Analysis Of Steven Galloway's The Cellist Of Sarajevo

society. In both the Cellist of Sarajevo and Life is Beautiful characters continue their faith in the

To be engaged in war is to be engaged in an armed conflict. Death is an all too ordinary product of war. It is an unsolicited reward for many soldiers that are fighting for their country’s own fictitious freedom. For some of these men, the battlefield is a glimpse into hell, and for others, it is a means to heaven. Many people worry about what happens during war and what will become of their loved ones while they’re fighting, but few realize what happens to those soldiers once they come home. The short stories "Soldier's Home” by Ernest Hemingway and "Speaking of Courage” by Tim O'Brien explore the thematic after effects of war and how it impacts a young person's life. Young people who

If you could revisit any moment in your life and change the decision you made, would your identity be any different? Could your identity, the values and beliefs you hold, be altered or erased by one drastic event? One novel, which explores the development one’s identity is Steven Galloway’s The Cellist of Sarajevo. Galloway clearly explores identity through the three main characters of the novel; Alisa, Kenan, and Dragan, conveying a clear lesson about hope through the experiences of the three characters. Though the conflicts from the siege cause them all to deviate from their personalities before the siege, they eventually all revert to their original personalities, regaining their identities.

"We cannot despair of humanity, since we ourselves are human beings" (BookRags, 1) - Albert Einstein. This quote is particularly true, since it is very important to maintain what identifies us as human beings, especially during horrific times, such as war. The Cellist of Sarajevo, a novel by Steven Galloway, delivers an interesting story by using internal conflict of the three characters, to demonstrate a theme, of the great possibilities of regaining humanity with the belief of a better life and a brighter future, thus revealing that finding hope is crucial for the survival of humanity.

In Steven Galloway’s The Cellist of Sarajevo, one of the three characters in the book, Kenan, goes through profound changes after witnessing and experiencing many events that happened during the siege. Although there aren’t really any changes in the way he actually acts, by the end of the book we see that the way he thinks has changed from how he did in the beginning, specifically in terms of his neighbour, Mrs. Ristovski. Kenan is a busy man, being a husband and a father of two children. He feels entirely responsible for his family and is paralyzed with fear every time he must go out of the house to get water for his family. However, he feels that he has to conceal his fear because his children “must not see him like this.

During war people go through a spectrum of feelings from hope to despair. Hardships make even the most optimistic people lose hope. In the novel, The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway, Kenan struggles to hold on to his hope as it diminishes due to the Bosnian war. Before the effects of the war impacted Kenan, when he was provided with a little window of hope he always makes the most of it, he goes through daily struggles to continue surviving and he maintains a positive attitude towards life. Although, Kenan’s hope for Sarajevo diminishes as he accepts the war as a part of his lifestyle, learns that his fate is entirely up to the men on the hills and undervalues the cellist for commemorating the dead.

The thought of going to war excites many young men that have not experienced or have been a part of one. Individuals want to find a way out of the routine, mundane lifestyle that plagues many suburban households. People that just want some excitement enlist in a military branch that will not benefit them or anyone for that matter. In Philip Caputo’s book titled A Rumor of War, the true side of how war demolishes the human spirit is shown. His nonfiction novel captures the nasty side to war. Philip informs us how the mentality of a young man can change with the constant thought of death and fear as a daily ritual. Men do not think about death occurring to them at a young age. This changes when death is surrounding them on a daily basis during wartime. Caputo intended to inform the young public about the horrible nature of war. Mistakes are doomed to repeat themselves if people are not well informed and Caputo is trying to avoid future mistakes. Death surrounded him and many of his comrades during the Vietnam War. When the life of anyone is on the line, one tends to do drastic and sometimes unthinkable things to cope with the fear of death.

In the memoir A Long Way Gone, author Ishmael Beah describes his survival journey as a lost child in his country, because of the civil war in Sierra Leone, then becoming a child soldier facing war daily, afterward the process that Beah went through during rehabilitation and finally in fear escaping the civil war. Ishmael Beah emotional journey has three stages of development in which Beah utilized music. In the first stage, Beah uses music as a survival mechanism to keep sane and safe. In the second stage, begins when he loses his brother and friends, Beah reaches the lowest point with the loss of his entire family again, some friends, music, and being forced to join the war. In the final stage, is the process of rehabilitation where Beah connects with music once again. Ishmael Beah exposure to music at a young age stayed with him throughout his life. (Beah, 2007, p. 5-218)

War can destroy a man both in body and mind for the rest of his life. In “The Sniper,” Liam O’Flaherty suggests the horror of war not only by presenting its physical dangers, but also by showing its psychological effects. We are left to wonder which has the longer lasting effect—the visible physical scars or the ones on the inside?

One’s humanity is not measured by what they have but what they are willing to do. If an individual shows that they will be overpowered by an opposing threat, they have already lost. In Steven Galloway’s novel The Cellist of Sarajevo, the attacking Serbians have surrounded Sarajevo and have taken away the safety of the civilians. In order to protect themselves and their fellow civilians, one must be willing to sacrifice their own safety to help others who are struggling in these times of war. By fighting back, the civilians of Sarajevo show that the men on the hills cannot control their lives. These people will not intimidate them. As a result of the main

Music is known to leave its mark on people helping them to overcome challenges in their lives or to give them courage to defy the odds. In one’s daily life, music is normally taken for granted or is seen as nothing special. As ordinary as it may seem, music can convey emotion in times when the body is numb or all hope is lost. Similarly, in The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway, the cello’s music gave people hope and determination to live their lives in spite of the rampant siege around them. Therefore, music very much impacts the lives of the principal characters Dragan, Kenan, and Arrow.

The majority of characters from war-time novels often resort to substance abuse as a way to cope with the horrors of war. In Joseph Boyden's Three Day Road, the young Cree soldier, Xavier, uses excessive amounts of morphine to forget the bloodshed he witnessed on the battlefield. Similarly, Mrs. Ross, the mother of the young Canadian soldier Robert from The Wars becomes an alcoholic as a way to deal with the departure of her son to war. However, in Steven Galloway's “The Cellist of Sarajevo,” the primary characters, although affected by war, employ a different strategy to come to terms with and survive the war, and to regain their moral values and identity. In this novel, music is employed as a tool of healing and rebirth. Specifically, Arrow, Kenan, and Dragan use the music of the anonymous cellist to reclaim their sense of humanity, compassion, and self-identity and move forward despite the ongoing war, much like the mythical Phoenix rises from the ashes in rebirth.

Run and hide or stay and fight. The fight or flight response is the first thing the human brain activates when there are threats to its survival. Steven Galloway’s novel, The Cellist of Sarajevo, puts the main characters in many situations that require quick decisions to ensure survival. This instantaneous response is central to the one of the characters in the novel named Dragan. He is an elderly man whose family has escaped Sarajevo while he stays behind. Though he has the support of his sister, he depends almost entirely on himself for survival. The choices he makes to ensure he lives reflect the response he has to the effects of the war. At the beginning, Dragan isolates himself from everyone including friends because he is afraid of losing them. He is afraid to cross an intersection and waits for hours out of fear of death by the snipers of the men on the hills. A transition begins in his mind when he witnesses the consequences every choice carries when his friend Emina is shot by a sniper. By the end of the novel he decides that he will live in the battle-torn Sarajevo however he chooses and not be intimidated by the men on the hills. Dragan uses the power of choice to hide and be fearful, although by the end of the novel, he chooses to be brave and have hope for the return of the Sarajevo of his memories..

Even though I chose to write about one of the essay that you chose “Bombing Sarajevo”, comparing it with "The Paid Piper" by Grant Stoddard, I think you have different view than me. However, I think that you made a better choice than me by choosing to compare my the essays “Bombing Sarajevo” and “The Pippiest Place on Earth" because they have more things in common. I believe that you have a well written essay, covering all the points required for this assignment. My favorite part of your essay is how you summarized Dimiter Kenarov’s article, “Bombing Sarajevo”, and Sam Anderson’s article “The Pippiest Place on Earth" in one well written piece of writing. The way you portrayed the essay “The Pippiest Place on Earth,” gave me a whole

As long as there has been war, those involved have managed to get their story out. This can be a method of coping with choices made or a way to deal with atrocities that have been witnessed. It can also be a means of telling the story of war for those that may have a keen interest in it. Regardless of the reason, a few themes have been a reoccurrence throughout. In ‘A Long Way Gone,’ ‘Slaughterhouse-Five,’ and ‘Novel without a Name,’ three narrators take the readers through their memories of war and destruction ending in survival and revelation. The common revelation of these stories is one of regret. Each of these books begins with the main character as an innocent, patriotic soldier or civilian and ends in either the loss of innocence and regret of choices only to be compensated with as a dire warning to those that may read it. These books are in fact antiwar stories meant not to detest patriotism or pride for one’s country or way of life, but to detest the conditions that lead to one being so simpleminded to kill another for it. The firebombing of Dresden, the mass execution of innocent civilians in Sierra Leone and a generation of people lost to the gruesome and outlandish way of life of communism and Marxism should be enough to convince anyone. These stories serve as another perspective for the not-so-easily convinced.