CONFLICT OF THE KNOWN Vs THE UNKNOWN
The novel What is the What by Dave Eggers depicts the struggle of the Lost Boys during the second civil war in Sudan. Egger writes the book for Valentino Achak Deng, a Lost Boy, who gives us a first hand account of the brutal experiences that the boys encountered. On reading the book, it was very touching, because every incident was carefully described with emotion, and gave us an insight into various conflicts that Achak himself faced.
Recently we (The University of Tampa students) were visited by one of the Lost Boys, Atem, and he shared with all of us his first hand experiences when he fled Sudan. Atem was faced with many conflicts. When he was only six years old he fled Sudan. He is currently in Jacksonville, Florida with his family except his dad who was shot. When he fled Sudan he had no idea where his family was, and had lost complete touch with them. In United States, he was later reunited with his family, and his mother was unable to recognize him. Although she eventually realized he was a grown man and she finally acknowledged it was Atem.
The Lost Boys faced many conflicting moments and decisions on their way to Ethiopia. One conflicting theme throughout the novel is the idea of the known versus the unknown. For example, on the way to Ethiopia, Achak and all the other boys envisioned Ethiopia to have tall buildings and many healthy people. Achak imagined, “We would have chairs in Ethiopia. I would sit on a chair, and I would listen to the radio, because in Ethiopia there would be radios under all the trees. Milk and eggs-there would be plenty of these foods, and plenty of meat, and nuts and stew.”(Pp 214) But, only to be fooled upon arrival, they found Ethiopia to be as deserted and desolate as the land they had just travelled through. The boys had so much faith, “We squinted to see what lay ahead on the opposite bank of the river. From our perspective, it looked very much like the side of the river we were on.”(Pp 225) There were no houses; they had to sleep on the same ground. They had to build everything from scratch, making huts for them to live in. Achak says towards the end of Book I, “There were no homes. There were no medical facilities. No food. No water for drinking.”(Pp 227) Also, some boys who made it to Ethiopia just dropped dead, because of extreme exhaustion. This illusion that was created in the minds of the boys, fooled them, and caused more of their life to be taken from them.
This conflict of the known versus the unknown was definitely resolved to an extent, because the boys teamed up to establish a life for themselves. They supported each other, lived in groups, and were even educated. A sense of a new beginning came when they were flown to United States of America for a better life. They were given a chance to fend for themselves, work and support their family back home. Also, some of them were able to receive college education and excel in their field of interest. This was definitely a move towards ending some of the misery they felt due to the civil war. Here again, the theme of the known versus the unknown plays an important role. The boys did not know what to expect when entering the United States because it seemed so sophisticated compared to their current lives, such that they didn’t know what a bag of potato chips was.
In conclusion, there was more than one conflict that the Lost Boys faced. Conflict resolution is very important because it gives a better base to stop future mishaps. This conflict of the boys was definitely one that played a major role in their life, because they were majority of the time fooled by the unknown. I hope the Lost Boys are all given and live a better life as an end to all their past struggle. Thus, we can help stop the conflict they face by aiding them, and making them understand all their difficulties.