In the novel, Valentino talks about the suffering that he and the 300 other Lost Boys in the group had to go through when walking through the desert. You could only imagine the expressions on their faces as they trudged through, trying to find food and trying to just stay alive. One specific part in the book is when he goes into great detail about the groups encounter with vultures. He describes one morning when he woke up to a vulture, “inspecting my bad leg.” (pg. 213) Further in the novel, he tells of when William K. dies. As he is trying to bury his friend, he is thinking that if not buried properly, his friend would become the birds next meal. How would you feel if, as you walked through the desert, you had to make sure that you were not eaten alive? “If we stayed in one place too long, the vultures would become more interested.” (pg. 213) They were afraid that if they didn’t stay awake the birds would, “begin to feast while we were alive.” (pg. 213) From what you know, do you think Dave Eggers was accurate about what was and is going on in Sudan?
11 comments:
I believe that David Eggers is very accurate in his dipiction about the vultures. The vultures need food as well as the children so any source of food for any living creature is used. I have a slight fear of vultures, especially if they are eating me alive, so I would hate to be in that situation even more than before.
Lexi Idreos
I think that Dave Eggers had a good understanding of the vultures. Since when he was typing the book he was interviewing Valentino at the same time, he probably knows a lot about the situations with the vultures.
If I were walking through the desert and constantly had to think about the vultures I would be scared for my own life. I wouldn’t want to worry about protecting myself from the vultures, keeping healthy by eating, and keeping the people around me healthy.
~cassie eagerman~
I felt that Dave Eggers and Valentino Achak Deng did an outstanding job on this book, there is also a part in the book were Achak talks about Vultures. When William dies the vultures are around him and Achak shooing them off. This photo helps depict the scene and shows how sad this actually is. This photo was probably one of the most chilling I have seen of the suffering in Sudan.
-David littlefield
Looking at this picture makes me sick. I dont even know if I am looking at a child or even if he is alive. Looking at this picture really makes me appreciate what kind of life I have in America.
I think that David Eggers is very accurate about the vultures in the story. He is accurate because he explains what vultures actually do when people are weak and also if they are dead. The vultures will sense that a person is weak and also scared of them, and that is when the vultures will attack you. So Eggers wrote about how Valentino knew that he had to move out of that spot so the vultures would not get him and eat him alive.
-Mike Twitchell
Yes, I think that Dave Eggers was very accurate because he has Valentino who has walked and lived throughout all of the land that he talks about. So I dont think he could make it inaccurate with Valentino on his side. Also if it was I who was walking through the desert to make sure i didn't get eaten I would be alert in the day and sleep in what ever cover was available at night. It is a very bad time in Sudan right now.
Derek Schwartz
Dave Eggers definitely knew a lot about the vultures since Valentino was helping him write the story. When Valentino was in the desert running for his life he probably had witnessed the sights of people, even his own friends, being consumed by the vultures. If I were in the situation of being feared of being eaten by a vulture, I would definitely be terrified. Being consumed by a vulture is not a way I would want to die in that type of situation.
Courtney Williams
The large population of The Lost Boys traveling to get out of the war, caused them to go through a lot of suffering on the way. The Lost Boys were walking through the desert and would just fall apart and hope the hungry vultures wouldn’t be around. I think that Dave Eggers was accurate about what was occurring in Sudan. If someone stayed lying down for too long, the vultures would become more interested and The Lost Boys had to suffer through the desert to stay alive. If someone was starving and struggling to stay alive, he had to worry about the vultures biting on him, while he was still alive. If I was walking through the desert and struggling to stay alive, I would try my hardest to stay up and moving. If I fell, I would want to stay on the ground and therefore the vultures would become interested for their next meal. Deserts are hot, dry, and moist and it is hard to walk for miles and miles along without collapsing. Also, with the weather in Sudan it is warm and hot winds. Also, rain in rare. The Lost Boys had to struggle to not become a vulture’s next meal, especially when the boy is still living. The Lost Boys had hard times of struggling through hot deserts, but if they tried to not stay in one place for too long, the vultures would back off. I would hate being in the situation of coming close to being eaten alive, so I would try to stay up and moving the best I could.
-Val Hall
The pictures of the little boy and the volture is really sad. I wouldn't want to see my friend being eaten alive by a huge bird, and i wouldn't want to die that way either. That'd be really scary to take a walk knowing i'm being watched by huge birds, knowing i could be their next meal.
-Meg O'Neal
I believe that Dave Eggers is very accurate as he is writing the book: seeing as he is interviewing Valentino in some form (over phone, letters, emails, tape recordings, etc...) He probably is very right about the experiences with vultures; mostly because of Valentino and because he had to have done a lot of background research in order to write this book.
The way the vultures were acting were just in their nature.The description of their behaviors were very real. Yes, it was upsetting that the vultures were eating the bodies of dead boys but it was how they survived. It was just like the part in the book where the boys ran up the trees to eat the bird eggs, it was all just to survive.
Lindsay White
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