On several occasions, Park notes that these two tribes have been warring for centuries, largely over land and water. (For more information on the Second Sudanese Civil War, see Background Info.) Park also emphasizes the social strife between different ethnic groups in South Sudan, such as the Nuer and Dinka tribes. South Sudanese forces refused to be incorporated into the rest of Sudan, partly because they objected to the Islamic laws of the North Sudanese government, and partly because of the lucrative oil reserves on their land. During this period, North Sudanese soldiers acting on behalf of the government tried to tighten controls over the population in semi-autonomous South Sudan. First, she describes the civil war that took place in Sudan beginning in the 1980s. In this way, her book offers a moving portrait of the social strife in Sudan in the past thirty years.Įven though A Long Walk to Water isn’t a thorough history of Sudan, Park divides the social strife in Sudan into two clear groups. Instead of going into detail about the causes of the violence in Sudan, Park portrays the effects of this violence: displaced villagers, orphaned children, and an overall sense of despair. Aside from a short author’s note, the book is free from any mention of the political forces that led to the long, bloody war. Although it is primarily set during Sudan’s Second Civil War, A Long Walk to Water offers surprisingly little background information about the conflict.
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