Emmanuel Jal’s retelling of the traumatic events that he encountered in the Second Sudanese Civil War gave a powerful message while also being rhetorically genius. Jal is an incredibly skilled writer, which is impressive since having been affected by the war since the age of seven, he must have had to work extremely hard in school and even after to get himself to this level. His words cut deep as you feel his pain and loss, soothe each time he finds a way around “the rocks in the road”, and encourage as we take notes on how to be the kind of people that give all we can to others and then more.
Jal’s use of repetitive words simulated the experience of trauma as the graphic scenes and phrases whirl around and around inside his head while he tries …show more content…
In the beginning, there are no dates provided and the years seem to fly by so quickly that it is difficult to separate events as they blur together. However, in these moments reflects on this confusing point in his life as he drops truths of childhood on us. In the third chapter of his novel, Jal exemplifies the resiliency of children in his statement “but at times I could forget the hatred I felt for jallabas because children are better at war than adults. The moment the battle was behind us, we would start playing again and laugh as we remembered how funny people looked as they ran” (29). Again he see his knowledge sprouting as he tells us, while escaping through the desert to join Riek Machar’s side of the war, that “once you plant a seed of belief and excitement into a child’s heart, he will patiently await for a thing to arrive—just as children in the West wait for Father Christmas” (54). The hope that he had of going to school and learning to be a pilot pushed him past his hunger, anger, exhaustion, and the death of his friends. We see here how strong and flexible the human spirit can be when we have nothing to hold onto but the promise of a better
Jal’s use of repetitive words simulated the experience of trauma as the graphic scenes and phrases whirl around and around inside his head while he tries …show more content…
In the beginning, there are no dates provided and the years seem to fly by so quickly that it is difficult to separate events as they blur together. However, in these moments reflects on this confusing point in his life as he drops truths of childhood on us. In the third chapter of his novel, Jal exemplifies the resiliency of children in his statement “but at times I could forget the hatred I felt for jallabas because children are better at war than adults. The moment the battle was behind us, we would start playing again and laugh as we remembered how funny people looked as they ran” (29). Again he see his knowledge sprouting as he tells us, while escaping through the desert to join Riek Machar’s side of the war, that “once you plant a seed of belief and excitement into a child’s heart, he will patiently await for a thing to arrive—just as children in the West wait for Father Christmas” (54). The hope that he had of going to school and learning to be a pilot pushed him past his hunger, anger, exhaustion, and the death of his friends. We see here how strong and flexible the human spirit can be when we have nothing to hold onto but the promise of a better