Tyler Borer

Mr. Randolph

English 12, per. 5

28, Oct. 2010

What is the What Thesis

In What is the What by Dave Eggers, Valentino Acheck Deng addresses his

story to various people that he encounters throughout one day in Atlanta. He

wishes to open their eyes to his past and how they do not see how there current

actions are affecting him. He knows that if only they knew of his past, they could

relate to him and even choose to treat him differently. Valentino speaks to those

who oppress him, attempting to gain empathy by making them aware that his

troubled past is much like theirs, and that he can free them from it.

Valentino realizes that he and his audience are very similar, however they

overlook his past out of ignorance: “you, tv boy, see none of this” (49). Whether in

Sudan or in America, Valentino is being subjugated by others. His audience is

always in a position of authority and looks down on him because of his ethnicity,

whether being Dinkan in Sudan or a refugee in America. They look beyond the fact

their pasts are both disturbed, and that their actions are hurting him more then they

notice.

Valentino tries to free his audience by relating his past to theirs. He has

acknowledged that he has been a prisoner most of his life, whether literally or

metaphorically. Because he can accept this fact, he frees himself from his own

imprisonment and can help free others who have has similar pasts: “I cannot believe
myself, but at this moment, I am contemplating ways that I might save you, tv boy. I

envision feeing myself, and then freeing you” (50). When the Murahaleen was

oppressing Valentino and his people, he and his peers were pressured to join the

SPLA by adult rebels. Valentino saw that he could choose whether to fight in the

army or fight to free himself by studying and working to be relocated to the United

States. He chose to metaphorically fight for his freedom, and hopes to make TV Boy

see that he has the same opportunity; he can choose whether he lets Tanya and

Powder pressure him into oppressing Valentino.

Valentino believes that if they would only listen to his life story, then they would

gain empathy for him and treat him with more sympathy. Even though he tells his

story, the audience does not always fully comprehend it in order to treat him more

sensitively: “You hear my story of being attacked in my own home, and you shake

my hand and look into my eyes and promise treatment to me, but then I wait” (227).

Valentino is trying his hardest to tell his message to win empathy, however Julian

disregards it and continues to make him wait. Throughout the book, he struggles to

get his audience to take his story to heart and react to it.

Valentino shares his story to those who oppress him in hopes that they

would see how their actions are hurting him more than they can see on the surface.

He wishes to free them from their troubled past as he has done to himself, however

he first has to make them realize that they were in fact someway prisoners. His

story of him being a prisoner allows his audience to draw the parallel between the

story and their own life. Often one does not see the consequence of his action
towards another human. Valentino attempts to make his audience aware of how

their actions effect him.