“What is the What”, a novel written by Dave eggers is based on the life story of a Lost boy of Sudan, Valentino Achak Deng. Valentino had to over come many hardships that children of his age in the United States could only dream of. At a young age he was separated from family, walked hundreds of miles to refugee camps only to have to walk to another and watch his friends and fellow Lost boy’s be killed by men and eaten by lions. The fear of being hunted down and eaten, or being shot and killed must have always been racing through his mind and for him to keep going was truly astonishing. It is truly depressing to hear that a child must go through something that when we Americans, are here and doing nothing to help them. What is your take on what has happened over the course of Valentino Achak Deng’s life so far? What do you think you would do if you were in Achak Deng’s position? If you could talk to Valentino, what would you say, and how do you think he would respond?
Paragraph by: Lindsay W.
Questions by: Rachel M.
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5 comments:
I think that in the span of Achak’s life, he experienced things that children should never every have to see and go through. I honestly do not know what I would do in Achak’s position, but I do know that I probably would have either given up all hope or clung onto hope like a parasite. If I were to ever talk to Achak, first I would ask him, as many other people say they would, “How did you get through this sane?” I would also ask him what he wants to do now, where he wants to go, what he wants to tell people. I think he would respond truthfully to my questions, and to my last few he probably would say that he wants to live a good life and tell everyone everything, if they have the time and the attention span.
Achak has been through so much during his lifetime. There are also so many other children that went through and are continuing to go through the struggle. This is happening to too many children, and they are way too young to go through it. If I was in Achak's position I would always think of what would happen if my family members died, and if I got a gun pointed to myself. Since I grew up in United States, that way of life would be so much different to me. If I could speak to Valentino I would ask him how he went through it all. I would also tell him that he is very strong and brave for going through all that at such a young age. He would most likely respond with near death situations, and times were he just wanted to give up. After the struggle, Valentino feels like his life is now luxury, just with a meal everyday,clothes, and a safe house to live in.
-Val Hall
What is the What is a very good book. It taught me a lot about the genocide in Sudan that I never knew that much about. Every one should read this book because they do not know what is really happening over seas and how many innocent people getting killed.
-mike twitchell
Achaks life was plagued with war, starvation, loneliness, thirst and many other things a child should never have to suffer through. if I could ask Achak a question it would be what kept you walking, why didn’t you just stop and die like so many other people. I think he would respond by saying he just wanted to see his family and live a successful life. This book was wonderfully written and I am glad I read it.
-Davvid littlefield
I think it’s really sad on what happened in Valentino Achak Deng’s life. It’s really sad of what he had to see, and being so young that must be traumatizing. If I was in Valentino’s position I would try to handle it as best I could. I have no idea what I would say to him, I might ask him how he deals with all of that. How does he get those images out of his head. I have no clue how he would respond, but I would really want to know what he does to get rid of those bad images in his head.
-Meg O'Neal
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