A Long Walk to Water is a heart wrenching novel by Linda Sue Park written about a well off Dinka eleven-year-old boy named Salva Dut. The novel shares Salva’s traumatic life experiences through the lenses of time (1974-2014) and culture. Salva was brought up into an emerging civil war between the north and south of Sudan, Africa, a desolated place in which water is valued like gold. Throughout the novel, Salva encounters an abundance of character changing challenges and obstacles. The narrator states, “…Salva was slowly weakening…step by step.” This quote symbolizes Salvas build up to a man, “What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger.” Said the German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche. Salva is a transformed person by the end of the book. He has gone from a fortunate child to a refugee forced to flee his “village” to a man of great compassion and thoughtfulness to others.
At the start of the novel, Salva is a fortunate child. The narrator says, “Salva’s father was a very successful man as he owned many cattle and worked as their villages judge an honored and respected position.” This meant that Salva could have many fantastic experiences that most could not. One example of a privileged
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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. The end reinforces the major theme of the novel, being how one can change through experiences challenges and lifestyle. Salva is an inspiational man that dreams big and won’t give up on