Cellist of Sarajevo: In Class Essay

In a time of war, change is imminent. Whether this change is the surrounding scenery, daily life or even personality depends on how much this war directly affects someone. In the Cellist of Sarajevo we are introduced to a city under siege and being rampantly destroyed by the men in the hills. The psychological as well as physical effect this is having on the city is made obvious through the stories of the novels three main characters. Although all three undergo a change at some point throughout the novel, the character who changes the most is Dragan. Dragan comes to the realization that he does play a part in the war and manages to overcome his cowardice in order to help the city he loves. What is seen at the beginning of the novel is an older man who is dejected and lonely without his family. Hes sixty-four, looks more like a grandfather than a father. (p.37) The war has aged him and taken his only joy, his family, away from him. He managed to help his wife and son leave Sarajevo before the start of the war but has not heard from them in about three months. He mentions that while he did not have a perfect life or a perfect marriage it was comfortable and pleasant. Dragan must now live with his sister and her family whom he does not get along with which in itself is emasculating because he no longer has control over his own home. His main goal each day is to reach the bakery where he is able to get free food without being killed. The bakery isnt far from his sisters house, maybe three kilometres. Under normal conditions it would be about a forty-five minute walk. Nowadays it takes an hour and a half if he hurries. (p.38) From his constant exposure to his ruined city its dejected state no longer affects him, Everything around him is a peculiar shade of grey. Hes not sure where it came from, if it was always there and the war has simply stripped away the colour that hid it or if this grey is the colour of war. (p.40) Dragan no longer associates with his pre-war friends and actually tends to avoid contact with the people from his former life. He believes, if people are going to be taken away from him, either through death or a transformation of their personality that makes them into strangers,

then hes better off without them.(p.43) Dragan recognizes that war has an effect on everyone and that change cannot be avoided and he is unable to control that and therefore unable to bear the effect it might have on him. Dragan views the war as this cycle of never ending doom the sniper will fire again, though, if not here then somewhere else, and if not him then someone else, and it will all happen again... (p.44) Along his journey to the bakery he encounters a friend from his pre-war life, Emina. Dragan tries to avoid this social exchange, like he tries to avoid all former acquaintances but is unable to because he realizes running away would only increase his chances of being killed by a sniper. They exchange greetings and Emina inquires about his family and situation. He is unable to tell her his whole story and she realises this she looks at him, and he can see she knows theres more to his story than hes telling her, but she doesnt push him. Everyone has more than they declare. (p.80) As they continue to speak Dragan mentions the sniper covering the intersection and is surprised when she is genuinely concerned about whether or not he has hit anyone. This strokes Dragan as odd. He isnt indifferent to the deaths around him, but he cant really say that he feels them so much that they would register on his face. He doesnt think many other people do either, anymore. (p.81) This statement shows Dragan has been numbed by the war. Anyone in any other situation would be disturbed by the constant exposure to death but because this has become everyday life for him he can no longer afford to be concerned about every single death that occurs. He is obviously surprised by Eminas empathy and concern which in a normal situation would not be surprising but rather it would be surprising if someone was not concerned. Emina is on her way to deliver medication for someone whose prescription has run out and is in need but stays to chat with Dragan and wait out the sniper. They discuss the idea of leaving and Dragan admits that he would leave Sarajevo if he could. He knows this is a dangerous thing to say. People

resent those manage to get out. Theyre considered cowards, and although he suspects that anyone whos still sane would wish to leave, very few people will admit it, even to themselves, and few still would say so out loud. (p.85) This statement proves that Dragan is in fact very cowardly and lacks the bravery Emina shows. After Dragans confession she says No. We have to stay. If we all go they will come down from the hills and the city will be theirs. (p.85) but Dragan in turn replies with If we stay they will shoot at us from the hills until were all dead, and then theyll come down just the same (p.85) Dragan has no optimism for his situation and is unable to look to the future with any hope. He believes that no one will come to save them and he tells Emina this and she states that she knew but just did not want to believe it. Their situation is no longer temporary and the war will continue and that is all Dragan knows, for him there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Emina tells Dragan a story about how she gave a woman a kilogram of salt and in turn she gave her two pails of cherries. She says isnt that how were supposed to behave? Isnt that how we used to be? (p.90) but Dragan is unable to recall his actions before the war, all he knows is to act in order to survive. A shift is noticeable in Dragan throughout his time with Emina but is not truly stated until after Emina is shot by a sniper. As they embrace before crossing the street Dragan realizes just by spending a little while chatting with her she has become ...real to him again. Affected by the war, changed, but the woman he knew is still in there. She hasnt been covered in the grey that colours the streets.(p.132133) This shows Dragan that maybe he doesnt have to avoid all of the people from his former life, that maybe they can help him through this. As he witnesses Emina get shot he wakes up and realizes he does care about his world around him being destroyed. What makes the difference, he realizes, is whether you want to stay in the world you live in. Because while he will always be afraid of death, and nothing can change that, the question is whether your life is worth that fear. (p.179) He can now openly say he is a coward, If that makes him a coward, hes comfortable calling himself a coward. (p.181) but even though he knows hes a coward he realizes that This is his home, and this is the city he wants to be in.

(p.185). While he doesnt want to under siege for the rest of his life he cannot abandon this city to the men on the hills because then he will have truly lost everything. This monumental discovery of Dragans shows that he has grown and matured his outlook on his situation and is no longer the man first seen at the beginning of the novel. He decides to deliver the medicine that Emina is unable to deliver and go and listen to the cellist so that he is able to tell Emina about it. Hes been asleep since the war began. He knows this now. In defending himself from death he lost his grip on life (p.250) This final statement of Dragans is proof of his growth and new found want to change his situation and not just survive. Throughout this novel Dragan makes monumental discoveries about himself and about his city. He is able to realize that he truly does love his city and can no longer live like a coward accepting the horrific brutality of the life around him. Dragans story is an inspirational example of overcoming cowardice and being able to grow even at the age of sixty-four and his self discoveries show that he is the character that changes most throughout the novel.