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A Long Walk To Water By Linda Sue Park

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In the historical fiction book, A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park, the main character Salva is persistent throughout the entire story. When 11-year-old Salva, who is a member of the Dinka tribe, is forced out of his country by the fatal South Sudanese war, he is confronted with many life-threatening obstacles. Yet, he still finds a way to make headway and persevere. When grieving with the loss of his uncle, and leading a group of young men out of a refugee camp, Salva persevered. One way Salvator persevered, is when grieving with the loss of his uncle. When Salvator escaped the war in his hometown of Loun Arik, he met up with his uncle by chance. Because of this, Salva occupies a companion on this grueling walk. Salva and his uncle plan to head east to Ethiopia to a protected refugee camp. …show more content…

Not only did Salvatore have to deal with the grieving of losing a loved one, but he also had to witness it. This hostile interaction with the Nuer tribe brings up the idea that he could be next and that violence in his area is everywhere and not uncommon. Salva had to continue the vile walk without any family to rely on as shown on page (65 Park) “The time for grief was short, and the walking began soon after dark.” Despite all of the setbacks, Salva kept walking. Salva persevered in the process. Furthermore, Salvator persevered when he had to lead a group of almost fifteen hundred young boys who had survived the Gilo River massacre to a refugee camp in Kenya (Park 80). This walk was easy, it was a 1,000-mile intolerable and exhausting

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The first big problem he deals with is thinking his family is dead in this war and not being with them (Park, 22). The second big problem is Salva losing the close people he was with like his only friend Marial (Park, 40) and Salva's uncle (Park, 63). The next problem is when Salva had a near-death experience (Park, 78,79). The last problem is when Salva had to deal with terrible refugee camps (Park, 84). Even with all of these issues (and more), Salva continued his journey and persevered as by the end of the book, he was in a good situation, living in New York City (Park, 98, 99), performing talks for his company (Park, 109) and being the CEO of a company that was helping South Sudanese villages with their water problems (Park, 115).

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If I do, my family will never find me… Marial put his arm around Salva’s shoulders. He seemed to know what Salva was thinking…” Marial seems to know that Salva is worried that his family will not be able to find him, so he comforts Salva. This shows that Marial helped Salva on his journey, because he made Salva feel better about not being able to find his family and he was able to empathize with Salva. Third, on page forty-one, Salva is afraid of lion attacks after Marial is killed by a lion, so he stays near his Uncle Jewiir. The text states, “Listening to Uncle, staying close to him, Salva was able to make his feet move despite the cold terror throughout his body.”

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Linda Sue Park shows this especially well when Salvas uncle gets shot by the rebel soldiers and, how he persists through this obstacle towards the middle of the story. Despite facing the loss of his uncle, he carried on. Linda Sue Park writes, “But how can I not go on? They would want me to survive” (Park 72). In this text, it is clear that Salva is feeling worried and discouraged after facing this obstacle.

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Salva survived in the South Sudanese Civil War against the North and South. Many did not survive, but Salva did. He survived because of his uncle, his teacher also with his so called auntie, and his own knowledge, patience and persistence. Salva’s uncle helped Salva survive with advice and assistance. Salva’s uncle helped him walk the desert and gave him advice.

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Park describes how “Despite the numbers in his heart, Salva was amazed to find himself walking more fast and boldly than he had before” (Park, 65). Salva was in despair and because of his uncle dying, this drove him to survive and cross the

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Salva expresses a strong need towards wanting to see his family again, because they are so close to his heart. Finally, the last example of perseverance can be found on page 65, where it says, “But there was no doubt: Beneath his terrible sadness, he felt stronger.” This shows that while Salva may be deeply mourning over Uncle’s death, he feels stronger in knowing that Uncle would have wanted him to keep going, not just to the Itang refugee camp, but to every successful place in his life. Overall, Salva learns to persevere through his hardships during his voyage to the Itang refugee

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In A Long Walk to Water, Salva is forced to flee and leave his family behind when the war reaches Salva’s village. As Salva and the rest of the group heads east toward Ethiopia, Salva wonders where his family is and hopes to find them. When Salva comes across his uncle one morning, he is astonished, and the hope that he had lost within that month of escaping comes rushing back. Even though Uncle Jewiir does not know where his family is, Salva is still glad to see him. During the months it took for them to get from Southern Sudan to Ethiopia, Uncle played a crucial role in Salva’s life as his mentor, protector, and role model.

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He was able to survive because he had little food, water, and refuge. After Salva’s uncle is killed, he and the group continue the walk to the refugee camp.

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(Park 66). Salva was trying to lead 1,500 boys from his village to safety, while trying to survive himself. Salva changed because he realized he would have to be a leader in place of his Uncle. This shows that Salva is stronger than he was in the beginning of the

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After many weeks of walking and walking, Salva and the group he was traveling with arrived at the refugee camp and they stayed there for 6 years. After having been at the camp for a while, Salva becomes used to not having his family around much, although still, “He remembered how he had looked after his little brother... what it felt like to listen to the older ones...the gentleness of his sisters;the strength of his father; the care of his mother.” (Park 81). This is around the time when Salva became accustomed to not having a family, and he has grown to treat other people like family and to remember how great it was to have family.

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Salva was thrown straight on into the Sudanese war to fend for himself, so he was all alone without his family. Later on Salva realizes what has happened

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His uncle was one of the most influential and supportive people in his life and he helped Salva throughout his journey. At one point, he was reunited with his uncle who had left to fight in the war he felt safe and he depended on his uncle for anything. This shows that his uncle was very caring, helpful and encouraging. In the book it says “ Salva shook his head, unable to imagine what life would be like in the camp without Uncle.” (?).

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According to the text on Page 72, Salva is thinking this: “How can I go on without them? But how can I not go on? They would want me to survive ... to grow up and make something of my life... to honor their memories. What was it Uncle had said during that first terrible day in the desert? " Do you see that group of bushes?

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To begin with, Salva was determined to make it out alive while walking through the Akobo Desert. Uncle told Salva that it would take three days to go through the scrub terrain of the Akobo Desert, Salva was determined to go through the desert with very little water from his gourd. Uncle was warning Salva that crossing the Akobo Desert would be a difficult terrain to survive because there was barely any food to survive of, it was almost as

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(pg 73) This shows that Salva is persevering because even though he hates the refugee camp, he

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