For many of us, we have been able to sacrifice something we valued for the greater good. In order for individuals to “self-sacrifice”, they must be able to sacrifice something they value for the people around them or for a reason. In the novel “The Cellist of Sarajevo” written by Steven Galloway, demonstrates the City of Sarajevo under siege. The novel follows a series of events for each character that has impossible moral choices- temptation, suffering, and fear of death. At the beginning of the Galloway’s novel, Dragon has no intentions of sacrificing anything he owned- his appearance, his words, and his possessions. Dragon does not know what to believe anymore, whether the old Sarajevo is the truth or the new one which is torn apart. Living
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As the Dragan’s story starts off with a quote saying, “There is no way to tell which version of a lie is the truth” (33)- Dragan doesn’t know what to believe anymore, whether the old Sarajevo is the same or if it changed. Dragan wants to preserve how the city used to be, when life was simple and he didn’t live in fear; he wanted to fight for the city he knew. He is lying to himself, not wanting to accept the reality of the war-torn Sarajevo that currently exists. Dragan is living in a city where everything around him is destroyed, he begins to see a colourless Sarajevo as he thinks to himself, “He’s not sure where it came from, if it always was there and the war had simply stripped away the colour that hid it, or if this grey is the colour of way.” (40), as everything around him has changed, so has he. Dragan can no longer see the true colours of Sarajevo, he is viewing the streets of Sarajevo cold and miserable. Dragan becomes independent during the war and isolates himself from the people he once knew, no matter how painful it was. The realization of the destruction of life is too painful for Dragan when it mentions, “If people are going to to be taken away from him, either through death or transformation of their personality that makes them into strangers, he’s better off without them.” (43). Not only does he disconnect himself from his friends, visitors, but also his family. He isolates himself from others because this is his way of coping with the war and everything he has lost. He has chosen to focus on surviving for
As the Dragan’s story starts off with a quote saying, “There is no way to tell which version of a lie is the truth” (33)- Dragan doesn’t know what to believe anymore, whether the old Sarajevo is the same or if it changed. Dragan wants to preserve how the city used to be, when life was simple and he didn’t live in fear; he wanted to fight for the city he knew. He is lying to himself, not wanting to accept the reality of the war-torn Sarajevo that currently exists. Dragan is living in a city where everything around him is destroyed, he begins to see a colourless Sarajevo as he thinks to himself, “He’s not sure where it came from, if it always was there and the war had simply stripped away the colour that hid it, or if this grey is the colour of way.” (40), as everything around him has changed, so has he. Dragan can no longer see the true colours of Sarajevo, he is viewing the streets of Sarajevo cold and miserable. Dragan becomes independent during the war and isolates himself from the people he once knew, no matter how painful it was. The realization of the destruction of life is too painful for Dragan when it mentions, “If people are going to to be taken away from him, either through death or transformation of their personality that makes them into strangers, he’s better off without them.” (43). Not only does he disconnect himself from his friends, visitors, but also his family. He isolates himself from others because this is his way of coping with the war and everything he has lost. He has chosen to focus on surviving for