If you were forced from your home due to war, how would you overcome challenges that head your way? Salva, is a young sudanese boy whose village is bombed because of the war. He is forced south toward Ethiopia, traveling on foot. As he walks there he experiences many obstacles such as, death, predators, and loss of shelter. Salva, the main character in Linda Sue Park’s A Long Walk to Water is able to survive and overcome a variety of challenges through his hard work, relationships, perseverance and luck.
Salva was able to overcome challenges because of his willingness to work hard. He works hard so the women won’t kick him out. He worked hard, “Salva stayed in the woman’s barn again that night...water from the pond.” So that the old lady wouldn’t kick him out. (17-18) This shows how mature people can be when knowing what they need to survive. Then, Salva and others help Uncle Jewiir to
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To begin, Salva happens to come upon more Dinka people. The texts shows us, “These people were Dinka too!” (12) This means that after the old lady kicked Salva out from her group, another group just so happens to come along, and their Dinka. Then, Salva doesn’t have to give up his clothes. “Even in the midst of his fear, he realized that for the first time on the trip, it was a good thing to be the youngest and smallest: The men would not be interested in his clothes,” Salva thought. This shows that Salva is extremely lucky for the men not to take his clothes. after the men raid his group, it just so happens that the men are not his size? Luck. Extreme luck. Lastly, Salva is forced underwater. Salva is swimming with crocodiles, “Stunned Salva realized that being forced under the water had probably saved his life.” and doesn’t get killed. This explains that because someone was clinging on to Salva and bringing him below the water, he didn’t get shot. Because of his extreme luck Salva made it through all of these
It states “Honey this night,they would feast!” after they found food. But when there was barely any food Salva was very hungry, it was painful for him. It states in “A long walk to water” “ I was hungrier than ever.” He had many other struggles such as when his toenail broke off. It states “The pain was terrible. He lowered his head,and the tears began to flow. He could hardly get his breath.” And not only did he experience pain he experienced losing his only part of his family that he was with at the time. It states “ one of the men aimed his gun at uncle. Three shots rang out.” All this evidence indicates that salva has induced so much agony, and although when things were at his worst,many miracles
In the novel, it states, “A lion had been hungry enough to approach the group as they slept…It sought out pray that was small and motionless: Marial, sleeping” (Park 41). Thus proves, that Salva was lucky that he wasn't eaten by a fierce lion when he was sound asleep, though he could have easily been eaten just like Marial. Salva rested for the night near Uncle Jewiir who would protect them from predators. On the other hand Marial slept further away from Salva and Uncle so he was vulnerable and was easily eaten by a lion. Additionally, the text states, “Stunned, Salva realized that being forced under the water have probably saved his life” (Park 78). This illustrates that when Salva was attempting to swim across the Gilo River, a boy cling to his neck and quickly forced Salva under water without warning him. Soon the boy was shot in the back of the neck, being pushed under water saved Salva from being shot and killed while crossing the Gilo River He was one of the few lucky refugees to survive crossing the crocodile-infested stream, though any of them could have easily been shot, drowned by the current or eaten by the flesh hungry crocodiles. Salva had survived many of the dangerous events by pure luck, his skills, and personal traits had no involvement when surviving some of the
He could not think of any other explanation for what he felt, but beneath his terrible sadness, he felt strong” on pages 63 and 65. When Salva’s uncle was alive, Salva always got enough food and was safe in the group. It’s hard enough that Salva’s last family member had just been killed, not he has to beg for food, and is unwanted in the
After Salva makes it across the infested river full of crocodile. He didn't know what to do, so he said “I'm going to walk South to Kenya.” A group of lost boys followed him. In the book it states, “Crowds of other lost boys of Sudan followed him. Nobody talked about it, but by the end of the first day Salva had became the leader of the group of 1,500 lost boys.” (Chapter, 13, Page 80) This quote shows how nobody stepped to lead these boys because nobody had the guts to lead them but, Slava stepped up in front of these boys and said he is going to lead them to Kenya. That takes a lot of
Salva keeps going even though he was devastated when he lost his friend Marial. Salva explained the loss of his friend as: “A cold fist seemed to grip Salva’s heart”(pg 38). He also kept going even though his uncle was shot dead. His beloved uncle who protected him, guided him, and loved him, was gone. “Now that Salva was without Uncle’s care and protection, the group’s attitude toward him changed”(pg 65). Salva faces traumatic events while crossing the river, he watches people get shot and killed. Later, Salva learned that thousands had died trying to cross the river, either drowned or shot or attacked by crocodiles (pg 79). After crossing the river only a few boys were alive, so Salva led the young boys to shelter. The boys kept walking, and walking till they found a safe
It took 648 miles to walk from Southern Sudan to Ethiopia. Salva did this on an empty stomach with no food or water. Do you think you would survive in a 100 degree weather with no food or water, with the same cloths that you been wearing for a year? Because salva did. In the book “A Long Walk to Water” written by Linda Sue park, she talks about Salva's journey that took years and years to get to safety after the war stated. The war came to his village while he was in school he had to run to the bush with not knowing where is his family or even knowing if they are alive. Salva was running from the war for 24 years before he finally found safety in the united states. He was 11 when he started to run, he met a friend along the way but he sadly died due to being eaten by a lion. He also meant his uncle along the way which help Salva gain confidence that he was going to make it out alive, but again the uncle passed away due to three men shooting him, because he was trying to keep everyone safe. In this essay I am going to prove that we can learn to never give up even if things are at the worst point possible and if you take things one step at a time you will get through whatever you are struggling with. The key aspects I am going to be talking about are how did Salva learn never give up and even when salva is at his worst he never gives up and still has hope that he is going to make it out alive. My first body paragraph I am explaining how salva never gave up.
Salva’s uncle (Jewiir) was one of the many factors that aided him in his survival. When Jewiir, pretty much his only hope of protection and his source of
Salva was undoubtedly loyal to his family. Anytime he would enter a new refugee camp or join a new group of people, he would scan the faces of everyone, hoping to spot someone from his family. This was thoroughly demonstrated when Salva was at the Itang
Sadly, a group of nuer that was against the Dinka had killed salva's uncle."They buried uncle in a hole about two feet deep, a hole that has already been made by some kind of animal."(64) Not only did Salva loose Marial but he also lost the only family member that was close to him. Salva couldnt hold on to this forver. This was the best they couldve done for his uncle, bury him. There was no way that his unc couldve cam back to life so Salva had to get over this tragic event to keep going. Even though he was in shock, he kept on traveling the next day.He couldnt stop moving. He knw that in his heart. It was logical that he continued with the group, othrwise he wouldve been left behind as the group didnt care for him any more since his uncle died. Following his uncle's death, "..the group's attitude toward him changed."(65) they had all thought that he was too small and weak to go along with the group. So as predicted they've started to neglect him again. Even though times were tough, Salva still begged for scraps because it was all he was going to get and he had to accept that. One of Salva's goals was to reunite with his family again.But deep in his mind he always knew that ther was a possiblity that he could never see his family again bcause they couldve ben kileld. But slava nevr chose to accept that reality, instead he looked on the bright said and
Salva had a positive attitude to survive.when he was in the u.s he didn’t forget about the people in sudan.Which made him want to get clean water for them and he did.When the war took him away from family,he still hoped he would see them again. Which encouraged to continue walking,so later on he could see his family.
He stay with a ladie that he helped do chores like cutting down trees and getting water from the pond. Then one day the women had to leave Slava. Slava found a new group of people to stay with. A few days later, He meant a new friend named Marial which soon he will have to deal with Marial’s tragic death. On Salva’s walk to the refugee camp, the death one of his
This means that Salva is trying to keep moving so he can be safe. Next on page 53 it states that Salva’s toenail came off but even through all that pain Salva capt moving on his journey. This shows that Salva will keep moving on his journey even though his toenail came off, and this is mature enough to not stop because of his pain.On page 64 it states, ‘They buried my uncle in a hole about two feet deep’.This shows that Salva is determined to complete his goal and will not give up over a death, Salva became stronger because of his uncle death by giving him endurance.This evidence shows that Salva had to persevere through difficult task to
To begin with, Salva needs determination. Salva has to be determined in order to make it through the obstacles of the desert, on his journey to Ethiopia. Salva had stubbed his toe so hard that his toe nail came off. Salva came close to giving up, but his uncle kept him determined by giving him goals. ”When they reached the bushes, Uncle pointed out a clump of rocks up ahead, and told Salva to walk as far as the rocks,”(P.54)
To begin with, Salva showed that it was possible for him to survive by perseverance. In the text on page 9, it says "He ran until he could not run anymore." This shows that Salva wanted to survive. He did not want to get caught up in a war and do things
The second survival factor that made survival possible for Salva was Uncle Jewiir’s advice. Not only was his advice a survival factor, but he himself was a survival factor. While Salva was crossing the desert in chapter 7 he found himself losing hope. But Uncle Jewiir didn’t let that happen. He made sure to stay by Salva’s side when he needed somebody for comfort and he gave advice. According to chapter 7 (page 41), it states that “If it hadn’t been Uncle, Salva might have gone crazy with fear. Uncle spoke to him all morning in a steady, low voice.” This shows us that Salva was afraid of the lions and he needed someone to comfort him. This also shows that without Uncle Jewiir Salva would probably be long gone. It also says in chapter 9 (page 53) that “As if by magic, Uncle was suddenly at his side. “Salva Mawien Dut Ariik!” he said, using Salva’s full name, loud and clear. Salva lifted his head, the sobs interrupted by surprise. “Do you see that group of bushes?” Uncle said, pointing. You need to only walk as far as those bushes. Can you do that, Salva Mawien Dut Ariik?” This shows us that Uncle Jewiir’s advice helped him a lot and what Uncle was trying to imply to Salva was to take a step at a time instead of taking it all in one time. Not only did Uncle Jewiir’s advice help now, but years later too. He was