1. War Child ~ Culture
Definition: The behaviors and beliefs
characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age
group
By: Stefanie Csiszer

2. The Culture Within Jal’s Community
O Throughout my readings of War Child, it is
evident that Jal’s community believes in God
O Children have a lot of respect towards elders
Family is a very valued aspect of their culture
O They are trustful of those in their community
O Women are valued as the caregivers
O Killing and violence were seen as bad and
sinful
O Valued storytelling
O They valued song and dance to bring the
community together.

3. Culture of the Telemagi’s and Soldiers
O They value freedom and will never give up
until they get their freedom back
O Soldiers show respect and obedience
towards authority figures
O Men are more respected in their
society, than women
O They show no respect towards
women, they take advantage of them
O Power and strength shape their
community

4. How has the war altered Jal’s sense of culture?
O Jal is loosing his faith and belief in God.
O He primary values are no longer focused on his family
wellbeing. He only wants revenge.
O His only value in life is to fight for freedom and most
importantly get revenge for his family
O He is surrounded solely by men and views them to be the
more dominant and powerful figures
O He values the war and the concept of killing the
enemy's, even though he is doing to others what has been
done to his family
O Obedience and the law has become a main aspect to his
survival
O Death and killing no longer phases him, it has become
second nature
O Jal no longer feels emotions towards his actions. If a soldier
is to cry they are punished. They value humility over
humanity.

5. Notable Quotes
O “I knew I would rather die on my feet then live on my knees
and beg a Jallaba for mercy” (pg. 136). Jal said this when he
heard about fellow soldiers who were taken prisoner by the
Jallaba’s, this shows the anger and concept of death that has
consumed him.
O “ I thought about God often and questions filled me. We
were all created by God, but if got knew Satan would cause
so much trouble then why hadn't he killed him? And who
made God?” (pg. 136). This quote from Jal represents how he
was lost his faith in God and questions God’s wellness. The
culture that surrounds Jal has made him question so much of
the culture he had once known in his community.
O “One day I wanted to be like a big soldier- looking into my
enemy’s eyes as I shot him” (pg. 138). With this quote, Jal is
expressing his desire to kill and get revenge on the Jallaba’s.
This shows how killing no longer phaes him, he now embraces
it.

6. Quotes…
O “Anger sliced through my veins like a razor as I remember the
village I had just seen. Suddenly I had felt powerful, strong. My
gun was speaking for me as it spat bullets. My gun was taking
my revenge.” (pg. 140). This quote from Jal shows how this new
culture he now faces demands for him to be a strong and powerful
soldier. There is a lot of pressure on Jal to live up to these
expectations.
O “Death was everything here, while living went unnoticed.” (pg.
150). This was a very powerful statement made by Jal. He speaks
on the idea that the values in their culture associated were to
kill, where as the living people in their community were treated
poorly and as if they were possessions.
O “I did not think of God in that moment who had also pitted us
against each other. He was lost to me know.” (pg. 157). Here we
see how Jal has completely lost faith in God because he feels as if
God as failed him. He cant make reason as to why God as created
so much fighting and war.
O “Soldiers believed that our commander had brought bad luck
with him because his wife was the only among us.” (pg. 165). In
this quote by Jal we can see how woman are treated poorly within
their culture. They are not respected and are seen as bad luck.

7. Final Thoughts
O Overall, we can see that Emmanuel Jal’s
sense of culture has changed throughout the
book, and for the worst. Before he valued the
important things in life like family, God, and
the people in him community. Now we see
that his culture has changed now that he in
living with a new community and has become
a soldier. He is surrounded by a society that
values things like killing for
freedom, obedience, strength and power. He
as become someone who doesn’t think twice
about killing others and is consumed by the
concept of fighting.