Time line

Steven Galloway tells the story of the Sarajevo through suffering from the viewpoints of three individuals who have lived before and after the war.

  The first narrator is a woman named Arrow, she has lived 2 lives one as the devoted daughter of a policeman in happier times, the other as a sniper forced to killing soldiers before they are able to kill more innocent civilians. Before the war, she was a sharpshooter. She must use her skills for more urgent and base needs and ultimately, as the protector of the cellist while he performs.

Kenan, the second narrator, is an older man who is married with children. In Good Sarajevo he was employed in an accountant's office, but in ugly Sarajevo he spends his days risking his life on the dangerous trek through town to get drinking water from freshwater springs. His life has been reduced to the need of his family, and the risk is worth the reward of several liters of clean drinking water to keep his family alive.

The voice of Dragan, a bakery worker, who sent his wife and son to safety in Italy, but remains in Sarajevo simply for the sense of responsibility to the city. He one day hopes the city will return to normal which is another reason he stay in the city.

Setting Brad

Sarajevo is a real city located in Bosnia and Herzegovina. There was a real war that took place here. Sarajevo is important to this story because the geography of the city allowed for men in the hills to shoot into the city. The destruction that these people brought made Arrow feel like she need to fight back against them, and keep Sarajevo alive.  Arrow loves her city, and is willing to kill for it. This is what prompts her to become a sniper, and be a warrior of her city.

            In the novel, Arrow’s city was been torn apart. Arrow knows that if she fights back against the people in the hills, her city has a chance of winning. The city influences Arrow as if it were a conscious being. She feels the city as part of her, it changes her, and when it is dying Arrow lashes out, and does what she can to keep it alive.
           Each character feels the city as part of themselves. When the city was attacked, it wasn’t just the city that was destroyed; the city is part of the citizens, when it was destroyed it destroyed part of them as well.

Point of view Brad

In the novel “Cellist of Sarajevo” by Steven Galloway the story is told by a series of characters where their point of view is presented.  The different points of view within the story allow the reader to develop a stronger understanding of hope and perseverance. The hardship and the struggles that these people had to go through was something that no person could explain. As realistic as the story is presented, the reader is only able to develop a romantic interpretation of the events. The reader is never able to truly experience war like the characters do, so to help develop a stronger understanding of these emotions, different points of view were used to provide more examples to reinforce the struggles and emotions. The way the story is written is in 3^rd person. The events taken place are told by a narrator, where he understands the emotions of the characters. The story is also written in a first person perspective when there is dialog between characters. Seeing through the eyes of the individual character only allows you to have a biased view of Sarajevo. When the story is written in first person, you can only see Sarajevo, as the character sees it. The destruction of the city influenced each character to fight back against the men in the hills. When you are able to see the character in 1^st person, you are able to look into their internal conflicts they have. You see that Sarajevo is an important part of who they are as a person. That the city is a part of them, and without it they are lost. The cellist allows the story to have an alternative point of view. It allows the characters to see their past, and see their internal conflicts being presented. They want to go back to the way they city used to be.

            The point of view of each character is important to the story because each story is intertwined and each influences one another. With three different stories going on at the same time, you are able to learn more about the city and the people living their. The lives of these people are drastically changed and they all want to go back to the way their city used to be. Each character feels differently about their city, and what it has become. But they all agree that Sarajevo was a beautiful city that was full of life, and it is their duty to keep it alive, and change it back to the way it was before the war.

Theme Determination Brandon

Individuals can face challenges in life in which their self determination is tested, and with the help of hope and music they are able to overcome their problems.

In the “Cellist of Sarajevo” the cello, represents the hope the society of Sarajevo struggle for on a daily basis.  The Music from the cello gave people not only hope, but self belief and determination. Much like in life music, gives people a way out of there struggles against society and their own problems. The cellist gave people a sense that they shouldn’t be living their lives the way they were; but that they should be determined to strive for better lives. In life people often gain much more than pleasure from music. These emotions can range from solace in bad times, courage to defy the odds, or determination to summit their insurmountable problems. In life people often get their hope and inspiration from music. Music is known to leave its mark, on people helping them face everyday challenges in their lives. While the “Cellist of Sarajevo” may not have set out to change lives, his music gave people hope to live their lives in spite of the conflict raging around them.  

Symbols Jordan

There are a number of symbols present within “The Cellist of Sarajevo”. The most notable symbol, the cello, represents the hope the citizens of Sarajevo strive for. Each time the cellist played during his 22-day period, the characters that experienced his music remembered what their lives were like before the war had occurred. As the war was occurring, people felt helpless as they were being picked off one by one, the fate of their lives determined by the men on the hills. The cellist gave people a sense that they should not be living their lives the way they currently were; that they should be determined to strive for better lives. Another symbol present in the novel is the color grey, as it represents how life is perceived in Sarajevo. In the beginning of the novel, the characters that walked around the city had mentioned shades of grey being present in many parts of the city. The dull, grey colors had to do with the lifelessness that plagued the city; how once the war began there was no sign of hope that Sarajevo would ever recover. But near the end of the story, some characters had described brighter colors present in the city; they began to look at life as if was going to get better. The number 22 is another symbol present within the story, as in biblical terms it represents the manifestation of light. 22 was a reoccurring symbol throughout the story; the cellist played for 22 days, many guns used were .22 caliber, and so on. In the bible, the manifestation of light represents how God showed how his glory and power (shown through his son Jesus) could change the lives of non-believers. In the novel, their were many who did not believe the city had anything to hope for because of the destruction the war had caused; but symbols of hope (such as the cellist) had given some the will to believe that there was hope in overcoming this difficult time. 

Plot jordan

The plot of “The Cellist of Sarajevo” is moved forward through the actions of characters.  When we look at Arrow, there are a number of important events in which the reader can get a deeper understanding of how the plot moves forward. When Arrow gets assigned to protect the cellist from other snipers out for him, the reader gets an understanding of how talented Arrow is at her job as well as her motivations of being a sniper. The climax of Arrow is important in understanding the challenges that she faces internally. After her commander had been killed and she was sent to another unit, she questioned whether she was putting her talents to good use or if she had become like the “men on the hills” who shot recklessly at the innocent people of Sarajevo. The events of the story occur in such order because they build up to the understanding of Arrow’s change in character. We see how Arrow had gone from killing the men on the hills with little or no thought of her actions to how she ended up questioning if what she has done goes with her beliefs. At the end of the story, she ends up letting herself get killed as a result of how she perceived herself.

Characterization Jordan

Alisa (mainly known as Arrow) is the main character of the story, which experiences the greatest conflicts, both with the world around her and herself. Her niche in the story as a sniper requires a great amount of skill and concentration; but also requires her to be emotionally neutral (meaning her feelings can’t get in the way of being a sniper). Because she felt that her personal identity previous to the war would get in the way of being a sniper, she created a new identity, Arrow, in order to do her job with no regrets of taking a human life. Besides being gifted, she is competitive and driven which makes her more of a dangerous force to be recon with. She is driven to fulfill her position as a sniper as she had never been recognized for being an outstanding marksman in such a way before the war. Because of her incredible talents, she feels the need to be recognized by individually for possessing such skill, not the fact that she could be used countless times as a weapon. It is General Nermin that sees this aspect of Arrow’s identity and doesn’t take it for granted; but it is when he dies and she is transferred to another unit that she realizes that she can be taken advantage of in such a way that she is being used more than she is contributing. The use of her talents eventually brought her to an epiphany that killing the ‘men on the hills’ was no better than the men on the hills’ reckless killing as well as the other citizens of Sarajevo that fought back.

Arrow’s character mirrors the crisis that occurs from the beginning of the novel because everyone was unsure of what to do to make things right. World governments could not send in any help and no one could (or would) escape the everyday danger that they face. Arrow had become a sniper to help with the fight against the “men on the hills”, she was almost positive that what she was doing was right. But it took her a while to realize she had become like the “men on the hills”; destroying the city of Sarajevo with thousands of innocent people for no purpose. She had realized that there was no purpose to her actions; it was the only solution to her internal conflicts.