In times of war, it’s very difficult for people to maintain their humanity and continue living their lives normally. Just as war transforms the terrain, it can also transform people. After living through times of war and seeing horrific things, soldiers as well as civilians undergo a change in their mental state and have a hard time coping with the experience.
The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway is a book about the Bosnian war and the Siege of Sarajevo, and how these events affect civilians living in the city. The novel is separated into the different perspectives of four characters; Arrow, Kenan, Dragan, and the cellist, who was only featured in the first chapter. I think Galloway does a great job in developing each character and narrating their personal story, making the reader feel sympathetic for each one. An interesting thing I noticed while reading the book is that the cellist and Kenan each have a different way of maintaining their humanity and coping with the war.
“And so today, like every other day in recent memory, the cellist sits beside the window of his second-floor apartment and plays until he feels his hope return” (2, Galloway).
The first chapter of the book focuses on the life and thoughts of the cellist. Even after witnessing how ruined the city of Sarajevo has become due to the siege, he still believes that there is hope that the city can be rebuilt and return to its former state. In the quote above, we can see that the cellist plays the cello to retain his humanity and cope with the war. His music is a form of healing that he uses every day, to protect and distract himself from the hopelessness and horror of the destruction of Sarajevo.
When 22 people trying to buy bread are killed outside of his building, the cellist plays a piece of music called Albinoni’s Adagio. He plays the Adagio every day for 22 days, one day for each person killed by the mortar. This shows how the cellist is maintaining his humanity using his music, and also shows how the music is a symbol of healing for the damage done in Sarajevo.
“He wants to take his younger daughter to a carnival. He wants to sit up, anxious, waiting for his older daughter to return from a movie with a boy he doesn’t really like. He wants his son, the middle child, only ten years old, to think about anything other than how long it will be before he can join the army and fight” (26, Galloway).
Kenan continues to imagine life as a normal family, even in the midst of a war. He continues to have hope and pictures things in his mind as if nothing had changed, as if the war never happened. Every four days Kenan travels far to get clean drinking water for his family and for his neighbour, while knowing that he can be killed by a sniper or mortar at any time. His love for his family and his desire to keep them safe is Kenan’s way of coping with the conflict. He wants his family to survive and live normal, happy lives and wants his children to do what “normal” children do, like going to a carnival or watching a movie.
He also imagines the city as if it was never destroyed. He mentions that he fools himself into thinking that he’s going to work, when in reality, he’s going to get water. This helps distract him from the war and helps him keep his sanity as well as his humanity. Kenan also has a difficult time maintaining his humanity with his neighbour. When Mrs. Ristovski starts to annoy Kenan, he thinks about giving up on her, even though he made her a promise that he would help her during the war. However, in the end, he forces himself to continue helping her and bringing her water.
I loved how each character in the book has a different way of enduring the struggles of war and keeping their cool. The war not only threatens the city and the survival of the civilians, but also their humanity, and everyone in the city is trying their best to maintain it.
Works Cited
“Adagio in G Minor (Albinoni).” YouTube, YouTube, 6 Mar. 2007, ⠀
https://www . youtube.com / watch?v=XMbvcp480Y4
Galloway, Steven. The Cellist of Sarajevo. Vintage Canada, 2009.
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Hi Saad,
I thought your take on the Cellist of Sarajevo was really insightful. I had never considered the humanity involved in the story, and that each person had their own mechanism of maintaining that humanity. I thought your take on Kenan especially was really interesting. When I read over that section of the book, I had thought of the quote as merely plot development, to show the difference between the former glory of Sarajevo and the current state. However, after hearing the your view, I totally agree. Everything he does is his way of keeping his way of humanity, from helping Mrs. Ristovski and imagining the past, is his way of coping with what has happened. I think this also ties into what Arrow talks about as well. How she creates another name to help keep her human, to keep her true self’s humanity.
Anway, cool blog post, I’m really looking forward to your next post and what other great ideas you have.
-Jason Zhang
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