"I try to yell, thinking that though my voice might be muffled, it might yet be loud enough to attract a neighbor. I try, but the sound is pitiful, dull, a quiet groan" (138)
As I continue to read "What is the What" by Eggers, I see how Valentino sets up his storytelling method to gain our attention. Valentino first captures our attention in the beginning by setting up the setting of him being in his apartment in Atlanta, and how two people come to rob him. While he sets up one story he is preparing to fill us in on another (ie: The Lost Boys tale). In his mind he acts as if he is speaking to the robbers themselves and is telling them about his previous situation in Sudan. I think this method is a great one, because it keeps the reader intrigued with what is going to happen with him in Atlanta while he is informing the reader on what has taken place in Sudan. I believe that Valentino's main purpose for doing this is to kind of compare both stories. He wants the reader to understand that there is a war going on in Sudan and young men and women lives are being taken away and we need to do something about. But he also points out that people in the United States are doing similar actions like the rebels. They are forcing themselves into other peoples homes, beating them down or killing them, and taking their material possessions. They have no regards for one another. Valentino does not want us just to read his words, but he wants us to actually pay attention to them. This is not just a book, but this is the voice of many Lost Boys and Girls and we can't continue to let their voices become a "quiet groan."
I agree with you about how interesting it is that the narrator set up a story and at the same time uses that story to engage or connect it with another. I really like this method. It's like a web that has all these connections making it one at the end. While I read on I find it more interesting to see how he well find a way to connect another story to the one he is experiencing (robbery) and the one is is thinking in his brain, with a new story that is related in some way to both. Love this method of story telling.
ReplyDeleteValentino is comparing also, in a way, telling his story of how harsh it has been to live and adapt to America. Living in America is another journey for him that has also been filled with happiness, disappointments, a tragedy. Both situations, Sudan journey and American journey, can be compared to each other. The extent to which which one is the worst can only be disputed the the person experiencing both cultures. On one hand his journey in Sudan was horrible and unimaginable to us. His journey here in America is unimaginable to him and at the end horrible. The mixing of both worlds into one experience has mad some of the refugees have post traumatic affects. This is sad see realize. He may be living much better her in America, but it also entails so many bad aspects that come along with living in America. The fact that these refugees were taken out of a third world country makes the biggest deference in there lives while living here.
All in all I liked your blog and the way you explained yourself. I really the one of the last sentences you wrote, which I believe is so true. "Valentino does not want us just to read his words, but he wants us to actually pay attention to them". I feel he did just that with this book and it is the reason why we have been assigned this book for our class.
I believe that the storytelling is what really makes this story. The use of different perspectives, narratives, and situations works well to shed light on the story that Valentino is trying to get across. He doesn't try to deceive the reader as we have discussed in class, he emphasizes that he has to lie to get the point across which is very interesting. The methods used in the writing of this novel are very interesting and unique.
ReplyDeleteYeah they really are. It was like how he was speaking about the young boys drinking their own urine. He said that only some were doing it but not all, yet it is a stressed fact more for a shock value showing what these young kids had to endure. But these stories really make you pay attention to the story and not get bored. I like how he incorporates his past and present together.
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