The Symbolism Of Hope In The Cellist Of Sarajevo By Steven Galloway

The Cellist of Sarajevo The Cellist of Sarajevo is a modern novel written by renowned author Steven Galloway. It uses the setting of war that is well known to citizens in today’s society. The title character plays the classical piece “Albinoni’s Adagio” to ensure the remainder of his inner hope while the siege of his hometown during the Bosnian War. He decides to play aftershock ensues in a nearby bakery once a shell hits it and brutally kills twenty-two innocent people who were just trying to purchase bread. The cellist’s decision to honor the dead serves as a way to maintain his inner hope and serves as a symbol of hope to the other characters in the story. In The Cellist of Sarajevo, there is an overall feeling between the four main characters

He is an older man who works in a bakery. He has factors of lingering hope early on, but throughout the start of the novel, they begin to dwindle. This lack of hope that starts to consume Dragan and causes him to send his family to live in a safer place in Italy. His decision to move his wife and son to a completely different country shows an absence of faith in Sarajevo. Dragan has lived in Sarajevo since birth, and he has seen it go through a multitude of tremendous changes for the better. “He's stopped talking to his friends, visits no one, avoids those who come to visit him. At work, he says as little as possible. He can perhaps learn to bear the destruction of buildings, but the destruction of the living is too much for him” (Galloway 32). Now, to see the city he has cherished for years be tormented by the tribulations of the awful war, he suffers in a constant pit of grief and sorrow for the city he once cared so deeply for. He eventually is able to regain a minute amount of hope when meets an old friend of his, Emina. She informs him of a cellist who is playing in the marketplace near the bakery where Dragan works. The news of this beautiful art form allows Dragan to be at peace with himself and his city. He finally permits himself the ability to be hopeful for a better future. He even saves a man who has been shot one day in the street. The newfound sense of hope in Dragan is what saves

He can't believe he will stop the war. He can't believe he will save lives… She can't tell what he believes, and it bothers her that she can't say exactly what it is, or whether she wants to believe it too” (Galloway, 83). The fact that she is confused and reluctant to be hopeful shows just how scared she is that the city will stay how it is forever. After she listened to the cellist, she found her old love for her city. The cellist’s music makes her remember her life as a young, carefree girl before she was forced to confront evil. From hearing his music, she begins to understand that she can no longer be Arrow anymore. She must return to her true form, Alisa. Once she is at peace with returning to her true self, she knows that she will die for her cause and is okay with it because it is not under her control any longer. Her personal hope may be lost; however, hearing the cellist’s music allows her to realize that Sarajevo’s future rests on the citizens not conforming to the war and going back to their true