Zlata Sacrifice

Humans are fascinated by destruction. There is just something so intriguing about seeing something blow up and its resulting rubble. Whether you are travelling to the ruins of Pompeii or watching the world fall to ash in the latest disaster movie, these spectacles attract thousands upon thousands of tourists and are a large part of American popular culture; some people might even call these things “fun”. But there were no tourists to the ruins of Sarajevo, and it was certainly not fun being there. Ten thousand people--about the entire population of Hartland--were killed in Sarajevo with thousands more made refugees for nothing more than the senseless, racially-motivated vice of others (Brown & Mpini, 2012). This major city in Eastern Europe

For instance, with all the adversity that she went through, she is better prepared for the rest of her life’s problems in the future. After living for four years in a warzone, there aren’t many things that one can go through that are worse. Zlata lived without consistent basic utilities in her home for months, had her house under constant threat of destruction, was in constant fear of the death of her or a loved one, and lived through her troubles even though she seemingly had nothing more to live for. Having already experienced all of these problems, she will be jaded and tough-skinned towards her problems in the future. In addition, one can tell that Zlata becomes more appreciative of the small things in life as the amount of things she has grows less and less. Take for instance how she gets excited whenever they have running water, when her father brings home a care package with basic foods and necessities, when the two girls move in across the hall from their apartment and she is thrilled to have just anyone to talk to, and every time that her parents come home safely. With nothing left in her life, Zlata looks for any little thing to make herself happy; she finds these little things everywhere, and she can be expected to be much more appreciative of what she has in the future. Finally, the greatest positive that Zlata got from the war is her international fame. In her July 27, 1993, entry, Zlata writes “Journalists, reporters, TV and radio crews [have come] from all over the world (even Japan). They’re interested in you, Mimmy, and ask me about you, but also about me. It’s exciting. Nice.” (Filipovic, 1994). With her wartime experiences, Zlata got Mimmy published to become a number one bestseller, and got the chance for a new life. And now instead of being a doomed child living in a warzone, Zlata used her fame to move her and her family out of Sarajevo to Paris, France.