What is the What 1st Post

Reading What is What? has been a emotionally and conceptually difficult. At least so far. The book starts out with Sudanese Valentino Achak Deng opening the door of his apartment for a strange woman. She comes in and begins to rob him and his absent roommate while another man beats and threatens him with his gun. He is tied up and a young boy he calls T.V boy who ordered to watch Valentino and hold him captive until they return. Valentino immediately regrets moving to the city of Atlanta and he begins to have flashbacks of his violent childhood. He tells of his village Marial Bai, his father Deng Nyibek Arou and his father's first wife, hanging out with his childhood friends Moses and William K. He reminisces on a few funny memories of him trying to impress his older crush Amath and being bitten by a horse. During these flashbacks he learns "T.V. boy's" name is Michael and when he tries to reason with him, Michael smashes his head with a book. Valentino's flash backs start to get darker and sadder as tension between Arabs, rebel groups, and the army grow. This is where I began to get confused, with all of the different names for Arabs, political groups, and various African organizations, and villages. The author never clearly explains who is bad, who is good, and exactly what they all do. So I decided to research the SPLA or the Sudan People's Liberation Army. This organization was fighting for independence in Southern Sudan and according to fas.org the SPLA was fighting the Sudanese Government from 1972-1983. Since I am only one third of the way into the book, I don't know all the in's and outs of why the Arabs are fighting and killing Dinka people but on the research website, it seems to be the Second Sudanese Civil War. On the website, John Pike explains the SPLA saying that "The principal insurgent faction is the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), a body created by the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA)." I will continue reading to learn more about this war from the man who was forced to escape it. The rest of the third I read consisted of Valentino running from the Arabs and away from his village. He joins a group of run away and who lost their families, they are led by an older boy Dut Majok. They walk all day and far into the night, looking for near by villages and food. Valentino reflects on the boys he meets and their sad stories. He is still tied up in his apartment when I stopped reading. It has been a sad and informational novel so far, and have a feeling the issues it discusses will be explained in more depth.