Cars

Accawi’s attitude toward the arrival of tin and plastic in his village was one of excitement but eventually he realizes that these things have downsides to them and his attitude becomes indifferent to reflect this view.

    • “Canned food was good, but the tin can it came in was wonderful. You could store nails in it; you could use it to pour water over your head during a Saturday bath, or you could keep your coins or marbles in it, safely hidden in a chicken coop or behind a vat of pickled olives” (Accawi 1).

        The author shows his excitement by stating that the can was wonderful. He also explains the many uses for the tin can by stating all the conveniences that it had added to his life. All the uses of the can have all given Accawi an excited attitude towards tin.

    •       “I said ‘Our father in heaven, send us the plastic in the name of Jesus’” (Accawi 4).

        This quote shows the incredible level of want Accawi had for plastic. He was so thrilled by plastic that he had gone to God in hopes of his village getting plastic. He treats plastic as a blessing in this quote and yearns for it to the point where he needs to ask God for it.

    • “Our water was safe now. But it did not stay cool   the way it did in Grandma’s jar, and it tasted funny…As time went by, I got used to drinking water that tasted different” (Accawi 4).

        At this point in the story Accawi sees that though plastic and tin do have its benefits, but there are also sacrifices that accompany its pleasure. He relates the water from the plastic container and the water from his Grandma’s jar saying that it is of lower quality since it is not cool and it tastes strange. Through the relation between the two containers of water he shows that the introduction of tin and plastic take away from the community’s culture. Even though Grandma’s jar was basically a family artifact Accawi’s family easily replaced it with the plastic container. He becomes accustomed to the new...