Survival and Determination: Salva's Journey in A Long Walk to Water

Imagine being at school and hearing loud gunshots. The teacher yells and tells the class to hide in a bush not knowing where their family is or if they had survived the attack. This is what happened to Salva. Salva is a character from Linda Sue Park’s novel, A Long Walk to Water. He is on a difficult journey without his family. He faces many challenges along the way but he has people in his life that make him want to keep pushing through the struggles. The factors that helped Salva survive were his immediate family, Marial, and Uncle.
Salva does not know where his family is and that keeps him going because he is determined to find them. Salva was at school when his village was attacked. He had to go hide and run away without any of his family.

These are the questions that were going through Salva’s head, “Where are we going? Where is my family? When will I see them again?” (Park, 9). This shows that he cares about his family because he is worried about them. His family keeps him going because they mean so much to him and he can't just let that go.
Another reason Salva’s family motivates him is when has to go on a long journey where he faces many challenges. He has to face those challenges without his family. In the text Salva says, “Uncle, when you go back to Sudan, you might meet my parents somewhere. You could tell them where I am. Or you could talk to those you meet, and ask where the people of Loun-Ariik are now” (Park, 61). The journey for Salva is not easy, they face many difficulties, but he will not give up. He keeps going because he wants to find his family. If he gave up he would have no chance of finding his parents and siblings.