Summary Of The Cellist Of Sarajevo

The presence of hope affects Arrow and Dragan. In the story “The Cellist of Sarajevo”,

The storm clouds were dark, gloomy and grim like a graveyard. They were near the surface of the earth. It was going to rain. They were lingering on. The soldiers’ uniforms were repeatedly buffeted by the howling gale. The sky was as black as a devil’s soul. A large boom echoed across the crimson battlefield as the lighting returned the thunder’s call. Endless calls for help could be heard. Then, the rain started pouring down, filling up the battle field, like a flood, as the constant sound of the rain pounding on the metal could be heard. Heavy boots pressed down on the wet mud, which would not be dry for the next week, due to the trenches. The trenches were six-foot-deep and reeked of dead bodies and human excrement.

Novel critic Greg Doran states that Galloway “paints an inanimate portrait of three people living in wartorn Sarajevo” to illustrate “how the human spirit responds to conflict” (Doran 153). This analysis interconnects with the didactic nature of the novel, which conveys a strong lesson about identity and hope. The story about how three people experience a temporary change of personality in the face of conflict and lose sight of their values due to this conveys a message to the reader. Though Arrow, Kenan, and Dragan all deviate from the path they were on after losing hope, a small part of them still cling to the past, a small part of them still hope. The stronger the hope of the characters, the more they will pursue their values and beliefs. Thus, as the characters in the novel regain hope, they regain their identity. Hope is symbolized by the Cellist in the novel, and upon hearing the Cellist playing, Arrow and Kenan remember the values they once held dear. Arrow realizes she does not wish to kill anymore as she does not hate anyone, and Kenan decides to fetch Mrs. Ritovski’s water. This conveys the message that hope is powerful, and hope is what drives people to follow their values and beliefs, guiding people to regain their identities. The Cellist shows that even in the darkest of times there is hope and that hope should be held

"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.

Characters in ¡§The Sniper¡¨ are limited in terms of type and variety to show that war brings out only people who possesses a passion to kill and have the courage to be killed. The story focuses on only one sniper and we, the readers use the incident from his point of view. The only characters that are mentioned are the sniper, another sniper, his enemy and an old woman. Apart from the old woman, all other characters are men who represent figures of war and are present to do nothing but kill. They are seekers of death and bring about a web of deaths. The manner in which these men ¡§reign¡¨ over the city by killing, and that ordinary dwellers are imprisoned within their homes for fear of death shows the evil impacts of war.

As the days go on and the war deepens the impact it is making on Sarajevo Kenan begins to realize that the horrendous state Sarajevo is in will never change for the better. When Kenan sees people walk in a direction that may be unsafe he considers warning them but decides not to because, “Telling them there might be a sniper watching the bridge is a little like saying the sun has come up this morning” (113). This displays that the war has been going on for so long that it has just become a part of everyone's lifestyle, and the citizens of Sarajevo have adapted to it, therefore making it normal. Moreover, the men on the hills completely decide Sarajevo’s fate. This is shown when Kenan reflects on why they are firing and concludes that “They’re firing at the ambulances to tell him, and everyone else, that help will not arrive if they have anything to say about it” (162).

In view of a memoir, The Bosnia List, there are various emotions that children will experience during wars and events of persecution in their homeland. Kenan demonstrates that he was anxious when he is wandering through the streets when he is required to leave his apartment to get necessary items for his family. While the war is going on, he encounters a couple new individuals that come to his family’s apartment. Kenan mentions that he feels safe, but also worried because these individuals could do anything and get away with it. He begins to lose faith in his people because all of the people he trusted before the war turned against him and his family. His family was no longer secured in their homeland they are afraid and hope for the best.

In times of conflict, the possession of power and control is often heavily influenced by the infliction of fear upon a subordinate group. In Steven Galloway’s The Cellist of Sarajevo, this ideology enters a fictional world, where the Serbs ruthlessly terrorize Sarajevo from the hills in an attempt to capture the city during the Yugoslav war. Through the experiences of the three main characters and other citizens of Sarajevo within the novel, it becomes apparent to the reader that terror and manipulation have become the tools of choice used to gain power and ultimate supremacy. Within Galloway’s work, Arrow, Dragan, and Kenan experience a loss of control through the powerful influence of fear by the invading forces.

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

In literature, it is common for authors to apply different stylistic techniques in order to assist in providing the readers with a message. This idea is prominent in Steven Galloway’s The Cellist of Sarajevo, a novel which follows the story of three characters in the war-torn city of Sarajevo. Despite the fact that the characters never meet, they are each unified by a cellist and the song he plays for twenty-two days to honour the citizens who lost their lives while waiting in line for bread. Throughout the book, a recurring idea is that of hope for the future of Sarajevo, which is shown through the contrast of symbols from the beginning of the novel to the end, the cellist himself, and the adagio that the cellist plays. It is evident from the meaning created through objects and people that Galloway is able to use symbolism to enhance the idea that a city which once was destroyed can still be repaired.

Imagine a missile coming through the peace of which once used to be a beautiful clear blue sky. The sound of the shell is low but builds as it comes down to break for impact on the streets. Giving a group of innocent civilians not enough time to flee, or at the very least take cover. Before time to react, the shell hits and explodes leaving twenty-two people dead. The civilians were simply hoping to be able to buy some bread for their families, but ended up facing death. The Cellist of Sarajevo, a novel by Steven Galloway, brings an interesting story by using internal conflict of three characters living through war, to demonstrate a theme, of the great possibilities of regaining humanity with the belief of a better life and a brighter future,

reality of life which is represented by the bloodshed has now entered into the once was innocent

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..

‘No doubt they’ll soon get well; the shock and the strain / have caused their stammering, disconnected talk,’ writes Siegfried Sassoon in the poem Survivors (1917). Sassoon’s irony in these lines condense a prevalent view of non-combatants during the First World War that the soldiers would recover from their physical injuries and mental illness after the phase of shock had concluded. In the short story Speed the Plough (1923), Mary Butts articulates scepticism towards the idea that Shell Shock will simply pass. Instead of employing the habitual indicators of war, the story showcases Butts’s fixation in avoiding them. Modernist writers, such as Butts, were interested in innovation and experimentation with language to create new forms of expression. The following analysis will explore how the modernist aesthetics shape this passage in order to express the experience of war but avoid recurring to the same language that explicitly evokes it.

Malorie Blackman makes the aftermath of the Dundale Shopping Centre bombing very vivid for the reader by using very interesting and useful word and phrases. Malorie starts the scene by describing when the bomb blown off. She starts with a flash, which gives the readers the picture of light sparked instantly, followed by a simile ‘like the very air was alight’ to show that everything around was burnt up. Then she uses the word ‘a fraction of a second’ to tell that just immediately after the flash, a bomb exploded.