God Grew Tired Of Us Essay

Cultural Inelegance
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Cultural Inelegance
Introduction
Culture is a difficult term to define; generally culture is about certain qualities possessed by a specific group of people. Even though people assume that these qualities possessed by a specific group can either be learned, shared perceptions or even behaviors based on the outward observations, several writers argue that culture means much more than just the outward behaviour. This essay analyzes the film “God Grew Tired of Us”, about three of the "lost boys of Sudan” to demonstrate the different aspect of culture including its powers and the remarkable phenomenon that most of the time go unnoticed (Bul Dau & Sweeney, 2008). This remarkable documentary reveals the lives of three boys, their endurance, some of the unwelcome circumstances giving hope as they live in two different worlds; that is their native home and in the United States (Bul Dau & Sweeney, 2008). This essay further highlights some of the insights gained from the movie.
Overview of the Film
The film “God Grew Tired of Us” talks about three lost boys from Sudan coming from Dinka community one of the native communities in Sudan. These boys spent years in Kakuma one of the refugee camps in Kenya and later on were resettled in the United States after the civil war broke out in Sudan (Bul Dau & Sweeney, 2008). Sudan experienced one of the deadliest civil war in 1980 whereby more than 25,000 boys fled the country walking on foot covering over 1,000 miles crossing the desert to either reach neighboring countries of Ethiopia and Kenya (Bul Dau & Sweeney, 2008).
In the film the main characters, John, Daniel, and Panther are in their mid 20 s, and early 30s are among the 25,000 boys who escaped extermination forcing them to travel for more than five years before reaching one of the UN refugee camps in Kenya. As they traveled, their numbers kept on reducing because of starvation, diseases, wild animal attacks, and attacks from rebel soldiers as well. In Kenya, they formed their communal society to maintain their culture. During their stay at the camp, the boys were lucky to receive certain basic needs including education (Bul Dau & Sweeney, 2008).
John, Daniel, and Panther were lucky to be selected among the group of refugees by the International Rescue Committee to be resettled in New York. Even though America was a beautiful place to live in, the three boys felt lonely because they are far from home. With all these opportunities, they still missed their home in Sudan. These boys were faced great opportunities at the same time met several challenge while settling in America (Bul Dau & Sweeney, 2008).
Some Insights Gained From the Movie
The film highlights the plight of Sudanese people at the same time acts as a reminder that despite having materialistic...