What is The What
Dave Eggers
Pages 411-End
Post #4
March 21th,
2010
1 hour has been read!
Quote #1/ Page 484/ The Sudanese Elders of Kakuma: “You are the hope of the country, you boys. What will become of our country if there is peace? We risked our lives to have you educated in Ethiopia, we brought you here to Kakuma. You speak many languages now, you can read and write and are being trained in other trades too. You are among the best educated of our people! How can you leave, when we are so close to victory, to peace!”
Significance: This quote is related to the life and role of Valentino, and the other Sudanese boys in Africa. When the Sudanese boys are given the chance to immigrate to America, they jump for it despite all the possible repercussions. I guess its impossible to blame them, because life in the U.S will almost certainly be better than the cruel world they currently live in. The quote also shows how pitiful the state of Sudanese is, where a group of poorly educated, and regular boys are their only hope. Imagine if America was in that state, where it had been ravaged by war, and relies on a few ordinary boys to rebuild its society.
Connection: I would have to feel sorry for the Sudanese boys, who have to escape their bad living conditions. Although they are their nation's only hope, I definitely don't want to be in their shoes. I also think its weird how the situation is Africa is so different than the our situation here. It seems that even if the war ended, and there was peace, there would be a plethora of problems to rebuild the nation. I remember feeling like that when I missed a lot of school, because I knew there would be a lot of homework to catch up on.
Question: My question is................
Imagine you were a teenage Sudanese boy in Kakuma, and you were offered a chance to the U.S. Even though your world was “so close to victory, and peace” would you abandon your elders, and seek a better life?
Quote #2/page 529/Valentino Achak Deng: “Glass, waterfalls, bowls of bright oranges set upon clean tables”.
Significance: This is Valentino thinking about the idealistic world he will find in America. Those are some of the reasons he wants to migrate to America (pertaining to that question). He is saying this to be optimistic, and to counter the pessimistic personality of the “Lost Man”. In America, he wishes to find everything he ever wanted, something he might have built up from his old fabrication of Ethiopia. Although the comforts stated above don't seem like much, it was more than Valentino ever had before.
Connection: This is an example of high expectations. If I was Valentino, my expectations would have been already crushed a long time ago, but I have to admire his optimism. Usually I have semi-high expectations of life, and may be disappointed. An example of this, was when I went to a soccer tryout, for a not very good team, and I got cut-out pretty quick.
Question: If you were going to a new place, (like Valentino went to America) would you keep your expectations low, or high? Why?
TKAM post #8
14 years ago
Quote 1 - I agree with that thought; it really shows how desperate Sudan is because they put all of their hope for a new Sudan onto those boys' futures. They rely entirely on the adolescent boys being educated at refugee camps, where as in America it is much different. We have high schools and colleges and grad school, but in Sudan they have one teacher for thousands of boys, and they rely on that to rise them from the ashes.
ReplyDeleteQuestion 1 - I think that if I were to leave Sudan to go to America to make my life better, I would have felt a little selfish. Leaving to America would improve my life, but if I were to stay in Sudan and help rebuild it I could have helped many more lives.
Quote 2 - This quote does represent his views of America and how little they are compared to our standards (except for waterfalls - those are pretty cool). It also shows how Achak is already connected to America because he defends it against the Lost Man. Also I noticed that at first Achak was not very optimistic about going to America because all of the people he knew already left and he hadn't, but when he did find out he was going to be going they raised up.
Question 2 - I think that most of the time it is good to keep your expectations low because then you are always impressed (unless it is really bad). Sometimes your expectations could depend on your past experiences as well. For example, if you faced a lot of disappointment you would keep your expectations low so that you wouldn't face disappointment again.
I agree with alie on how it shows desperation of the Sudanese. But honestly I think that is kind of like putting all your eggs in one basket. They are taking a huge risk and are forcing people to live worse live so that the elders can prosper. I think that Achak was right in leaving. I think that the elders are to self absorbed.
ReplyDeleteQuestion: heck yeah I would go to America. I think that thats a no brainer, because in america people aren't getting blown up and getting devoured by lions.
Ironically enough I was eating an orange that I got out of a bowl as I was reading this. I think that it is cool that he had the same expectations for america as William K had for Ethiopia. Which means that he is really hopeful. I think in situations where you are depressed sometimes you need a pipe dream. And honestly I think thats what this is. Honestly I think thats what he needs.
Question 2: I aim high, but that s because I never plan on moving like he is. He is not only changing country he is changing hemisphere. So i have no idea what I would be thinking. I would probably have high hopes