Hope In Steven Marloway's The Cellist Of Sarajevo

Hope in The Cellist of Sarajevo

Undoubtedly, an optimistic perspective can have an impact on the outcome of any given situation. On the contrary, a pessimistic view will create negative feelings and can drastically alter the outcome. In the novel, The Cellist of Sarajevo, the three main characters point of view on hope change throughout the story. Their perspective enables them to think positively or negatively on the war and destruction that is going on around them. Steven Galloway explores how the presence and absence of hope affects Kenan, Arrow and Dragan’s outlook on the war.

To begin with, Kenan remains hopeful by taking on the role of a provider for his family, staying optimistic in the face of pessimism, but eventually loses his hope after a near death experience. First of all, Kenan’s need to care for his family gives him strength to overcome his anxieties. Before Kenan goes out to fetch water from the brewery, he reflects how exhausted and afraid he is to go outside and face the horrors of the war, until he reminds himself “If he doesn’t return home today he

She is losing faith that she will be able to protect the cellist. Eventually Arrow is able to kill the sniper but she regrets it, realising that it is not the right thing to do. She understands that the war could have been avoidable, and that “She didn’t have to be filled with hatred. The music demanded that she remember this, that she know to a certainty that the world still held the capacity for goodness. The notes were proof of that.” (255) Now able to comprehend that she does not have to hate the men on the hills, Arrow is able to reclaim her identity of who she was before the war began. After listening to the cellist, she regains hope there there can still be some good left in the world. Therefore, Arrow’s loss of memory and confidence is later regained when she remembers her true