Book Analysis: A Long Walk To Water

ALWTW Theme Essay By Brynn Roberts In the historical fiction book, A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park, the theme, Never let obstacles get in the way of reaching your goal is illustrated throughout the whole book. The obstacles and struggles that Salva faces throughout the book show how he can bounce back and continue when an obstacle is thrown at him. Two pieces of evidence to prove my statement are in the beginning and the middle of the story. One area where this theme is shown is toward the beginning of the book, when his village, Loun Arik is attacked by soldiers. Even though he isn’t sure if his parents would make it out alive, he follows his teachers’ directions and runs far away from his village. This is also shown toward the middle of the story when Salva witnesses his uncle getting shot right in front of him. Salva is heartbroken, especially because his uncle has been there for him every step of the way. Salva still manages to pick himself up and keep moving.

He overcomes a lot of obstacles, which shows how he manages to keep going. One obstacle he overcomes is towards the beginning of when his village, Loun Arik is attacked by rebel soldiers. This is shown in chapter 1 when the author writes, “Gunfire! . ‘run into the bush.’” When Salva hears his teacher say this, he follows directions and runs into the bush. He reluctantly follows directions and keeps going, even though he isn’t sure if his family will survive. This is significant because, if he did not follow the exact directions, he would’ve died. This proves that he does not let obstacles get in his way of