In times of difficulty, people tend to give up on themselves and their dreams. They feel as if the situation is never going to improve, and decide that there’s no point in persevering for something that they won’t be able to achieve. Everyone goes through difficult times in their lives, but eventually things get better and we’re able to recover; you and I are proof of that. This is why people should never give up in tough times, because even a glimmer of hope can help lift you out of despair.

After I finished reading The Cellist of Sarajevo, I realized that Galloway slowly develops the characters and shows how they all eventually regain their hope and humanity in the end. The three storylines of each of the three characters are all connected to the cellist in some way, and Galloway demonstrates how the cellist’s music instills hope and optimism in the hearts of the civilians. On his trip to get water, Kenan abandons Mrs. Ristovski’s water bottles out of frustration, but he decides to go back for them after hearing the cellist play. Dragan is paralyzed out of fear when Emina is shot by a sniper, but he comes back to his senses later on and prevents a foreigner from getting footage of a dead body. Arrow had let go of her humanity and became a killing machine, but she realizes her mistakes and refuses to shoot a civilian, despite her orders.

I believe that the best examples of reclaimed hope in the last few chapters are shown by Dragan and Arrow. They are both faced with a difficult choice, and overcome their fear and pick the choice that allows them to keep their humanity and also be a part of saving Sarajevo. 

Dragan has been through a lot since the war started. He sent his family to Italy, and is living with his sister. He also cut off all contact with his community, because he doesn’t want to remember everything that he lost as a result of the war. However, as the novel progresses, Dragan starts interacting with people. When he meets Emina at the intersection, he tries to avoid her but as they start talking, he starts to realize that he always missed talking with a friend. When Emina gets shot, he keeps the pills she was going to deliver and decides to deliver them himself, showing how his flame of hope has been lit again. 

“He won’t allow this man’s body to be filmed. He remembers what he told Emina about the cellist, why he thinks he plays. To stop something from happening. To prevent a worsening. To do what he can” (Galloway, 234).

Dragan sees the journalist setting up his camera at the intersection with the dead body, so he can show the world what’s going on. However, Dragan doesn’t want that. He doesn’t want the world to see the negative side of Sarajevo, how there are dead bodies littered in the streets. He wants the world to see the good side, what Sarajevo used to be, and what it could still become after the end of the war. Dragan gets up and drags the body out of the intersection, even though he is risking his life by doing so. At this moment, I thought that Dragan had completely transformed and reclaimed his hope for the city of Sarajevo. He realized that things won’t get better if no one takes action.

“She sees the sniper they sent to kill the cellist, his eyes closed, his hand at his side. She hears music, and, this time, she does not fire” (Galloway, 226).

Arrow is recruited by Colonel Karaman after the death of her boss, Nermin. When she meets Hasan for her ‘test’ she’s ordered to shoot a civilian on the street. Arrow quickly refuses and tells Hasan that she’ll only kill soldiers, not civilians, whether they’re enemy civilians or not. Throughout the war, Arrow has been killing enemy soldiers and snipers. When faced with the decision to kill civilians, she maintains her humanity and chooses not to harm innocent people.

In the final chapter, Arrow refuses to use her gun to protect herself. She realizes that violence only makes things worse, and that there was no need for her to have so much hatred for the men on the hills. The music of the cellist gives her hope and reminds her that there is still goodness in the world, so she decides not to pick up a gun to fight her attackers. She chooses to side with the goodness in the world, rather than the hatred.

Reading this book really made me feel sympathetic towards the civilians during the Siege of Sarajevo. They were being shelled and killed but they still maintained hope that this would all be over soon. And they were right; the siege was called off eventually. This goes to show how mental strength is a really important trait that can help you get through anything in your life. Did you guys like the book? I thought the character development was great and made you feel emotional for the characters and the struggles they endure. Galloway did an amazing job showing the effect the war had on the everyday life of the characters, while keeping everything as accurate as possible. Let me know what you guys think.

Works Cited

Galloway, Steven. The Cellist of Sarajevo. Vintage Canada, 2009.

The horrors of a war can bring out a lot of emotions in the heart of the people. Fear, sadness, grief, duty, and determination are some examples of emotions that can come out in times of war. These emotions are usually mixed up and sometimes people don’t know how to feel, and face an emotional conflict.

Since my last post, I’ve continued reading The Cellist of Sarajevo and I’m almost done with the book. It’s really interesting to see how the characters each have their own internal struggles that they are facing. Arrow has let go of her feelings of compassion and sympathy and has decided to become a weapon for the defense forces. Dragan wants to help bring the city back to its former state, but doesn’t want to interact with people. Kenan just wants to stay at home and get far away from the war, but he can’t these show signs of weakness in front of his family.

The most notable character struggles are occurring with Dragan and Kenan. They want to do something good for the sake of their city and family, but the fear of the men on the hill and the shells is causing them to lose their morale.

When Dragan recognizes an old friend, Emina, in the street, he tries his best to avoid making contact with her and avoid any social interaction. He is afraid to face his fear of being reminded of everything that has been lost because of the war. When Emina eventually meets him and they talk, I noticed that there’s a big difference between the two. Emina is trying her best to retain hope, and is optimistic about the future of Sarajevo. She’s even doing her part in helping the community by giving medicine to an old woman. Dragan, on the other hand, doesn’t believe that Sarajevo will receive any help from foreign countries, and thinks they’re on their own. He doesn’t talk to anyone and has disconnected himself from the community, and is also very pessimistic. Dragans wish to restore his city is being overshadowed by his fear of caring for others. He only cares for himself and believes that there is no benefit in interacting with the community. 

“Then, Dragan understands what he’s doing, and he wants to go with the man, to help him and see if Emina can be saved. But his feet don’t move. Around him everyone is alive with a frenzied energy, but he hasn’t stirred an inch” (Galloway, 134).

When Emina is shot by a sniper near the end of the chapter, Dragan doesn’t make an attempt to try and save her. He faces an internal conflict that causes him to not take action. He knows he should go into the street and help Emina, alongside the young man who was already helping her. However, his fear controls his body and he is left in shock by the violence.

“He’s tired. He’s tired from getting water, and he’s tired from the world he lived in, a world he never wanted and had no part in creating and wishes didn’t exist. He’s tired of carrying water for a woman who has never had a kind word to say to him, who acts as if she’s doing him a favour, whose bottles don’t have handles and who refuses to switch” (Galloway, 171).

Kenan is starting to give up. The war has drained a lot out of him, and he doesn’t want to continue. This is Kenan’s emotional conflict; he understands he needs to get water for his family and neighbour, but he is fearful of what can happen to him during the war. We know that Kenan doesn’t want to become a soldier and is avoiding being conscripted, showing how his fear of the war is controlling him. His continuous trips to get water and his close encounters with death have caused him to lose his morale. He also gives up on Mrs. Ristovski and leaves her bottles behind and continues on his way home. His fear has caused him to lose sight of right and wrong as well as his humanity.

When Kenan was filling up his water bottles from the brewery and the shells started dropping near him, everyone starts running and helping the wounded. This contrasts with Kenan, who admits himself that he is of those who “stand, mouths gaping, and watch as others run or help” (Galloway, 163). Kenan’s fear is fighting with his resolve. He knows he needs to do something and help, but the fear takes over.

I feel like the middle chapters of the book do a great job in further developing each of the characters. The reader gets to learn much more about them, including their backstories, and how the war has changed them. Dragan and Kenan are both overtaken by their own personal fears. While they both want to help for the sake of the city, I believe they need to start by connecting with their community. Dragan needs to stop avoiding contact with other people and split the burden he’s carrying with others, and Kenan needs to stop giving up on Mrs. Ristovski, despite her personality. Let me know what you guys think in the comments.

Works Cited

Galloway, Steven. The Cellist of Sarajevo. Vintage Canada, 2009.

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.

Resistance to authority is prevalent everywhere around the world. Civil wars have occurred throughout history, and are still happening today. However, these cases of rebellion are very extreme. The usual cases include people rebelling against parents, society, culture, religion, expectations, and so much more. You’ve probably even heard of the term “rebellious teenager”, something parents love to say, as we know. I’ve noticed this topic to be especially common in The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri.

There are many instances of rebellion in The Namesake, especially in the last couple chapters of the book. Gogol and Moushumi rebel against their parents, culture, and expectations in small and large ways.

“‘Of course, my mother is appalled that I’m not making you Indian food,’ she says” (Lahiri, 209).

Moushumi invites Gogol over for dinner and makes him a French dish, called coq au vin. After reading this quote, I realized that Gogol and Moushumi are, in a way, rebelling against their culture by not eating their traditional Indian food. Since Gogol and Moushumi are both Bengali, you’d expect them to be eating a Bengali meal, like rice, fish, dal, and curry (other famous Bengali dishes). Since I’m from Pakistan, I’ve noticed that it’s extremely odd to have foreign food in special events. For example, in South Asian weddings there’s exclusively South Asian food, even if the wedding is taking place in a foreign country like the United States or Canada. Moushumi mentions to Gogol that her mother was shocked that she wasn’t making an Indian dish for him. This is something that I can definitely relate to, coming from a similar background. Occasionally, I get tired of eating traditional Pakistani food and make the mistake of asking for pizza or poutine. This is usually followed by a lengthy lecture from my parents on why I shouldn’t ‘betray’ my culture and should respect the food of our country.

“At Brown, her rebellion had been academic. At her parents’ insistence, she’d majored in chemistry, for they were hopeful she would follow in her father’s footsteps. Without telling them, she’d pursued a double major in French” (Lahiri, 214).

In this quote, we learn that Moushumi’s parents wanted her to become a chemist, but she secretly does a double major in French to defy and rebel against her parents. Parents usually want their kids to pursue something similar to what they’re doing in order to continue the legacy. A lot of times their kids can have different interests and pursue a different career, and parents are usually fine with that as well. In this case however, Moushumi only pursues French as a “refuge” from her Bengali heritage. She desperately tries to escape the reality that she is a Bengali-American and distances herself from her culture and family even further by moving to Paris. This is very similar to Gogol when he went to Yale in chapters 5-7. Gogol rebelled against his family and culture by moving away and dating Americans, just like Moushumi. Personally, my experiences have never been this extreme, since I’ve never moved away and I haven’t gone to university yet, but I can still relate. My parents want me to become a doctor or engineer in the future, but I’m more interested in the sciences (computer science). It’s become pretty typical for Pakistani people to become engineers or doctors and has started to become a stereotype for South Asian people. For this reason, I don’t really want to follow this “tradition” and instead do something I’m more interested and invested in.

Works Cited

Lahiri, Jhumpa. The Namesake. Boston, Mariner Books, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,
  2004.