GEORGE ORWELL, YOU ARE SO RIGHT

The civil war in What is the What, the civil war that consumed most of Achak's childhood, the civil war in Sudan, completely affirmed George Orwell's description of the way revolutions cycle. There is power in a hierarchy, great power most frequently based upon economical standpoints. Those at the top, who have the most money, also have the most power. And as the hierarchy descends, so does their influence and power. In Sudan, one of the major causes of the war, was the oppression and exploitation those at the bottom faced. When realizing the unpleasantness to thier position, Southern Sudanese voiced out, and fought back. It was an unfair system. The North and South just could not agree on terms. The South wanted to secede from the North, who overstayed their welcome onto the South's fertile lands. And those who faced poverty, often the majority of the country, contributed the most labor. Even when complaining about their situation, there were a lot of times in What is the What, where Achak noted that class systems were rising again and then falling. Though, I must admit, we are all hypocrites. I do not blame them, for this is the way the world runs, through money and greed. So, George Orwell's description of the class system injustices is quite accurate even in the real world and the current world.

WILLIAM K, WHAT HOPE YOU BRING

The embellished truth (actually, lies would be a more fitting term) William K provide us with is rather hopeful and endearing. Because Valentino's story is told in first person, I feel his pain and suffering just as much as he does. So, when a character such as William, tries to piece together the most wonderful and unlikely outcome, it becomes heart-felt. I almost believed that things could work in their favor...eventually, just as William had brought us to believe. As I further read on, things just seemed to get worse and worse, and I really was hoping it would turn around. I wanted Achak and William to find a family, to find their family. I wanted Moses to join them in their march. I wanted them to live in a clean home with a blankets covering their beds and warm dinner on their plate. I wanted the two young boys to get stronger and stop seeing such violent acts against their people. William K brought such ideas to the table. It was utterly tragic when William K's eyes shut for the last and final time.

SILENT WITNESSING

Valentino's story is told rather strangely. First off, this story is written in first-person, so it feels so much more personal and real (which it is, because it's a biography). This story jumps in and out of reality, often switching from the present life in America as he is being robbed to his dark past in Sudan as he underwent conflicts within the Sudanese civil war. Also, he speaks to his reader, and I mean this literally as he addresses them within his dialogue. The effect this has onto me personally is so empowering.

He addresses others that around him, that seem to act as though he is nonexistent. These people range from his attackers, to the police officer who chooses how much effort she puts into investigating, to the Christian neighbors who may or may not have heard Valentino's pleas for help. The sad part of it all, is that I know people choose to ignore the helpless cries from those around them because it is inconvenient for them. They choose the easy way out: to ignore them. How very sad. This truth lies within even the best of us. We find it "not our place to interfere" when one of our peers are called a racial slur, or when a tough-looking guy pockets an old man, or when a dictator finds it his duty to massacre those "unfit" to live. We look the other way and go about our business. Silence. How heartbreaking.

I admit that there have been times when I found it out of my place to involve myself in situations, but fairly recently, I've realized that I have a voice that I can impact the community and those around me in a positive light. I've decided that my career path I'd like to follow, though it will be tough and I will face many hardships emotionally, lies within social working. I will not stand by and see a child grow up in a family that cannot care for her. I will not stand by to see a life wither as it lives. And, in due time, I see myself joining a nonprofit organization to help in places that are struggling, just as Noriyaki had done.

Perhaps it was in my summer reading that I've found this confidence in me, but I now believe that my aspirations are possible and are needed.

These lives, such as Valentino's, do in fact exist and I shall not sit back and ignore their needs. I've given up the silence.

A LOSS OF INNOCENCE

Childhood is a sweet thing that I long for, but I could barely remember. It is unfortunate that we are called to grow up in the most struggling of times.

For Valentino, maturity had to be found quite early in his life. It surprised me when I came across his age for certain parts of the book because it seemed as though time had quickly passed within a few pages. He endured so many hardship and had seen so much brutality, that it is unbelievable what he had gone through and when he had gone through it. The marches, the killings he witnessed, the dirty and unsanitary conditions he underwent--- they all see to pass so quickly. There is a vivid scene that comes to mind when I think of the fragility of his innocence, the scene where he meets the rebels and is shown the weaponry they use. Achak is constantly battling between his innocence and wanting, yearning, to kill the government's milita, those who had humiliated and exploited Southern Sudan.
Another scene in this book, dealing with the coming-of-age story, is when Achak is invited to the Royal Nieces of Pinyudo's house and he was exploring the young girls' genitals as they were to him. Young children, who exploring their sexualities, their sacred body.
You never realize when life calls upon you to grow up, but it inevitably happens.

MORE THAN SIMPLY SACRIFICING A CALF

Foster was not kidding when he said that we would be revisiting old scenesand characters from the literature we read! Yeah, I'm beginning to see certain patterns occurring frequently over and over again. It's a little bittersweet to be reminded of this...and rather annoying knowing that he is right and I can't stop thinking about other ways this passage was influenced and who this person resembles. Here, I will emphasize the ones relative to that of my three books I have read for school this summer. Sacrificial ceremonies are so very dense with symbolism. On a cultural level, sacrifices are meant to be a gift to the god/s, higher beings that control the outcome of life and its struggles. Sacrifices are meant to either ask for help or to thank and celebrate the god(s). Now, from The Kite Runner, Amir describes the pain and tragedy of Hassan metaphorically relating his eyes to that of a sheep that they sacrifice to Allah, as Ibrahim had done with his own son. Hassan, while being assaulted, had in his eyes, the acceptance like the sheep had as it was about to be butchered. And again, in What is the What, Achak mentions of a calf being sacrificed. He too, finds the eyes of calf before its death, to be intruiging and courageous and all the while, resigned, just as Amir had described. Because I had read What is the What after I had read the Kite Runner, I began to tear as I read of this calf's appearance as it died because a flash of Hassan had flickered in my mind. That dear and loyal Hassan.