Analysis of Acts of Faith by Phillip Caputo

Acts of Faith (2005) is a breathtaking account of civil war and genocide in Sudan penned by Phillip Caputo. The characters veritably dance with life among the pages as they try to help the starving multi-ethnic Sudanese tribes. Set in the mid 1990's, there are no clearly defined protagonists or antagonists as Caputo shows in the novel the full circle of human nature, both evil and good, selfish and selfless.

In this novel, various non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from around the world try to bring aid into an area of Sudan so dangerous that the UN will not enter it. The main characters are Douglas Braithwaite, an American aviator who flies medical supplies and food to Southern Sudan; Fitzhugh Martin, a former professional soccer player who hopes relief work will give his directionless life a purpose; Wesley Dare, a cynical, pragmatic pilot hiding his true loving persona; Quinette Hardin, an Iowan Christian who goes to Africa to spread her faith and ends up liberating slaves from Arab raiders and falling in love with a Sudanese rebel commander; and the head antagonist, Ibrahim Idris Nur-el-Din, an Arab warlord whose obsessive quest for a concubine makes him wonder if the Muslim holy war against Sudan's southern blacks is right.

All are firm in their convictions and believe they have good intent, but over time a net of moral corruption enfolds them all and they are forced to make choices based on what is necessary, not what is right and wrong. Acts of Faith is the story of politics and religion and the successes and failures of these relief workers as they get swept up in the plight of Africa. Eventually the vastness of human misery that is war swallows all of them. What began as business enterprises, liberation of slave...

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...es, in fact the very concubine that Ibrahim yearns to retrieve. The girl, Yamila, has "skin as black as a panther's, and she moved like one, and the look of proud ferocity on her strong, square-jawed face, accentuated by the tribal scars stitched across her eyebrows, completed the picture of dangerous beauty" (310). This description is powerful, especially later on as Yamila becomes as dangerous as she is portrayed. Caputo utilizes figurative language in countless ways, from comparing boy soldiers with a high school marching band to personifying Dare’s cynical heart as an aging quarterback. His mastery and usage of the English language were what made this novel so very intriguing, along with the raw honesty of the political horror in Sudan. Overall, a difficult but worthwhile read.

Works Cited

Caputo, Philip. Acts of Faith. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. Print.