The Siege Of Ken Character Analysis

Unlike Alisa, Kenan does not choose to fight back during the siege of Sarajevo. Instead, he keeps forging ahead, remaining hopeful, attempting to wait out the siege. Kenan has an extremely selfless personality and prioritizes others’ interests rather than his own. This can be seen when he forces himself to act strong for the sake of his children, he believes “they must not know how afraid he is, how useless he is, how powerless he has become” (Galloway 26). Furthermore, when Mrs. Ristovski requests that Kenan helps her by bringing her water, he does not refuse, “no person he would want to be would [refuse]” (Galloway 30). One day, while gathering water, an artillery attack strikes the brewery and chaos erupts, prompting Kenan to leave. When “he tries to see if anything looks different from the way it did that morning” he realizes that “nothing has changed,” he was just there to witness the horror this time

Following this, he strays from his original personality, becoming cold and cynical rather than helpful. He realizes he is tired of acting selflessly, “tired of carrying water for a woman who has never had a kind word to say to him”, and his helpful personality vanishes as leaves Mrs. Ristovski’s water behind and processes what has happened (Galloway 171). Though the shock of the bombing causes Kenan to make a selfish choice he would not make under normal circumstances, it is a turning point in his development. He finally begins to analyze what happened, why Sarajevo is the way it is, and comes to terms with the reality he is in. Through facing reality, he accepts the siege as part of his life and realizes he has to live with it rather than constantly trying to wait it out. Though he temporarily acts and thinks selfishly, after hearing the cellist’s music, he regains hope and with it the identity he had before the