Salva's Struggle In A Long Walk To Water

In the novel, A Long Walk to Water, we are presented with two different characters in parallel stories that do not seem to have a connection. Both are struggling and dealing with conflict that presents obstacles and interferes with their objectives. I will explore both characters and make comparisons between the two to support the idea that while both are dealing with different conflicts, they have many things in common.

In Salva’s part of the story, he is facing a difficult journey to walk away from the war. Salva was at school when they heard gunshots, and Salva was sent into the bush not knowing where his family was. Once he was in the bush, he started walking with a group of people from his tribe. However, when he woke up the next day, they were gone. Salva fortunately found a lady that was a Dinka, and she helped and fed him for a couple of days and then sent him off with another group, which was walking towards Ethiopia. This is an obstacle because Salva gets really tired from walking, and he is limited on food and water. A conflict Salva had encountered was being attacked by mosquitos, so he could barely walk. Therefore, his uncle’s actions were to motivate Salva by saying his full name, so it would remind him of who he was, and about his family. This helped Salva keep walking and not lag behind. Salva’s objective is to find his family because he

Nya’s objective is to get water for her family, but she has to walk eight hours to get water for her family twice a day. A conflict her family faces is having to move every dry season to be able to get water. However, another conflict is that the water is not clean, and it can get them sick. Then, when there is no more water in the pond, they have to dig holes and try to find water which can be an obstacle. Nya’s life is really tough, especially since she has to live her life just walking to fetch some water in order to