What Is The What

Deng left Marial Bai with his father, who brought two wives and seven children with him to the city of Aweil, 100 miles to the south. Deng’s mother was angry to be left behind, but Deng’s father assured her and the rest of his family that they would be safe in the village now that the attack was over. Deng finds that Aweil is very different from Marial Bai: much more urban and densely populated. The government is very much in control in Aweil, and often interrogates Dinka people for suspicions of involvement with the rebels. Within a short time living there, the soldiers come to speak with Deng’s father, and ask him questions about why he left Marial Bai and whether he is involved with the SPLA. Deng’s father tries to defuse the situation by mentioning his friend Bol Dut; however, Bol Dut is already under suspicion of rebel involvement, despite being a member of Parliament.

After his interrogation, Deng returns to his shop and declares that he thinks it’s time to leave Aweil. Bol Dut comes for dinner, and Deng urges him to leave as well, saying, “Come back to Marial Bai with us. There are no soldiers there. You’ll be protected. You’ll have friends. It’s not a government town” (81). All this pleading eventually convinces Bol Dut to journey with the family back to Marial Bai. The next day, however, Bol Dut is found murdered. The morning after that, the fence of Deng’s compound is raked by gunfire, and he knows that the government is sending a message, so they leave immediately for Marial Bai.

Deng’s family has been gone for three months; upon their return to Marial Bai, Deng finds his home village mostly destroyed. “When we returned, we found only a series of circles of charred earth” (83). Deng’s mother is delighted to see him but insists that Deng and his father must leave immediately, as Marial Bai has become the least safe place in the area, and a target for the government attacks:

The message from Khartoum was clear: if the rebels chose to continue, their families would be killed, their women raped, their children enslaved, their cattle stolen, their wells poisoned, their homes plundered, the earth scorched (84).

Deng finds his old friend, William K; they explore the area together, and William explains that his brother, Joseph, was killed. That night, Deng talks with his mother, who draws idly on his back with her finger to comfort him. She tells him not to worry, that the SPLA will be there soon with guns and take care of the Baggara raiders. (The Baggara are a grouping of Arab ethnic groups native to the African continent.) Deng dreams of crushing the faces of the invaders with his feet, with all of them shot dead. The next morning, he finds his friend, Moses, and discovers that Moses’s father is a soldier now, though Moses is not sure which side he fights for. They walk together through the school, looking at all the bullet holes, and talk about how there are no men left in the village except the very young and the very old. The topic of Joseph being shot comes up. Moses tells Deng the same thing that William K did: Joseph was shot in the throat.

Deng leaves Marial Bai forever on the day that the government comes back to finish the job of destroying the village and kidnapping or slaughtering all its inhabitants. The murahaleen—the government militias, the majority of which are Arab—sweep into town on hundreds of horses, with guns and swords. Deng’s mother sees them first and takes Deng outside, running for cover. They hide in the tall grass near an old woman, who insists that once they have the cattle, the riders will leave, but this is untrue, and soon the murahaleen begin shooting anyone who runs and burning anything left standing. They herd all the women and children into a group.

Deng and his mother run toward his Aunt Marayin’s house, but are found by a soldier. They only escape when the soldier accidentally shoots his horse in the leg. The soldier’s companion ignores them for a moment while trying to help his fallen comrade. They run and hide in the aunt’s grain hut, burying themselves in the grain. Soon, they hear a scream that sounds like Aunt Marayin. Deng’s mother tells him to stay hidden and that she will go see what’s happening and then return. A man comes and nearly catches Deng, who escapes and runs to the church, watching the village beyond through a hole in the wall. The boys, girls, and women have been gathered on the soccer field. Men are shot. Valentino sees Amath, his crush, tied up with the group. Nearby, a woman insults the soldiers, and one of them casually cuts her down with a sword. After an hour, the girls are thrown onto the saddles of a few soldiers and taken north. The leader of the militia, Manyok Bol, is killed. Deng later learns Bol “was cut into six parts and thrown down [Deng’s] father’s well” (94).

Deng’s friend Moses is standing over the corpse of his mother, yelling at her to get up. A soldier also hears this and kills Moses with his sword. Deng waits until dark then runs through the woods to escape town. He tries to find his way through the darkness of southern Sudan. After several hours, he sees a fire. Two soldiers nearly discover him, but he stays quiet and eventually they ride away. Deng leaves the trail he’s on, praying for guidance and stumbling through the dark until he encounters an old man singing. He goes with the old man to a small camp, where several men and women have set up for the night, after escaping the violence themselves. Their leader is named Jok; Jok knows Valentino’s father. The next morning, Deng goes with a man named Dut Majok, a former teacher in Marial Bai, to see what has happened to the village. The soldiers are still there, and the place is unapproachable. It takes them the entire day to get back to camp.

Dut is gone the following morning. Deng has little choice but to walk with his new colleagues. The group decides to go north to Khartoum, with the idea that the murahaleen will leave them alone if they are not a threat and not affiliated with the rebels. Some think this plan is madness, and they argue about it as the group travels. When the murahaleen find them, it’s chaos; everyone runs in different directions as the killing begins. Deng runs, and although he is shot at twice, he’s not pursued. He comes upon Kolong Gar, the deserter he had seen a while ago. Gar’s face has been melted off as punishment for his crimes. Gar says to Deng:

I want you to stare into my face, boy. I need you to do this. You see this face? This was the face of a man who trusted. Do you see what happens to a man who trusts? Tell me what happens! His face is taken. Good! Yes, My face was taken. That’s a good way to say it. This is what I deserve. I said I was a friend of the Arab and the Arab reminded me that we’re not friends and never will be (106).

Deng runs away again, cursing everything and everyone involved in his terrible situation. He comes across a scene at an airport where a pilot refuses to give even people with money and power a ride out of the area. Deng states that “[n]o one was important enough to fly away from the war, not in those days” (108).