lost opportunities and the inability to change. I am using this phase to hightlight Atie position on her stagnant position. ” At one time, I would have given anything to be in school. But time is gone. Cooking and cleaning, looking after others, that’s my school now.” Sophie is reaching out to her aunt to see if she would change her view on obtaining basic learning skills.  However, she refuse to come to the class to learn to read and write. I admire Atie for encouraging Sophie to stay in school, because when Atie was a child Sophie age she was already working in the cane field. I could be wrong about my prediction about Atie, but there is a reason why she do not want to go to the school. The passage state that mr. Augustine is the teacher who gives the reading lessons. Is that not the same mr. Augustine that Atie beg Sophie, ” To tell no one that she cries when she watches Monsieur Augustine and his wife preparing for bed. This book hold a several secrets about its characters and I cannot wait to see them unfold.