“For a minute, it is stranger with them gone than it was with them inside”

1. Respond to one of the following prompts. Consider how the quote might transcend its immediate circumstances. Explore what the quote could mean as part of the book’s narrative, window into Africa, and/or a personal journey. “For a minute, it is stranger with them gone than it was with them inside” (p. 23, Achak referring to Tanya and Powder leaving)“But we adapt, all of us, to the most absurd of situations” (p. 47 – Achak remarking on Michael’s ability to watch TV while he is bound and gagged in the apartment)

2. “For a minute, it is stranger with them gone than it was with them inside” • Level of comfort/familiarity because Achak is used to being robbed • Desires to “be in their face” by insisting on talking, to educate/reform them as he does in the novel • Re-experiencing the eerie-ness of childhood robbery, as well as the shame of his inability to act effectively either time • No enemy left to fight /No one to tell his story to • Lured by traumatic experiences, craves the heightened experience and its accompanying sympathy

3. For a minute, it is stranger with them gone than it was with them inside continued… • Unsure what to do when not actively victimized • Strange when someone comes in, takes things and leaves – just as in his village. Does the apartment become Tanya and Powders as a result of their act of entitlement? • As with his father’s “friends”/connections being gone • Relating it to Achak’s presence, where it is stranger to be in America than in Sudan • Difficult to handle the absence of pain • Loss of purpose (and muses, or people to tell his story to)

4. “But we adapt, all of us, to the most absurd of situations” • Achak has always been forced to adapt – part of his internal and external structure. • Paralleling the boy’s experience with his own • Africa has adapted to constant war and death • Commentary on how humans (Americans?) would rather be stimulated and distracted [by TV] that sympathetic to an acknowledge the blatant struggling • Humans innate ability to make the most out of even the worst situation • Adapting as training/conditioning/disciplining of soldiers to fight in wars • Achak using “we” to unite him and TV Boy/Michael • Achak & TV boy both blocking emotions, Achak while walking and TV boy/Michael as blocking out Achak in the apartment • Adapting out of duty/as a necessity to complete a task; Achak to survive, complete his journey and the boy so as not to free his prisoner • Achak could adapt to wartime better than freedom in America • Has Africa adapted to war?

5. “But we adapt, all of us, to the most absurd of situations” continued… • Achak’s growing numbness to the deaths & lifestyle • Both TV boy & Achak as oppressed people who survive by willingness to let other control them • Psychological adaptation:That after time, or in eyes that don’t know better, even robberies, refugee camps – anything – can start to seem normal • Achak’s ability to relate with TV boy • The physical body adapting; the boy’s ability to not hear or see and Achak’s ability to go without food, walk for long periods, etc. • Adapting to absurd situations in America and Africa • Adaptation as theme to whole book: culture, childhood, the desert, etc.