Humanity In The Cellist Of Sarajevo By Steven Galloway

"We cannot despair of humanity, since we ourselves are human beings" (BookRags, 1) - Albert Einstein. This quote is particularly true, since it is very important to maintain what identifies us as human beings, especially during horrific times, such as war. The Cellist of Sarajevo, a novel by Steven Galloway, delivers an interesting story by using internal conflict of the three characters, to demonstrate a theme, of the great possibilities of regaining humanity with the belief of a better life and a brighter future, thus revealing that finding hope is crucial for the survival of humanity.

In the tragic, real life story about Ellie Wiesel and his book Night, we learn how people can change and act differently when certain events happen. We witness formerly moral men committing deeds that seem so vicious and cruel. Hitler and his followers were the epitome of cruel men. People still today still don’t know how anyone could act this way. Some people don’t even believe they were human. The men hanging a child, beating up Ellie’s dad, and the Rabbi’s son ditching his dad are only three reasons that showcase crusely and how moral men can change.

Karim feels inferior to others because he never knew the free and safe life. This is demonstrated when he states to Milad,”the problem is that we who are young never knew before. We’ve only known after, which is not a pretty sight.”(74) Karim wants to have normal teenage years, although he knows he cannot because he lives in a war zone. He blames the older generation for stealing his life after causing a war to such a beautiful country as Lebanon. Moreover, Karim feels jealous of the people who knew peace and the ‘’before’’ because they had the chance to live a good life. Living in a country where a war is going on can cause a big trauma to children because they witness a great violence and they do not get to live a safe

The personal nature of the story is communicated through the author’s experiences and by the people of Gorazde themselves. Taking abandonment as an example, we follow Sacco as he travels down the “blue road” which Bosnian Muslims cannot escape their suffering, the very same road which the UN shares with Serbian ethnic cleansers. Here we have the international abandonment of the enclave. Relayed to us by the people of Gorazde, is their abandonment of one another based on ethnicity.

In “Walking Since Daybreak,” Modris Eksteins fuses personal narrative and wartime history, describing both the regional devastation and the ensuing refugee crisis that characterized post-war Europe. Expanding on a myriad of historical research of the era, he details the destruction, desolation, and disorder that not only illuminates the post-war position of Eastern Europe, but more specifically, the mental states of the Baltic peoples - devoid of direction. Through stunning prose often absent in historical analysis, Eksteins delves into a familial case study of eastern Europe, deftly honing in on the reduction of life “to [its] fundamental form, scurrying for survival” (pg. x).

In Steven Galloway’s The Cellist of Sarajevo, one of the three characters in the book, Kenan, goes through profound changes after witnessing and experiencing many events that happened during the siege. Although there aren’t really any changes in the way he actually acts, by the end of the book we see that the way he thinks has changed from how he did in the beginning, specifically in terms of his neighbour, Mrs. Ristovski. Kenan is a busy man, being a husband and a father of two children. He feels entirely responsible for his family and is paralyzed with fear every time he must go out of the house to get water for his family. However, he feels that he has to conceal his fear because his children “must not see him like this.

Music is known to leave its mark on people helping them to overcome challenges in their lives or to give them courage to defy the odds. In one’s daily life, music is normally taken for granted or is seen as nothing special. As ordinary as it may seem, music can convey emotion in times when the body is numb or all hope is lost. Similarly, in The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway, the cello’s music gave people hope and determination to live their lives in spite of the rampant siege around them. Therefore, music very much impacts the lives of the principal characters Dragan, Kenan, and Arrow.

Refugees go through a lot when fleeing home, including leaving behind favorite food. According to the novel it states, “ Brother Quang forces a swallow before explaining we are used to fresh-killed chicken that roamed the yard” (Lai 120). In this quote it demonstrates that Brother Quang is missing the food, and like most of the refugees don't get adapted to the food from their new countries. Also, the refugees that are able to leave their home country, They leave behind family, friends, and love ones. In the text it states, “But i miss my friends in Sarajevo… Sometimes i wish I’d stayed there, watching the war, rather than being here, safe, but without friends”(Brice 26). In this quote it shows how the children that left home country are missing their loved ones and adults do so too. Furthermore, most refugees like Brother Quang leave behind their studies just to go to safety. According to “Ten Borders” it states, “I just want to get back to my engineering studies”(Schmidle 4). This evidence leads me to understand that the refugees were almost professionals and most were already professional but the war took away that privilege to become successful in their home country. These evidence shows that most of the refugees miss a trait from their home country that their new country just doesn't

Run and hide or stay and fight. The fight or flight response is the first thing the human brain activates when there are threats to its survival. Steven Galloway’s novel, The Cellist of Sarajevo, puts the main characters in many situations that require quick decisions to ensure survival. This instantaneous response is central to the one of the characters in the novel named Dragan. He is an elderly man whose family has escaped Sarajevo while he stays behind. Though he has the support of his sister, he depends almost entirely on himself for survival. The choices he makes to ensure he lives reflect the response he has to the effects of the war. At the beginning, Dragan isolates himself from everyone including friends because he is afraid of losing them. He is afraid to cross an intersection and waits for hours out of fear of death by the snipers of the men on the hills. A transition begins in his mind when he witnesses the consequences every choice carries when his friend Emina is shot by a sniper. By the end of the novel he decides that he will live in the battle-torn Sarajevo however he chooses and not be intimidated by the men on the hills. Dragan uses the power of choice to hide and be fearful, although by the end of the novel, he chooses to be brave and have hope for the return of the Sarajevo of his memories..

If you could revisit any moment in your life and change the decision you made, would your identity be any different? Could your identity, the values and beliefs you hold, be altered or erased by one drastic event? One novel, which explores the development one’s identity is Steven Galloway’s The Cellist of Sarajevo. Galloway clearly explores identity through the three main characters of the novel; Alisa, Kenan, and Dragan, conveying a clear lesson about hope through the experiences of the three characters. Though the conflicts from the siege cause them all to deviate from their personalities before the siege, they eventually all revert to their original personalities, regaining their identities.

The true nature of human action remains as an enigma for many and it is question whose answer is everywhere in the civilization that we have all collectively built. The author Jane Austen in persuasion believes that each person is self serving and kind when it 's in their best interest. Contrary to Austens’ belief, Mark Twain with“The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” shows a more optimistic view of human nature where the guilt and sense of sympathy are the driving emotions behind every action. Similarly, in the novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith identifies the empathy and duty as a primary cause for the kindness in each person. Every person is hardwired to be a social and inherently good person driven by the emotional consequences and

In Steven Galloway's The Cellist of Sarajevo, a young female sniper, Arrow, nearly loses sight of her own true self-identity as a consequence of being forced to assume the role of killer under the pressure of the ruling forces. However, through the restorative powers of the cellist's music, which acts as a tool for her inner healing, she is finally able to regain her former moral values, prior to her eventual death. This young female character, previously a skilled member of her university's target shooting

Humanity is one of the many virtues we as humans believe we are born with. However, living in a world much like the one described in both The Hunger Games and The Road novels, some may argue that turning off one’s humanity is a necessity. Nevertheless, both novels prove that while some characters had to turn off their humanity in a horrific world like The Hunger Games and The Road, the two main characters of each book demonstrated how a barbaric world could not take that virtue from them.

During war people go through a spectrum of feelings from hope to despair. Hardships make even the most optimistic people lose hope. In the novel, The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway, Kenan struggles to hold on to his hope as it diminishes due to the Bosnian war. Before the effects of the war impacted Kenan, when he was provided with a little window of hope he always makes the most of it, he goes through daily struggles to continue surviving and he maintains a positive attitude towards life. Although, Kenan’s hope for Sarajevo diminishes as he accepts the war as a part of his lifestyle, learns that his fate is entirely up to the men on the hills and undervalues the cellist for commemorating the dead.

The theme of the cellist of Sarajevo is the psyche. Every character goes through a