W is the W- Chapter 14

(pg. 188-189) Hearing Deng and William K's stories reminds me that everyone has a different story and life I know nothing about. Everyone has a past and has gone through struggles, and it's sad that people judge other people without even knowing who they are and what they've gone through. I'm guilty of this as I'm sure most people are.

"-So they helped load everyone onto the train, onto the cars where they keep cattle." (Eggers 189) Reminds me of the Holocaust when all the Jews were pushed together on the train. It's actually gross because people are smelly and it's hard to breathe. "We could barely breathe; we pushed our mouths to the slits that were open to the outside, and we took turns inside the car, getting close to the air." (Eggers 190) This happened in Life is Beautiful, though Guido pulled it off so it's like a trip for his son's birthday. Watching this movie is also part of my assignment, and I'll have a post about it later.

"A girl near me vomited all over my back." When I went to a Death Cab For Cutie Concert someone spilled beer down my back. Try explaining why you smell like alcohol to your mom. It's also worse that during the Holocaust it could take days to get to the camps, so people peed and pooped in those carts, which is sick. You couldn't lay down let alone sit for days.

(pg. 196) I always think people are in his future story or past story and I have to go check. Isn't Jok in one story? I think there was a Jok in Marial Bai that was there when he became a Catholic. Also, why is everyone named Deng? Either first, middle, or last name, Deng is super common. Maybe Deng in Sudan is like Muhammad to the Middle East. Or John Smith to Americans.

(pg. 198) "Perhaps only the strongest were meant to make it to Ethiopia; there was only enough Ethiopia for the best of boys. This was the theory of William K. He had regained his senses and was talking more than before." Oh good. I'm glad he didn't die. Why do some boys die and others don't? I suppose the more healthy ones from the beginning last longer. Those that have the most will power to live will last longer.

(pg. 203) When Achak is separated from the Walking Boys he runs into a strange man who lives in the middle of nowhere. He is there with plenty of food and fresh water to himself, and he is out there for safety. "I am not anywhere and this is nowhere and that is why I am alive." (Eggers 204) I imagine this as a good plan. There aren't any armies to raid anything near him and he has no threats. Yet, what is a cost of this safety? He has no one and is alone all the time with nothing around him. He has his shack, his food, and one bike. Achak considered living with him. "I considered the idea of staying with this man because here it seemed very likely that I would not die." (Eggers 202) A very convincing point, and I would consider staying too. Except Achak decides the man is crazy, and after some food, water, and a go in the bicycle, he heads back to the Red Army. I have to wonder if he had not met the strange Nowhere Man would Achak have starved?

(pg. 215) One fateful day, bodies of SPLA soldier were found dead along the trail with regular walking people. This had never happened before, and to the boys a soldier was the strongest, most protecting thing they had. They met The Fist, a group of soldiers coming from Ethiopia, the promise land they were heading too. Except something about these men wasn't right. "But then, the men of The "Fist were starving, dying. What kind of place were we going to, if grown men with guns had left there and were starving on their way back to Sudan?" (Eggers 215) I believe this is strong foreshadowing of what awaits them in Ethiopia.

(pg. 218) It is a dark, dark day. William K, beloved, friendly, lying William K has died. It's a horrible thing when you have to bury your best friend who died only by closing his eyes to rest. Perhaps some of the saddest sentences I have ever read: "When I was finished, I told William K that I was sorry. I was sorry that I had not known how sick he was. That I had not found a way to keep him alive. That I was the last person he saw on this earth. That he could not say good-bye to his mother and father, that only I would know were is body lay." (Egger 218-219) Perhaps William K didn't die for nothing, because his lies did some good. Achak wanted to die right there with him, but along with thinking of his family that might still be alive, he thought of William K's visions of Ethiopia which willed him to continue the journey. William K, you just about saved Achak's life.

(pg. 223) I wonder how Dut is doing. He is walking the same distance as these boys, eating and drinking just as much as they are (which is pretty much nothing), and he is the leader. He has to actually keep his mind working at all times to figure out which direction to go, what to do with all these boys. When they get to an abandoned village and see a water tanker coming over the distance led by SPLA soldiers, he displayed more emotion there than ever before. "-Hello uncle! Dut said, now exuberant, almost in tears...It's so good to see you here! We're so hungry! And we have no clean water... When I saw the tanker I thought God himself had sent it to us." (Eggers 223) Little did he know they weren't getting any water. Just an order to leave the village for the wealthier refugees who are well fed, hydrated, and clothed. Why can't the SPLA be about Sudan and all the people in it and stop this bi-polar behavior?