Question

What the does the phrase "tried to make myself clean" mean in the following except from Chapter 1?

"Without anyone seeing, I ran into the blue gum grove behind my house, leaned against a tree and tried to makd
myself clean. I spit and hocked, shoved my finger into my throat, anything to rid my body of the curse. I came up
dry. A bit of saliva colored the leaves at my feet, so I covered them with dirt."
a) William was praying so that he could be forgiven for sin.
b) William was doing a Malawian dance to make himself clean.
c) William was trying to vomit so that he would clean himself of the evil deed.
d) William was trying to rid himself of something that had a bad taste.

Answer 1

Based on the context of the excerpt, the phrase "tried to make myself clean" most likely means that William was trying to rid himself of something that he perceived as dirty or undesirable. Specifically, he was likely attempting to vomit in order to purge his body of a "curse" that he felt was affecting him. This suggests that option (c), "William was trying to vomit so that he would clean himself of the evil deed" is the most accurate interpretation of the phrase in this context.

~~~Harsha~~~