Children and Pathos

They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky seems so much more depressing and evil than the other novels we've read about similar unbelievably traumatic experiences. I believe this is because all of the horror, death, and torture is happening to children in kindergarten. It's impossible for me to believe that 20,000 plus little boys had to trek hundreds of miles through snake and lion infested lands and scorching deserts and only to get to more grief, all without knowing what's happened to their families. Many of these little boys are all on their own, starving and waiting alone to die.

In The Sorrow of War, many terrible images and memories overtook Kien's life, but even though that was tragic to read, this book is almost unbearable because these boys aren't even involved; they are completely and utterly innocent. They are receiving the effects of war and have no idea why. The African Proverb in the very front of the novel, "When two elephants fight, it is the ground that gets trampled," is the perfect summary of the entity of the novel. This is a war about religion and greed, which is the elephants. The little boys that are stripped from their happy lives and families are the grass, being trampled to death by the elephants.

As I said in class, my little brother is only eight. He needs help doing very menial tasks, and I don't even think he would be able to walk more than five miles at one time. It sickens me to read this book because I put my brother in Benson's place. I see him starving and struggling to survive without myself or the rest of my family. This book shows the true evil of the world by putting innocent, very small children through hell and back.

This link is full of quotes from the Incredibles, but there is one that struck me the most that Mrs. Incredible says while they are in the cave. She says, "Remember the bad guys on the shows you used to watch on Saturday mornings? Well, these guys aren't like those guys. They won't exercise restraint because you are children. They *will* kill you if they get the chance. Do *not* give them that chance."

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317705/quotesThis quotes emphasizes how it doesn't matter if you are a child in Sudan at this time. If you are a Dinka, you deserve to die. The same as in the Rwandan Genocide, the Holocaust, and many other catastrophes.