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Book Analysis: A Long Walk To Water

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Surviving The Sudanese Civil War While sitting in class, a Sudanese boy heard gunshots erupt and his life was never the same again. Linda Sue Park’s book A Long Walk To Water depicts the incredible true story of Salva Muwien Dut Ariik’s journey from South Sudan to Kenya when his home becomes war-torn. The factors that made survival possible for Salva were his decision to flee his home, receive help from others when most needed, and the motivation from his loved ones even after their deaths. Survival was dependent on eleven year old Salva making the decision to flee his home. The Sudanese Civil War had been going on for two years. The Northern Sudanese government wanted all of Sudan to be a Muslim country. Whereas, the people in the south practiced different …show more content…

Six years later, Camp Itang closed down and Salva had to consider his options of where to go: “Not home. There is still war everywhere in Sudan. Not back to Ethiopia. The soldiers would shoot us. Kenya. The. There are supposed to be refugee camps in Kenya” (Park, 79). When Salva decided to walk to the Kenya refugee camps, a group of kids started to follow him without asking any questions. During the journey, Salva remembered his Uncle's advice to keep walking, which he also shared with the group of kids. One step at a time. one day at a time. Just today--just this day to get through.” (Park, 82). After using Uncle's technique, it took a year and a half, where Salva successfully reached Camp Kakuma in Kenya, accompanied by twelve hundred kids. Despite abandonment from his village, starvation, dehydration, witnessing the death of loved ones, insect bites, and nearly drowning in a crocodile-infested river, Salva never gave up on his journey from South Sudan to Kenya. As proven, the factors that made survival possible for Salva were his decision to flee his home, receive help from others when most needed, and the motivation from his loved ones even after their

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643 Words | 3 Pages

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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1078 Words | 5 Pages

Salva survives the dangers of his journeys because of hard work, perseverance, and his relationships. Salva survives some of his challenges because of hard work.

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842 Words | 4 Pages

“There was no one left to help me. They think I am weak and useless. Salva lifted his head up proudly. They were wrong and I am going to prove it” (66).Here, Salva was determined to show everyone in his traveling group that he was strong and that he had strong will power with or without his uncle’s help. Without this mindset, it would’ve been hard to go through his loss and condition.

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797 Words | 4 Pages

He had a new family, a chance to be educated, food to eat, clean water and everything else necessary to live a healthy life. The third and final life-changing event that gave Salva hope was the start of and the success of his organization called “Water for South Sudan”. The goal was to help villages in Sudan get clean drinking water. Salva’s organization gives him hope for his future because “Water for South Sudan” is helping thousands of people and drastically changing their lives for the

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1013 Words | 5 Pages

Then he walked. For hours, until the sun was nearly gone from the sky.’(9). This proves that even in confusing and frightening events, Salva is able to make it through and make good choices about his safety. In conclusion, one of the vital reasons of Salva’s survival is the events that he made it through and the things that he persevered

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367 Words | 2 Pages

For example chapter 1 Southern Sudan, 1985, “Stay away from the villages-run into the bush. He went to the door and looked out again. Go! All of you, now!” This shows that war is a huge hardship in southern Sudan by pushing kids out of school because they are endangered.

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526 Words | 3 Pages

Armed conflict was a big part of this story and was first illustrated in the very beginning. “Gunfire, everyone down. The teacher shouted,” (1). This is when the Sudanese soldiers from the north break into Salva’s school and force them out.

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790 Words | 4 Pages

“The walking began again. Walking – but to where? Not home. There is still war everywhere in Sudan. Not back to Ethiopia the soldiers would shoot us.”(79)

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794 Words | 4 Pages

On page 65, there is an example of Salva’s perseverance. The text says, “Marial and Uncle were no longer by his side, and they never would be again, but Salva knew that both of them would have wanted him to survive, to finish the trip and reach the Itang refugee camp safely.” This shows that even though Salva’s journey is strenuous, the beliefs of Uncle and Maria for Salva to get to the Itang refugee camp are his inspiration to keep moving along. Then, another example of Salva’s perseverance can be found where it says, “Salva would think of his family and his village, and he was somehow able to keep his wounded feet moving forward, one painful set at a time.” Salva’s motivation to keep on his journey comes from his village and his family.

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405 Words | 2 Pages

Salva walked and walked many miles without water in the desert (73). Salva walked through the desert and kept going. Many lost boys never stopped heading to Kenya (78). Strength, leadership, and persistence helped Salva survive in Sudan. That’s why Salva showed experience in A Long Walk to Water.

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1598 Words | 7 Pages

Adapting To Challenging Environments In A Long Walk To Water by Linda Sue Park, “Time Trip: Sudan’s Civil War” by Scholastic, Salva’s Bio” and “Water for South Sudan: Salva’s Story”, many events that happened in Sudan and how people adapted to their challenging environment are shown. The characters I will focus on are Salva, Nya, Salva’s Uncle, the Lost Boy’s, and Sudanese people in general. The main point I will focus on is that individuals adapt in challenging environments by taking small steps to complete a big task, moving from one place to another, and taking advantage of the current environment and it’s resources. The author uses several literary devices, including a plot, characters, images, language, and other things to show how Salva,

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838 Words | 4 Pages

Have you ever gone through the desert with only a small gourd of water? Well, the Lost boys of Sudan went through South Sudan to get away from the war, and some other challenges. In the book a Walk to Water Salva and Nya have problems of getting water, but Salva is based on a real person who went through the challenges of losing his family and the brutal Sudanese war. These are some of the challenges he faced and how he solved them with what he had throughout his life. Through harsh challenges Salvas new foster family was always there for him to support and encourage him through tough times.

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618 Words | 3 Pages

In Linda Sue Park’s novel A Long Walk to Water, demonstrates one of many true stories of many a Lost Boy. Salva an eleven year old had to flee from his village all alone because his village was attacked due to the Second Sudanese War that began in 1983. When Salva was at school and his village was being attacked,he was told not to go home, but into the bush,that's where his whole journey began. Salva had to show confidence, determination,and perseverance in order to survive in a difficult environment.

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963 Words | 4 Pages

Children under the age of 18 are learning how to use a rifle before learning how to read and write. Because of this, Sudan’s crops suffer, leading to famine. These are only a couple ways in which how the wars are affecting the countries. If this continues, then their children will know nothing but violence and starvation. From the battles, people are fleeing their homes in fear, but not everyone makes it far enough to escape the wars.

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368 Words | 2 Pages

One reason is because of the second Civil War. In this war two million people died and four million people were displaced.(Forced to cross a national boundaries and cannot return home safely.) The reason the second Civil War in South Sudan started was because of the first Civil War. That was a conflict of regional autonomy. The British failed to guarantee equity in government representation for the South African-Christians.

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