Sunday, October 3, 2010

Strength in What Remains: A Journey of Remembrance and Forgiveness by Tracy Kidder What is the What by Dave Eggers

What would you do if you were a refugee? Could you survive? Or, on the flip side: Would you be able to an ally to a refugee?

- We talked a bit about this question. It’s clear that the couple in “Strength” had been doing activism work when they decided (and were able) to take in Deo.

Strength in What Remains: A Journey of Remembrance and Forgiveness by Tracy Kidder

What is the What by Dave Eggers

Refugees/Genocide

Burundian refugee from Africa coming to the United States to escape the Rwandan genocide

Sudanese (Lost Boys) refugee from Africa coming to the United States to escape Sudanese genocide

Main Character

Deo

Valentino Achak Deng

The Journey from Africa…


On his own, overnight, he ran away from the genocide. His parents pushed him to pretend to be a coffee merchant in order to get through U.S. customs. He arrived in New York not speaking English (only French), with no sponsor, no place to live, and fear that he would be found out as a refugee and as a Tutsi.


Traveled with a group of boys over miles for months, many died or were killed by wild animals along the way, settled for several more months in an African refugee camp. He spoke English. Many of the Lost Boys were resettled in the U.S. once they plight was made public. Deng was flown over to Boston, assigned a sponsor, given an apartment, supplies, money to establish himself, and a network of other Lost Boys.

Settling in…

He struggled to find his way around on the subway, find and keep a job, stay safe, and have a place to sleep (subway, Central Park, eventually a room in a house)

He had an excellent sponsor who understood the cultural conflict Deng was experiencing and explained everything from using a refrigerator or flushing a toilet. The money ran out very quickly and Deng got a job.

Previous Experience

Deo was a medical student, felt good/proud of who he was, and had to start over.

Deng’s journey began when he was just a child. He had no work experience.

Feelings of Inferiority

· Borrowing salt

· Being a parasite

Mistaken Assume

· People assume you are dimwitted if you don’t speak their language

· Not understanding U.S. race relations

· How to use a freezer/refrigerator

· What is a toilet? How is it used?

Connection with Others

· Very isolated on the journey and then lived in subway and Central Park upon arrival

· Having a sponsor who explains and breaks things down really makes a difference
























The following questions are adapted by LitLovers from the Teachers Guide at Random House publishers.

1. The first section of the book entitled "Flights" describes two kinds of flights: those in Africa, which are obvious flights for physical survival; and those in New York City. What kind of "flights" does the New York part of the book refer to?

2. How does Deo derive his name? What is the irony in his name...or is there irony? What are the meanings of some of the other names of those he meets along his journey?

3. How does Deo think about his experiences in New York City as compared to his growing-up years in Burundi? Does he change his views over time?

4. The manager of the food store where Deo works humiliates him. Why does this treatment sting more than the other humiliations he has received before?

5. What does Deo feel about Sharon McKenna and her personal quest for his redemption? How do you feel about her McKenna's? Why is McKenna so insistent?

6. Talk about the meaning of this observation from Chapter 7 regarding history: "...history, even more than memory, distorts the present of the past by focusing on big events and making one forget that most people living in the present are otherwise preoccupied, that for them omens often don't exist."

7. Also consider this passage in Chapter 8 from the W.E.B. Dubois poem, The Souls of Black Folk: "To be a poor man is hard, but to be a poor race in a land of dollars is the very bottom of hardships." How does this reflect Deo's life in New York?

8. Kidder conducts numerous interviews about Deo— Drs. Joia Mukherjee and Paul Farmer, Sharon McKenna, Charlie and Nancy Wolff. What are their various interpretations of Deo? Do you agree or not with any (or all?) of their assessments?

9. How does Deo's involvement in Partners in Health open up a new world for him?

10. What is Deo's reason for refusing psychiatric treatment? Do you agree with his decision and reasoning? Could he benefit from therapy?

11. Upon hearing Deo's account of his life, Kidder admits that he himself would not have survived. What qualities does Deo possess that enabled his survival? How do you think you might have fared under the same circumstances?

12. How and why does Kidder's relationship with Deo change during his trip with Deo to Burundi?

13. Describe Deo's reaction upon visiting the Muhato hospital. What is the significance of the left open door? How does the hospital visit compare to Deo's visit to the Murambi memorial?

14. Talk about Deo's belief that the primary cause of genocide is misery. Do you agree with his observation?

15. Deo laughs while recounting the suicide of a Belgian colonial. He also laughed earlier, in Chapter 9, while hiding among the corpses. Talk about this strange reaction and what it suggests about Deo's state of mind, personality or the culture in which he grew up.

16. In the epilogue, Deo talks about the Burundian volunteers who are building a road to his clinic. Talk about why they are so committed to bringing Deo's dream to fruition.

17. In what way, if at all, has this book changed your understanding of genocide? What other books or films have you seen that have focused on this problem, not just in Africa but in other parts of the world? Do you see genocide as a localized problem or a global issue?

18. If you've read Kidder's Mountains Beyond Mountains, discuss the two men at the heart of both books: in what ways are they similar? Did Mountains affect your reading of this work?

(These questions are adapted by LitLovers from the Teachers Guide at Random House. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)



















Questions from elsewhere:
  1. Why do you think Valentino/Dominic/Achak had so many names?

  2. Why do you think Valentino directs his story towards Michael, Julian, and the clients of the gym?

  3. Which one of Valentino’s friends did you like or remember the most?

  4. Did you know the plight of the Lost Boys before you read this book? Did it change what you thought about the situation?

  5. What details from What is the What impacted you the most?