A Long Walk to Water

Nya’s life mostly revolves around getting water, indicating water’s importance as a symbol in the novel. When she sets out from the lake to return home, she knows the trip will take longer, as she is now carrying a heavy load of water. This journey illustrates the theme of Perseverance as a Long Walk: At this point in the narrative, Nya knows what Salva is still learning—that getting through a long and difficult journey is about taking one small step at a time.

Salva’s storyline emphasizes the theme of Identity and Displacement. When Salva meets the old woman, he notices her ritual scarring, indicating that like him, she is a member of the Dinka tribe. This shared tribal identity is enough reason for her to share her peanuts with him—a precious resource in a time of scarcity. Though for many, these tribal kinship ties become less important when survival is so precarious, they are also sometimes the only reason Salva survives.

When he encounters the group of wanderers in Chapter 3, his Dinka heritage is the factor that persuades them to accept him. Not all the group’s members are Dinka, however; the boy who tracks the honey is of the Jur-chol tribe. The Jur-chol boy providing sustenance for the group is the first indicator that tribal ties and animosities will become less important as the war drags on. Even as those ties start to lose their strength, new bonds of shared hardship are forming in their place. Prior conflicts between opposing tribes will be forgotten as the Muslim-dominated Northern government oppresses all the tribes. In resisting this oppression, the different factions offer different strengths. By the end of the novel, when Salva and Nya’s narratives cross, Salva is unconcerned that Nya is from a different tribe. He has also learned from his hard experience that the sharing of resources is the best way to prevent intertribal violence.

Nya’s reluctance to bring her little sister along on her walk for water mirrors the debate the group had over Salva joining them. Nya believes her sister will be too slow to keep up, and the group of Dinka have the same fears concerning Salva. This parallel suggests that, like Nya, Salva is “walking to water,” water here representing relief from his hunger, fear, and wanderings.