Imagine being on the run from war for almost twenty years. Imagine finding a place where you think you are safe, but are later forced to move. One of the main characters in Linda Sue Parks’ novel, A Long Walk to Water, Salva, experienced this. Salva was once one of the Lost Boys of Sudan. The young man was constantly moving and had tenacity, but on his way, he lost many of those he trusted most. Salva had many factors that helped him survive, and three of them were hard work, relationships, and perseverance. Salva survived the years of struggle and got to America by working hard. On page 43 we read, “Salva staggered forward with yet another enormous load of reeds in his arms. Everyone was busy. Some people were cutting down …show more content…
On page 22, the text shows, “Then he caught up with the group, determined not to lag behind, not to complain, not to be trouble to anyone.” The word “determined” means ,“having a strong feeling that you are going to do something and that you will not allow anyone or anything to stop you.” This shows that Salva is focused on his own survival and will do whatever it takes to make it to safety. Secondly and suddenly, on page 63, Uncle Jewiir gets shot, ““Three shots rang out, then the men ran away” and on page 65 the text shows, “Time for grief was short, and the walking began soon after dark.” This shows that Salva had perseverance and had faith that he was not going to die-that he was going to avenge what he thought was his dead family. Additionally and lastly, on page 79, Salva speaks to himself,“ ‘Kenya. There are supposed to be refugee camps in Kenya.’ ” This shows that Salva was not as strong and confident that he could fend for himself as he was able to in the later parts of the book;but he was determined to get somewhere he could survive. He felt he needed the protection form a refugee camp at all times and felt he could not defend himself out by himself. We can conclude from the book that perseverance is a major factor that helped Salva survive his long and hard
First, the quote "Salva, I have a gun. I will shoot any lion that comes near."(35) shows that family will protect you. The family that will protect Salva is his uncle. Uncle knows that Salva fears getting eaten by the lion during his sleep just like Marial did.
Salva had to go through a lot of harsh conditions before outrunning the war. There were plenty of times Salva thought he couldn’t continue and almost gave up all hope. But with determination, he was able to make it to safety. A moment where he showed determination was after Uncle had been shot to death. After that, no one Salva was traveling with thought Salva could not make it the rest of the journey to safety.
Salva thought to himself,”They think I am weak and useless, they are wrong, and I will prove it.”(66) Primarily, this empowers him to change the way they think of him, this also made him tough. Best of all, it influenced Salva, to make an effort to push harder and keep
He helped others in the sense of building over 240 wells giving people water. Water at this time was a resource valued as much as gold. He will always choose to persevere through the hard times. He even says, “I overcome all of the difficult situations of my past because of the hope and perseverance and hope that I had.” The ending of the novel is so perfect because it set’s the fireworks that the story has been building up, in terms of Salva meeting Nya.
Another reason perseverance is an important theme in A Long Walk to Water is because Salva had to cross the Aboko desert for 3 days. Also, “Salva’s shoes stood no chance against the hot stony desert ground. page 52 ,” which means that Salva's shoes were reduced to shreds and he had to walk on the hot ground for 3 days. Also, because Salva’s shoes broke, he lost a toenail by hitting it on a rock and still had to keep walking. In addition to that pain, Salva had little water and food to keep him going.
By thinking of his family, Salva is able to keep walking even though he’s tired, thirsty, hungry, and his feet hurt. The second example of Perseverance is when Salva is in the refugee camp. He hates the refugee camp and wants to get out of there. “I only need to get through the rest of this day, he told himself. This day and no other.”
A major theme in the true story, A Long Walk to Water, by Linda Sue Park is perseverance. Perseverance is to stay steady in what you are doing or in a purpose, especially when you are faced with difficulties. This is a perfect theme for A Long Walk to Water because the main character, Salva Dut, an 11 year old Sudanese boy, faced many difficulties and kept going. He took things ‘bit by bit, one step at a time’, a lesson he learned from his uncle that helped him get through the desert, and he applied it to his life and kept going and believing his family was alive. Even though he almost died many times, he did not give up, and he went back to his home country and helped many people have better lives by building wells and giving them clean drinking water.
Do you know what it takes to survive? In A Long Walk to water, Salva[how he had to survive]. Salva had to be very brave t do what he did and very strong to do it. There were many factors that helped Salva survive such as persistence, leadership, and strength.
Throughout the novel Salva demonstrates determination by pushing himself to do his best and not give up on anything no mater what is going on. One instance where Salva showed determination is on page 65, paragraph 4. “Marial was gone. Uncle was gone, too, murdered by those Nuer men right before salva’s eyes. Marial and uncle were no longer by his side,and they never would be again,but salva knew that both of them would have wanted him to survive,to finish the trip and reach the itang refugee camp safely.
When Salva was trying to cross the Gilo River, most of the camps he lived in were closed because people drowned, were shot, or were eaten by crocodiles. Despite these dangerous obstacles, Salva persevered,
With the help of Uncle Jewiir, Salva and many others, crossed the Akobo Desert and sought refuge in the Itang Refugee Camp. Without Uncle Jewiir, Salva wouldn’t be alive. Uncle Jewiir was the chosen leader of the group, and it was a well deserved title. For example, while the group was ready to cross the Nile, Jewiir used his leadership skills and organized groups to create boats out of reeds. Without the help of Uncle Jewiir, the group wouldn’t have crossed the Nile River at all.
In the book A Long Walk to Water, the main character Salva must overcome a lot of challenges in order for his survival. He is persistent, a hard worker, and just overall a very lucky young boy. These factors are very big reasons for his survival. After reading the book, readers can see that one of the main factors for Salvas survival is hard work.
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
(35) and that built his relationship and trust. Lastly in page 41, the page states “Listening to Uncle, hurrying to stay close to him, Salva was able to make his feet move despite the cold terror throughout his whole body” (41). If it weren’t for Uncle Salva wouldn’t have kept on moving because of terror of what happened to Marial. Without the relationships that Salva built throughout the journey Salva wouldn’t have been able to survive on his
Salva is a young man trying to survive day by day. However Salva is a teenager that was poor. Meanwhile Salva traveled from his village to Refugee camp. He is a very confused young man. Salva tried his best to survive during his rough times.