What Is the What - The Autobiography of Valentino Ashak Deng by Dave Eggers - Book Report/Review Example

The protagonist of the novel, Valentino Ashak Deng, narrates a compelling story of his life marked with the tragedy of war that has overwhelmed his motherland and made him struggle for survival. Despite all his troubles, the boy, who was only 7 years old when the war broke out, did not lose optimism and exemplified a unique, yet empowering trust in himself.
The author of the book, Dave Eggers, called it autobiographical as he had collaborated with the actual protagonist of the story for many years long after the actual events narrated by Valentino had happened. Eggers strived to save this never-give-up storey from oblivion in order to inspire people who lost faith in themselves. Valentino was only a little boy when war came in his town. He lost his father, mother and friends but he would never lose courage and confidence in his own abilities, no matter what troubles and dangers followed him on his way to survival. Left all alone, Valentino had to flee barefooted through the desert and literally ran for his life to get to the refugee camp in Ethiopia confronting pitfalls all the way down. Way-worn, scared and exhausted, this little kid with an unbroken spirit displayed undying faith in people that surrounded him throughout his way. Unlike many people he met on his way, he did not let paranoia and hatred take over his mind. When Gop, one of Valentino's pals in a refugee camp, disclosed that he believed all of the refugees in that camp would soon be murdered just like Jews had been murdered during the Holocaust, Valentino calmed him down. Instead of getting obsessed with paranoid fear, just like Gop did, Valentino looked at it with an admirable sense of humour and irony. His thoughts proved that there was hardly anything that could break his spirit and change his optimistic approach to life:
People spoke a lot about the Jews in those days, which was odd, considering that a short time before, most of the boys I knew thought the Jews were an extinct race. (Eggers 322)
Years later, once his wandering from one refugee camp to another was finally over, Valentino moved from Africa to the United States of America, where he had to overcome troubles and face existential problems.