Character Analysis: Salva's Survival

Have you ever thought what it felt to be a young 11 year old in a war in Africa all alone without his family? Salva is an eleven year old boy from the Dinka tribe in South Sudan. Salva experienced one of the worst things that could happen to a kid, his family being torn apart by war. The war took place between June 5, 1983 and January 9, 2005. It took mostly in South Sudan because the muslim government wanted the tribes to practice the muslim religion. But the tribes refused and fought with the government, which was what caused Salva to flee and lose his family. During Salva’s journey to surviving, many survival factors helped him. The three biggest survival factors that stood out the most were family, persistence and teamwork. Family because

Salva is on his way to a refugee camp in Ethiopia but first, he needs to cross a river and a desert with a large group that he is part of. Before Salva and his group could cross the Nile river they had to build boats, everyone helped and didn’t let the river stop them from getting to the refugee camp. This is seen on page 43-44. This survival factor helped Salva and also his group survive because they did not let a river stop them. They just built boats and went on with the journey. Everyone helped and everyone shared their skills. Salva helped carries reeds and some people knew how to build boats so they built boats. If they didn’t have persistence, they would have stopped at the Nile river and given up but hey didn’t because Salva and group had persistence. The quote that shows that Salva shows persistence and helped his survive come from page 67 of the book, it reads, “The way they were treating him made Salva feel stronger still. There is no one left to help me. They think I am weak and useless. Salva lifted his head proudly. They are wrong, and I will prove it.” Before this quote, Salvas uncle had been shot and no one helped him. Uncle had been shot by Nuer men on their way to the refugee camp. Since his uncle cared for him and protected him, Salva felt safe. But after he was gone, people thought he was weak and useless. He did not let stop him because he has persistence. He kept going on without his uncle and asked for food himself. Persistence helped Salva survive because it made him stronger and brought him back to his