The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears (178 - 228)

Summary: As the novel comes to a closing, many problems strike Stephanos neighborhood. With Judith and Naomi gone Stephanos feels more lonely and goes back into his small depression. And with everyone being evicted and losing their homes, he suddenly feels that the neighborhood looks to him and others as a reason for losing their jobs and getting evicted. "They" did this to us and "if it wasn't for them" as an example of the common references. Business however started to improve as people began to crowd around every time someone was evicted; this brought some joy to stephanos, but he still missed the 2 people that would always make his day. When Judith did return it was at a church meeting held by Mrs.Davis about all of the evictions and the changes that were going on throughout the neighborhood. Everyone had their problems, but it seemed that when Judith spoke everyone went against her. After the meeting, a brick was thrown into her car followed by her whole house being burned down. We find out later that all these crimes were done by Franklin Henry Thomas, a man who had been living in the neighborhood for about 18 years; he had been evicted and saw that it wasn't fair that Judith had a nice big house and is living fine, while his rent was raised. Stephanos had understood his reasoning and somewhat sympathized Franklin simply because Stephanos had received a brick in front of his store and felt where the neighborhood was coming from. In the end Franklin was arrested and Judith ended up moving away, but promising to reconnect with Stephanos as soon as she had gotten settled. As for Stephanos, he is still with his store and proud of how far he has came, looking at the store as a piece of him and something that he is "happy to claim as entirely my own" (Mengestu 228)

Quote: "I  was in no position to say what was right or wrong. I was not one of "these people, as Mrs.Davis had just made clear to me. I hadn't forced anyone out, but i had never really been a pat of Logan Circle either, at least not in the way that Mrs.Davis and most of my customers were." (Mengestu 189)


Reaction: This quote has a major impact on the story especially at this time because now everyone is being affected with the rent raising and multiple evictions. Stephanos somewhat doesn't feel that he is apart of this struggle because the neighborhood had him feeling that the new people coming into the neighborhood are the reasons for the changes, and they make that very clear when it came to Judith. People living in the neighborhood for 20 years and on are getting evicted and feel that its not fair that they've been living their for so long and now is the time that major changes are being made. Franklin especially, he burnt down Judith's house so that she could move out and he and the rest of his family could eventually move in and live their permanently. For me personally, the fact that  everyone would look at Judith's house, it seemed that it was some kind a sign or foreshadowing behind the closeness of the neighborhood and how they figured that that eventually it would go to someone that had been living their long instead of someone that had just moved into the neighborhood. I also feel that Stephanos is apart of the struggle because there were multiple times that his store had almost been closed down; the fact that he had been living their for a short time made the neighborhood point fingers, but at the end of the day he went through all the things that they went through and should not be accused of the changes that took place.
       Overall, the novel was enjoyable, it showed the common struggle of an immigrant trying to make it into society, to be accepted and become successful on the way. With the strong hold and bond that the neighborhood had amongst each other, it was hard for Stephanos to get used to things, especially keeping his store together. In the end he began to understand the neighborhood and life as a whole and looked at the store with a lot more pride and confidence.