Valentino Achak Deng Character Analysis

One of the traumatic experiences throughout Valentino Achak Deng’s journey from Sudan to Kenya is during the period where they are famished and they have to eat the raw meat. In Book 1 Chapter 15, 250 boys including Valentino stopped at a village to get some protection, rest and food. However a group of boys tried to steal food from the villagers and the group was chased out. They continue their journey with the minimum amount of food and supplies. Many of them complain about empty stomach and some are left to die on the roadside. Luckily, some soldiers offers them meat of an elephant. Most of the boys eat the raw meat because they are too hungry to wait for it to cook. In the morning, Deng does not wake up from his sleeping. Valentino feels very sad, so he remains silent for the majority of the journey.
He does feel sad, but he knows he needs to stay strong in order for him to survive. He learns silent does not symbolize weakness, in fact it is a symbol of inner strength. I believe that during this period, he actually reflects his past life, his present life and his future if he survives. Usually when we are happy, we only focus on the excitement. But when we face difficulties and sadness, then we will stand still, keep silent and do some reflection. We will only start taking lessons from this experience of sadness, so that what happened could be a lesson for our lives in the