5. What is the what

pgs. 231-363

So alot happens in these pages, but I'm only putting some of the things I see...

Valentino and Achor Achor call the police, hoping to justify their losses and punish the robbers, but to their dismay, they are not taken seriously by the officer. Instead, their incident is labeled as a mere complaint and disregarded. In a way, their hopes are just like Valentino's when he looked to Ethiopia for hopes and a better life. In a way, the U.S. is similar to Ethiopia as it is presumed as a land of opportunities and change but in reality, in terms of treatment, the Dinka as still obstructed from many privileges and looked down upon.

The scene describing how the women could be sold off by cattle disturbed me. But I guess that's how Sudanese people measured another's worth.
The cattle also made me think back to the clay cattle which could represent the Dinka people and how they are constantly being "stepped on"...

When Achor Achor and Valentino go to the hospital, they are once again held up
and they have to wait for 3 hours before they get any official treatment.

There are times when Valentino goes through the water.. but I doubt he's being baptized because he is neither being changed nor does he choose to go into the water.

When Valentino meets Moses again, could the book be alluding to the Bible ? The whips on Moses' back resembles Jesus' whips when He was carrying His cross up the hill.... I'm not sure.

on pg.273 The horse Moses mentions ironoically symbolizes captivity but in Valentino's eyes, at least in the past times that he mentions a horse, it is associated with power or freedom.
Also Moses' story of him being kidnapped makes me think to Joseph who was also kidnapped and brought across the desert, but in the end he not only survived, but benefited greatly from it as he became a powerful figure in the area that he was kidnapped to...

I suppose the Dinka boys see the white man as a possible murahaleen since they associate him with death, salvation?, and fire.
It's also ironic how some of the Dinka see the white man as superior or angelic but in Valentino's eyes he is fragile, and pig like.

Pg.287, I feel like Valentino unconsciously lives up to his name that Father Matong gave him, as he says valentino , "...you will have the power to make people see." I also think that is one of the reasons why Valentino is put through so much misery; so that he can share his and his people's story with others and a change can be made. The next sentence, talks about a jailer's daughter, which leads me to the obvious question... Who is the jailer's daughter for Valentino?

The awkward scene where Valentino meets the Royal Nieces and goes to their house...I believe Valentino is growing up, as he experiences new feelings and sees new things. More irony, as Valentino and Achor Achor are in the hospital, which in my opinion represents refuge and peace but instead it is where they are thrown into pandemonium when they hear that the war is going on again. Then again, it is a false alarm.

The emotions the boys were going through as the camp was becoming more and more militarized made me think back to the seasons. In the summer, there is passion to train in Bonga to become a soldier, but in the autumn there is decline and finally in the winter, there is death since all four of the boys from Group Eleven die.

Why would you make weak, inexperienced, malnourished boys fight a war? Shouldn't the "seeds" be nourished in order to prepare them for succeeding the future Sudan?
The scene of the woman was utterly disturbing and sad. Why would a mother ever bring her son's to death?