducted at the altar.

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Dinaw Mengestu

The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears was written by Dinaw Mengestu and published in 2007. He was born in Addis Ababa in his home country of Ethiopia in 1978. He later immigrated to the United States in 1980 and became a graduate of Georgetown University and Columbia University. He currently lives in New York City. He possesses a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in fiction. His works have won many awards, such as the “5 under 35” and “20 under 40” award from the National Book Foundation.

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Logan Circle

The area in which the story takes place is based on the real life neighbourhood called Logan Circle that covers just under half a square kilometer. Situated in Washington D.C., this historic district and traffic circle is named after John A. Logan who was the commander of the Army of Tennessee, Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, and representative and senator for the state of Illinois during the Civil War. A statue of him on a horse can be found in the center of Logan Circle to honour him. A population of about 8,000 people resides in that neighbourhood.

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Glossary of Characters

Sepha Stephanos (protagonist, immigrant from Ethiopia to United States)

Naomi McMasterson (daughter of Judith)

Judith McMasterson (white neighbour of Stephanos)

Joseph (Congo Joe, friend of Stephanos)

Kenneth (Ken the Kenyan, friend of Joseph)

Berhane Stephanos (uncle of Stephanos)

Mrs. Davis (long time neighbour of Stephanos)

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My Favourite Scene

My most favourable scene in the novel, The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears was when Sepha Stephanos was asked to read a book for Naomi she borrowed from her school. This was one of the major turning points in the storyline as it verifies the acceptance Naomi has towards Stephanos. When the two contrasting characters first met as newly neighbours, Naomi did not seem to approve of his presence as an older black male, yet alone converse with him. However, as the story pursued, Naomi became more comfortable and fond of Stephanos, even visiting his convenience store daily in search for entertainment and something to do. Naomi had a change of heart and was beginning to accept him for his kindness and positivity despite her continuous harsh treatment towards him. In the end, her trust for Stephanos was evident and portrayed through their daily storytelling in his convenience store.

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Novel Information

The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears is a novel written by Dinaw Mengestu and published in 2007 by the Penguin Group (Riverhead Books) from New York. Containing 228 pages, its genre is fiction and written in English but twelve other translated versions of the book can be found. Both hard copy and paperback is available. The novel was formally known as Children of the Revolution but was later changed to the present name due to political reasons when introduced to North America. The book has won many awards such as the Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Award, Guardian First Book Award, and a New York Times Notable Book. The novel revolves around the topic of immigration and identity when one is faced against an environment or country he/she did not originate from.

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Thought-Provoking Questions

Do you think Sepha Stephanos truly belongs in Ethiopia, United States, or neither?

If Stephanos were to return to Ethiopia, how do you think he would cope with being separated from his culture for several years?

How has immigration from Ethiopia to the United State change Stephanos’ character and culture from his former life?

Why do you think Stephanos is so accepting of Judith and Naomi’s status as white individuals living in a black neighbourhood?

How do you think Stephanos’ two close friends Joseph and Kenneth feel about the way he is currently living?

Why do you think Judith’s property was vandalized to the point that she had to move out of the neighbourhood? Who do you think the “people in black” were?