Pigeon english 
Stephen Kelman 
Novel 

1) Stephen Kelman’s 2011 novel, Pigeon English , narrates an eleven year old Harrison (Harri) Opoku who with his mother and older sister move from Ghana to England, a tough environment with crime and violence. Harri’s narrative records what it means to be a young boy in the modern era having to deal with all of the tests and joys of childhood. This novel starts with Harri looking further into a local crime, where a young boy who Harri knows from the neighborhood had been murdered. While working with his best friend Dean, on the case, Harri shares with the reader his thoughts, impressions and experiences of growing up with threats and pressures within the environment around him. The novel explores his attempts to remain as a good person regardless of the corruption of corps nearby him. 

2) Characters I found interesting were Harri and ….. Harri is the narrator of the novel. I found him interesting because he is curious and innocent, although at times he finds it difficult to maintain this innocence in the presence of peer pressure, crime, and violence. Harri is very notable for overlooking prejudice and this is seen as he loves pigeons even though other characters think they are dirty. Harri has an adversary relationship with his older sister Lydia , although it is obvious that they also love each other. He also adores his baby sister Agnes and looks up to his Papa. He goes on about how he cannot wait until the family is reunited in London and this shows how much Harri cares about his family and how much everyone means to him. Harri has a crush on a white girl named Poppy Morgan at his new school and they become boyfriend and girlfriend. When attending his new school in England, Harrison learnt a lot of new rules that he did not get taught in . “It’s proper windy at the bottom like a whirlpool. If you stand at the bottom where the tower meets the ground and put your arms out, you can pretend like you’re a bird. You can feel the wind try to pick you up, it’s nearly like flying”. This quote is from Harri talking about being at the tower, showing how he has freedom

3) Messages I took from this text were the struggles and benefits from moving to a new country. moving to England, Harri had been given alot fore freedom than living in Ghana. We’re proper detectives now. It’s a personal mission”. this quote was from Harri after the boy was killed. Harri and his friend Dean investigate closer into the mystery. they have to face alot of conflicts preventing this action which results badly for them. This gave me a message saying that you are never safe and getting yourself into the wrong situation does not end up nice.

Challenges the characters had to deal with…. Harri Opuku had many challenges to face after moving from Ghana to England. Throughout the novel Harrison gets bullied and this was a big challenge he had to face. He tries to deflect and prevent by considering X-Fire’s invitation to join the Dell Farm Crew. Harri declines the invite because he knows that the DFC’s actions work against the Christian values he was raised with when he was younger living in Ghana. Moving to an area with such high violence and crimes Harri must overlook these factors as he investigates futher into a murder mystery which eventually gets Harri and Dean in trouble with the dell farm crew leading to Harri getting stabbed and killed at the end of the novel.  When attending his new school in England, Harrison had to learn alot of new rules that he did not get taught in Ghana. Quote from Harri “Some rules I have learned from my new school: No running on the stairs. Always put your hand up before you ask a question.The last one in close the door.’’ this creats a challenge for Harri because he must adapt to the new school and rules they have. All the other kids have been at this school for a long time and already know all the rules and this puts Harrison behind making it difficult for him. 

The title of the text ”Pigeon English” may be hard to understand but when you have read the book it clears up to make sense. ”Pigeon” As is indicated by the title, pigeons are the most important symbol in the novel. it represents freedom from oppression and prejudice. The novel establishes between pigeons and people, and especially immigrants like such as Harri who has moved from Ghana to England. One of the connections between the two groups is the theme of flight. this occurs when the gangs confront Harri and his mate and they must choose to fight or flight. During the novel Harri also loves to spread his wings in the windy area at the bottom of his tower block and pretend he is flying like a bird, which illustrates his desire for freedom in England after moving from Ghana where freedom was limited to him. Pigeon clearly displays freedom in many parts of the text such as when Harri draws a pigeon on Auntie Sonia’s cast to imply freedom as she is trying to escape her partner Julius whom is a rich man that abuses her. ”English” in the title stands for the modern day world and the destination the charactes live. moving to England Harri experiences a new life entering the world of gangs, racism and abuse. This explains why the the title is appropriate for this text.

I do recommend this story because it portrays the modern day struggles of life of a young boy moving to a completely different country being England. This is a very interesting text as it follows in the life of Harri whom encounters issues with gangs while following a murder case resulting in his own death. I cannot relate to this situation as i have not moved countries or followed a murder case but this text gives me valuable lessons and displays what is is like to live in such a corrupt city.