Essay: The Cellist Of Sarajevo

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“Civilization is an agreement people have to behave in certain ways towards each other. It’s not governments and roads and buildings and stock markets. When you engage with works of art you are participating in that conversation. You are judging what is good and what is bad, and what you want and don’t want. Music can convey emotion in times when the body is numb from an event so difficult it is hard to make sense of.” (Rinehart par. 12) In the novel The cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway, Arrow, Kenan and Dragan underwent tremendous transformations and regained humanity in the times of war through the help of music performed by the cellist. Art has the power to bring hope, help people to transcend suffering and awaken the human spirit in the times of war when the question of survival is still unknown.

In the times of war, making a moral decision and live the life that resembles the one before the war is extremely difficult. When Dragan and Emina tried to cross the street, Emina got shot and people rushed to her to see if she’s alright, except Dragan. He was so afraid that the sniper will fire another shot and hit him; instead of rushing to her and saving her, he chose the other path. He wasn’t built for war; the war took away his humanity and transformed him to a person he would never become if the war didn’t happen. Does war degrade humans into merely instinctual animals and there’s nothing people can do to change that? No, there is one thing that can bring hope, courage and humanity back to people---art. The hatless man was still lying on the street, no one decided to drag him off the street. “He (Dragan) remembers what he told Emina about the cellist, why he thinks he plays. To stop something from happening. To prevent...

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..., the war is already over. The cellist represents all that is beautiful about the human spirit and reminds the world that goodness still exists. Art was able to prevent the dehumanization of Arrow and helped her to regain her identity. She is Alisa---the woman who hated nobody.

Art transcends the brutal hatred, insensitivity and dehumanizing conditions of war. It has the power to bring humanity back among people, for example, Dragan overcame his fear and tried to preserve Sarajevo as much as he could; it forced people to make the right choice as it forced Arrow to choose between survival and humanity; it has the power to prevent the dehumanization of people in the times of war when everything and everyone is not as the same before. Music is a powerful form of communication that allows people to realize the difference between instinctual animals and human beings.

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