Gate A-4 By Naomi Shihab Nye Summary

In public places, we are often told to be wary and cautious. We are told that we never know who the person sitting next to us actually is. For all we know they could be a wanted criminal or a very important person. So we usually mind our business then talking to others or helping them. In the story ‘Gate A-4’ by Naomi Shihab Nye, Naomi’s plane is delayed and she decides to help a palestinian woman in a wary and cautious situation at airport gate. This shows that we should be kind and caring to people even in wary places. We should be able to help each other, give and repay each other and we can be happy despite the location.

People should be able to help others regardless of the location. It could be anywhere in the world and we shouldn’t …show more content…
Even though it is in human nature, we should be less selfish and give to others. It could be as big as a gift or as small as a thank you. The palestinian woman decides to thank Naomi after helping her by giving her something that she was going to take onto the plane. ‘She had pulled a sack of homemade mamool cookies-little powdered sugar crumbly mounds stuffed with dates and nuts-from her bag and was offering them to all the women at the gate.’ The palestinian woman had not only given cookies to Naomi but to every lady at the gate. Naomi’s kindness towards her inspired her to be kind to others. In this passage it says that she pulled out ‘homemade mamool cookies’, the lady was willing to give something that she had made at home and something that she enjoyed. The lady could have given something from duty free. This shows that even though you enjoy something, we can still share it with others. This example shows that even though everyone was in an airport, it didn’t stop the palestinian woman from being kind and giving to others. Most people would decline a sweet of a gift from a stranger but in the story it is the very opposite. ‘To my amazement, no a single traveler declined one. It was like a sacrament.’. The use of ‘sacrament’ shows that the mamool cookies were treated like a religious offering, no one refused one as an offering in a religious place wouldn’t be refused. The cookies was given for everyone else to enjoy even though they were made for the palestinian woman to eat. Even though that this scene was in an airport-one place where there is high security and everyone can’t be trusted-every lady accepted as they saw the gratitude the palestinian woman had. This is shown again but by the airplane crew. ‘Then the airline broke out free apple juice and two little girls from our flight ran around serving it and they were covered with powdered sugar too.’ This started when Naomi decided to help the