The Cellist Of Sarajevo Character Analysis

What happens to people when the seemingly simplest parts of life become a question of survival? In Steven Galloway’s “The Cellist of Sarajevo” people are forced to make decisions that will decipher whether or not they will remain alive and whether or not they will remain altruistic. Often, when people are forced into conditions like the ones outlined in Galloway’s novel, they may have to choose to focus on simply enduring to the end, even if doing what it takes to survive outweighs remaining genuine to their morals and to their humanity.
In the novel, one of the characters, Kenan, is faced with the challenge of retrieving water for his family and an elderly neighbour. This necessary task requires him to journey all the way across the war torn city, this is very difficult for him, for he fears the potential threat of death that manifests itself at the brewery when it suddenly falls under attack. The bombing leaves the place in shambles and causes Kenan to question why he continues to retrieve water for his abrasive neighbour, even though she has never shown appreciation to him and it makes his journey home much more difficult. In an act
of anger he leaves her water bottles behind.
The bottles may symbolize Kenan’s ability to hold on to his humanity.
After he witnesses a terrible display of violence at the brewery he moves into a type of survival mode, where getting the water safely home to his family becomes more important than the promises he’s made. He seems to feel indifferent towards his choice to abandon her water, that is until he hears the Cellist play his hopeful adagio. This adagio seems to cause people to look upon themselves and remember who they were before the conflict, Kenan hears this adagio and realizes what he’s done by leaving behind the water bottles. He has let the war win. He makes the decision to go back to retrieve the water, once again risking his life. He was lucky, as just as he was about to lose hope, he heard the cellists wonderful adagio and found his way back to who he truly
is. Whenever conflicts arise, there are people who will become completely different from before. An example of this is Arrow, a character from the novel, she has developed a cold, hard shell and has even changed her name to separate herself from who she used to be. She is a very talented sniper who puts her talents to use. Her superior has allowed her to choose her own targets for the most part, letting her keep a sort of humanity by only picking targets she deems cruel enough that killing them is justifiable. When the evil men in the city, the ones who benefit from the suffering of others, offer her a place in their corrupt organization after her previous superior dies, she refuses because she knows that means that she may have to kill civilians and other people who are undeserving of death in her eyes. Unfortunately, because she would not join their organization, they are now going to try and kill her. Arrow does have the ability to change this by leaving the city or attempting to remain hidden longer, but instead she chooses to let the evil men find her and kill her. By doing this she seems to be letting the cold, vengeful Arrow die, instead of completely losing her integrity. As she is about to die she reveals her true name, Alissa, as a statement of who she has chosen to be at the end of her life. An example of people attempting to return to who they were before the war is Dragan. He is left alone in the city, his wife and son escaped to Italy, while he chooses to stay in the city without them. His outlook on life is very bleak. The colour gray is often used to represent his perspective of the war around him. Dragan also has the belief that if he was shot, he would rather die right then, rather than be injured with the possibility of survival. When he runs into an old friend, who has an odd sense of optimism in a time where so many people have lost all hope, she shows him that there may still be things left to be hopeful about. After she is shot in the arm by a hidden sniper, Dragan realizes that she does not wish that Emina, his friend, would have been killed rather than injured, so why would he wish that upon himself. This changes his entire perspective. The change has to be a choice. Everything action that we take is a result of a decision that we have made, which is what determines our mindset. Dragan shows himself adjusting viewpoints, and using that to bring joy to others, even if the joy he brings to others is just a quick hello to those he passes on the street. It brings a sense of normalcy into his life and also into those he greets. He is filled with hope that the city will return to how it was before, if only people like him will choose to stay and rebuild it. This novel focuses a lot around how people’s choices affect not only what they do, but who they are. As they make choices to better the world, than they will be able to become who they aspire to be. Remaining true to their morals is a necessary part of being a happy human being. The people in this novel all become better people after they make the decision to stop only doing what it takes to survive, but instead making the choice to do whatever it takes to elevate their moral standing. Ultimately, people become whatever they choose to when the simplest parts of become a question of survival.