The Cellist of Sarajevo
Geetu Bhullar
Courage is something that is not integrally human, particularly in times of war where one’s existence is in peril. During the time of war, this is conveyed when one’s integrity is being tested the most: there are few who desire to conserve this integrity and their humanity through selfless acts in the time that generosity is a fantasy. When most individuals are occupied of thoughts of their own self preservation, selflessness preserves and fortify one’s integrity and humanity when one risks their life for others. In the novel The Cellist of Sarajevo, Steven Galloway emphasized the moral crisis that people faced when they were challenged with their own mortality and the hardship of those worse off. He
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He does not only go to the brewery for water for himself but also for his heedless old aged neighbour Mrs. Ristovski. Kenan risks his life even more by being weighed down by two additional water bottles. Knowing that he doesn’t have to retrieve her water, he keeps his promise to Mrs. Ristovski that “everyone… will help each other” (pg. 29). Mrs. Ristovski is someone who is unkind and is not grateful for Kenan endangering his own life in order to retrieve water, but he is determined to help her out because “a promise is a promise” (pg. 30). The determination to uphold his promise, while doing a simple act of neighborly responsibility, is also maintaining and flourishing his personal integrity. The danger he puts himself through feeds the humanity that demands he help his neighbour in the time of need and to not let her die or exploit her from …show more content…
216). This belief was demolished beforehand by the awareness that “he has broken promises to others and suspects he will again” (pg. 120) before he leaves Mrs. Ristovski’s water behind. The belief that he had was then revived as he was listening to the cellist and “watched as his city heals itself” (pg. 209). He comes to the understanding that he must risk his life and continue to get water for his heedless neighbour because “there are dead among the living, and they will be here long after” (pg. 215). His morality refused to allow him to abandon Mrs. Ristovski for the sake of his slight chance of surviving, for “something has killed her… she is a ghost as well” (pg. 215). He is unable to jump ship knowing that “to be a ghost while you’re still alive is the worst thing” (pg. 215). His personal integrity is enlightened as he continues to danger his life for Mrs. Ristovski and his family regardless of the fear inside of him because he knows that “if he wants to be one of the people who rebuild the city, one of the people who have the right to even speak about how Sarajevo should repair itself, then he has to go outside and face the men on the hills” (pg.244). He accepts his fear and despite that he faces the danger living outside his walls with the hope to return Sarajevo to its former
Kenan is beginning to become weak, but instead of making it easier on himself, he chooses to put his family’s safety and security before his own needs and continues to fill the bottles alone. He thinks of his family’s pain before his and he realizes that, “If he is killed he does not want anyone in his family to witness it, as much as he would like their faces to be the last thing he sees” (27). Kenan also rejects the idea of asking for assistance from his son, because, “He knows his wife will never recover” (27) if he and his son die and he does not want to think about what might happen if, “his son alone die[s]” (27). Kenan’s rejection of help despite the fact that if the two of them made the trek for water it would result in a safer and faster trip shows that he would rather risk his life and risk his family’s. After this profound realization Kenan becomes a better person who is proud of his family’s life.
A characters courage is not measured by how an action will be accepted by others, but by how their actions stay true to themselves even in the face of a pressured surrounding. Colin McDougall’s The Firing Squad a story about a young soldiers attempt at redemption and George Orwell’s Shooting an Elephant an essay about Orwell’s days in a British colony where he was called to handle the situation with an aggressive elephant are two pieces of literature that demonstrate the effects of courage. Courage takes many forms and in these two great pieces of literature it can be measured by looking at the characters and how they use courage and lack of courage as a driving factor in different ways throughout their story’s.
Over many centuries, Poetry and song has been a way for people to explore their feelings, thoughts and questions about War & Peace. Rupert Brooke's “The Soldier” and Cold Chisel’s “Khe Sanh” provide two different insights into the nature of war. . “The Soldier” conveys a message of bravery for soldiers to go into war and fight while “Khe sanh” conveys a message about post-traumatic stress and the horrible factors of coming back into civilization after war.
When the man and boy meet people on the road, the boy has sympathy for them, but his father is more concerned with keeping them both alive. The boy is able to get his father to show kindness to the strangers (McCarthy), however reluctantly the kindness is given. The boy’s main concern is to be a good guy. Being the good guy is one of the major reasons the boy has for continuing down the road with his father. He does not see there is much of a point to life if he is not helping other people. The boy wants to be sure he and his father help people and continue to carry the fire. The boy is the man’s strength and therefore courage, but the man does not know how the boy worries about him how the boy’s will to live depends so much on his
Throughout the life of an individual most people would agree that dealing with tough conflict is an important part in growing as a person. In “The Cellist of Sarajevo” all the characters experience a brutal war that makes each of them struggle albeit in different ways. Each of them have their own anxieties and rage that eventually makes them grow as characters at the end of the book. Steven Galloway’s novel “The Cellist of Sarajevo” exemplifies that when an individual goes through a difficult circumstance they will often struggle because of the anger and fear they have manifested over time. The conflict that the individual faces will force them to reinforce and strengthen their identity in order to survive.
In the passage from The Cellist of Sarajevo, Steven Galloway writes the effects the cellist has on Kenan through his music. As the city lingers in war, a cellist brings a unique gift to the table. Galloway develops this gripping scene with mood, imagery, suspense and foreshadowing to make it engaging and exciting for the readers to read.
Everyday individuals face decisions in which they must choose whether to do what is appealing to them or to choose a more suitable and compliable choice. In the fictional work of ‘The Things They Carried’ by Tim O’ Brien, certain characters such as Tim O’ Brien himself must face decisions similar to these. The novel demonstrates that when an individual is faced with a decision in which there is a choice that he may have to conform, the individual tends to conform due to not wanting to embarrass themselves or to not be portrayed as a coward to others. However when the individual is challenged with these types of decisions, the choice does not matter since the outcome will be what the individual was trying to avoid. That is to say that in the excerpt “The Rainy River” Tim O’ Brien was going through a conflicting decision on whether or not he should go to the war. Yet, as we see it turns out that either choice will lead to either shame or cowardice. If he goes to the war he feels that he will be a coward and that he gave up his own morals and values and accepted something he does not believe in, but if he does not go to war he will be shunned by society and will be labelled as a coward because he will not fight for his country.
Life can bring unexpected events that individuals might not be prepared to confront. This was the case of O’Brien in the story, “On the Rainy River” from the book The Things They Carried. As an author and character O’Brien describes his experiences about the Vietnam War. In the story, he faces the conflict of whether he should or should not go to war after being drafted. He could not imagine how tough fighting must be, without knowing how to fight, and the reason for such a war. In addition, O’Brien is terrified of the idea of leaving his family, friends and everything he loves behind. He decides to run away from his responsibility with the society. However, a feeling of shame and embarrassment makes him go to war. O’Brien considers himself a coward for doing something he does not agree with; on the other hand, thinking about the outcome of his decision makes him a brave man. Therefore, an individual that considers the consequences of his acts is nobler than a war hero.
Events of crisis tend to reveal people’s true character, as well as help those people learn from the experience. Decisions people make during crises can display what kind of personality they have. In The Red Badge Of Courage by Stephen Crane, the youthful main protagonist, Henry, decides to join the army. In the beginning of the novel, Henry exhibits multiple cowardly qualities. However, through a series of battles, Henry learns more about himself and begins to become a remarkably brave soldier. Henry’s transformation from cowardice to bravery is portrayed through Henry’s change in thoughts, actions, and dialogue.
In the literary work, Speaking of Courage, Tim O’Brien highlights the trying struggle of a post-war solider attempting desperately to integrate himself back into American society. Paul Berlin’s trials and tribulations exemplify the “dominance of a citizen culture in the United States,” as mentioned by Dr. Decker in class. American society does not allow for the soldiers we have sent off to fight to return as warriors.
“ And than, starting on October 12,1940 all the Jewish people in the Warsaw and the surrounding towns were forced to move into one tiny area of the city.” - in “ The Boy Who Fought Hitler”. “ The Boy Who Fought Hitler ” Was about a Jewish boy who fought in the Holocaust and ended up surviving it. And “ Amira’s Song” was about a girl who moved from Syria and has to do a project and was scared to do it, and ends up doing the project. In those two short story and nonfiction piece, the common theme is to accomplish a goal you need to show bravery.
The vast majority of heroes in novels display courage frequently, making it a characteristic praised by many. Once a character demonstrates their cowardly nature, he becomes looked down upon. Those unlucky enough can be named weak, wimpy, chicken, and so forth; however many do not understand that both courage and timidness are intertwined. In the novel The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, the author indicates that courage can be driven by both fear and cowardice.
To society, participating in war was courageous, but to Tim O’Brien, he considers this to be cowardly. On page 57, he ties courage in with his decision, saying, “I would not be brave. That old image of myself as a hero, as a man of conscience and courage, all that was just a pipe dream.” In comparison, this is ironic to what society thinks of going to war. To Tim O’Brien, he relates courage to his own personal thoughts and beliefs. Since he chose against his morals to go to war, not only is he a coward to himself, but it shows that he also has no courage in himself to do what he believes is right. For him, it takes more courage to believe in himself and his beliefs rather than to surrender and go to war. Consequently, the societal standpoint on war forces two decisions upon those who are against the war. It gives them the choice to either take guilt from society by refusing to go to war, or take guilt in oneself for refuting their own beliefs, to either have courage in yourself, or to give in. From O’Brien’s perspective, he chose to have guilt in himself, because it’s more convenient than taking guilt from
In the novel, The Cellist of Sarajevo, the author Steven Galloway explores the power of music and its ability to provide people with an escape from reality during the Siege of Sarajevo. A cellist plays Albinoni’s Adagio for twenty-two consecutive days to commemorate the deaths of twenty-two citizens who were killed by the mortar attacks on the Sarajevo Opera Hall while waiting to buy bread. Albinoni’s Adagio represents that something can be almost obliterated from existence, but be recreated into something beautiful, since it was recreated from four bars of a sonata’s bass line found in the rubble of the firebombed Dresden Music Library in Germany in 1945. The Sarajevans listening to the cellist are given respite from the brutal reality
Ivan Denisovich is an old-timer in the prison camp and although he does odd jobs here and there to earn food or favors, he maintains a level of personal integrity. Integrity and honesty can be defined as the quality or state of being unimpaired or of being honest, refraining from lying, cheating, or stealing; being truthful, trustworthy, and upright. Ivan¡¯s honesty and integrity have been illustrated in many events that assure his own personal morals to live a life worthy of his own actions. He exemplifies these honorable morals in his actions throughout the entire day, which consisted of pitiful meals and harsh working conditions. He demonstrated his strict morality while eating dinner in the mess hall. ¡°Yet, this old man is unlike all the other zeks. He sits upright and brings his spoon up to his lips. He does not put his bread on the dirty table, but on his clean rag. Somehow, even through countless years of prison life, he has maintained a sense of dignity.¡± He manifests his acute morals in all situations regardless of the status in which he is situated. He stands out, even though he is no different from any other, for many were wrongfully imprisoned for actions ...