The Battle Of Humanity In Cellist Of Sarajevo By Steven Galloway

In the story “Cellist Of Sarajevo” by Steven Galloway the battle between life and death snatches away ones humanity. The citizens of Sarajevo battle their beliefs and experiences, as they are continuously running away from the war.

The citizens of Sarajevo are divided between their beliefs, as they struggle to keep their humanity. Before the war Arrow has no intention of killing. After being hired a job to help assassinate the men on the hills, her judgment on life changes. She says, “ But worse … is the damage done … between what she knows and what she believes”(Galloway 13). What Arrow knows is all in the past, she is no longer her old self and she can not turn back from what she has started. She no longer remembers what life once was,

He tells himself, “ If he is honest with himself, he has no idea why he keeps bringing Mrs. Ristovski water”(Galloway 120). Kenan’s approach on life changes after realizing that Mrs.R has brought nothing but bitterness and sorrow into his life. He has seen many people die around him, and does not want to be next. He has a family that he must care for, and can not risk the pain of leaving his family when they need him most. Next, the men on the hills have stripped all hope away from Dragan. He does not have faith that the war will ever end and can not remember life before the war. He says, “ I’m afraid that it will stay like this forever, that this war isn’t a war, but just how life will be” (Galloway 127). Dragan wants life to return to normal. He wants to wander the streets of Sarajevo, and spend time with his family, without the

He waits for the day when the war will end, and he can go and spend time with his family. His humanity is slipping away from him, and finds himself constantly chasing the past. The war has changed Kenan and he is no longer the person that he used to be. Secondly, Arrow must decide the people she must shoot before she even picks up her rifle. Arrow was misled when she “ first picked up a rifle to kill”(13). Arrow wanted to preserve her humanity by choosing to kill the men on the hills, but ultimately lost what she was trying to protect. Her humanity was lost the day she picked up the rifle and she can not bring back what she has already lost. Arrow’s decision to fight through the war stripped everything away from her. Lastly, Dragan has lost his generosity, after deciding to leave his friend after she was shot. They had been friends for as long as he could remember, but he still only cared for himself. He was frightened and the people around him had more humanity left in them than he did. He thinks to himself, “ He wants to go with the man, to help him and see if Emina can be saved. But his feet don’t move” (Galloway 134). Dragan has lost all of his humanity. The war has affected him in a negative way, and he can not even help one of his closet friends. The men on the hills have scared Dragan of all his hope .He is scared of even the littlest of things, and can not fend for himself. The ongoing war has deprived the citizens of there