"What is the What" is extremely intriguing and makes one wonder about lifestyle and necessity and that we could give up pretty much 90% of our belongings and continue living perfectly fine if we were in an area that didn't expect glowing skin and comfy sheets. The Dinka people seem to be very practical, especially in their choosing of cattle over 'the What', a mystery gift from God.
"God said, you can either have these cattle, as my gift to you, or you can have the What.(p.62)"
I decided to do some research into what other reviewers thought the What actually is. At first, I personally believed that the What was actually nothing but simply the idea of giving up what was given to you out of curiosity for the unknown. If the Dinka had chosen the What, I'd expect some sort of biblical punishment and maybe a lesson to teach those to accept what they are given.
I looked around, and according to Timothy McSweeney's blog (full of reviews for this book), Francis Prose of the NY Times believes that maybe although the wise Dinka chose the cattle to feed and prosper from, the What was their protection later from the mujahideen and Sudan government. For example if they had forfeited cattle for the What, the pain that followed later would've been eradicated. Valentino himself comes up with multiple examples of the What, according to the Hungry Owl Blog, later in the book Achak contemplates the What being horses (the symbol of the Arabs), an AK-47, airplanes, or education. I think that the What could symbolize the wisdom of the Dinka for turning down the temptation and could be a reminder of logic. But I also think that the What could have many different meanings. There are no hypotheses of the What directly from Dinka people that I could find, so maybe not knowing is the key to the story. Evidently, the actual meaning behind the What is not the point of the creation story. The point is that they were able to refuse such a curious uncharted thing. It could have been glorious, yet the Dink people chose what they knew would help them survive.
Which brings it back to my original point. People in our country would give up a lot for glamour and it isn't hard for me to imagine people in our time and area turning down the cattle every time for just a glimpse of the mysterious What. I hope I will be able to hear more opinions of the What, it's an incredibly interesting topic.
Hey Eleanor! I happened to be wondering the exact same thing as you did; What is the 'What.' The story Achak's father told the Arabs at their dinner party was about the 'What' and how the African's chose the cattle over the 'what'. Choosing the cattle was apparently an awesome decision, even though I and I assume the Dinka people were curious to find out what the 'what' is. I also decided to research what people though the 'what' happened to be or represent. I found an interesting optimistic view on what the 'what' could be. One post said that the 'what' starts out being the unknown and almost a test set upon the Dinka people to see if they were superior. This blog also mentioned that the Dinka chose the cattle because cattle came before them, has only shown good possibilities, it is the opposite of the 'what' or the unknown. Additionally it is believed the meaning of the 'what' changes throughout the book as an "affirmation of Dinka possibility." Also the 'what' may eventually turn into the right answer, some kind of hope that the Dinka will not resist the unknown future and ins tea embrace new possibilities. I believe more examples of the 'what' will pop up throughout What is the What, and Achak himself may end the book by giving his overall definition and thoughts on what the 'what' is, and what it means next for the Dinka People.
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