Emmanuel Jal

Emmanuel Jal, in this book Jal goes from being a little boy with a happy life and a loving family to many different things.  From being a little boy with a family he became a lost boy and one that had to struggle for everything he need.  Slowly as time went on he forgot about family, love and friends and became a boy solider.  He went years of things a little boy should not and seeing things that should not been seen by a young child.  Once he met a woman named Emma his mind changed about many things.  He wanted to get an education so that one day he could help his country and take back what was once there’s.  Jal had many troubles with this, when he first started school he was already in his teens so his academic level was very behind.  He would become very frustrated at times and want to give up.  He didn’t know his rights from his wrongs and didn’t understand that fighting when you were mad in school wasn’t right.  Jal slowly got use to this life and became a lonely quite boy but very focused and determined for what he wanted.  He became interested in music and was very good at it and would perform for people and make money that would go towards the lost boys.  Jal was offered a scholarship to a school in the UK so he decided to give up music and focus on his studies until his visa was taken away and he could not stay there anymore.  When he found this out he had never been more devastated.  When he returned to his country from UK he decided to start his music again.  Although this wasn’t what he originally wanted to do, and just thought of it as a hobby, it saved his life.  Because of his music he went many places and did many things that he couldn’t have done without it.  I think this goes to show that although education is important there are other ways to achieve your dreams.      

Conflict

There are a lot of conflicts in this novel.  Although what I think is the biggest, is that war is making Jal forgetting everything he once new and loved.  When he was a child he would play with the other children talk to and love his mother and enjoy his life.  Now all he cares about is how many Arabs he can kill and what he can steal from them once they’re dead, all he wants to do is fight on the front lines and save his country.  When he pictures his child hood he sees his mother being beaten his sisters crying and his village burning in front of him.  As his life went on his concern for others became lower and lower.  In his first battle in Ethiopia, he had to beat a woman.  It took him a lot before he could bring himself to actually do it.  Now when ever he hears a sound in the bush he will shoot without a second thought.  Jal does not feel sympathy or regret.  His life is now controlled by the SPLA and although he does not mind or care.  He cares more about them then he does his own friends around him.       

Community

Emmanuel Jal .VS. Our life

These slides are describing Jal’s life compared to ours.  And making us aware of how east our lives are.   

Empathy

Empathy is a shared emotion between people.  Emptahy is important so that you can feel something for others that you necessarily didn't feel yourself.  It important because it can open your eyes to what else is going on outside your little bubble of life.