God Grew Tired of Us

Dau often contemplates the subjective nature of perspective. To best illustrate his understanding of perspective, he explains the “parable of the blind men and the elephant” (275), in which different blind men touch different parts of an elephant and describe their experience. While each man recounts his own experience, none can “articulate the true nature of the beast” (276). Dau relates this to a conversation he has with a woman in college. She is outraged by his experience in America because she believes that the country should have done more for him. Yet from his perspective, he believes “America had done right by [him]” (277). Because he comes from a country without access to the common luxuries readily available in America—like education, health care, food, and material comforts—he never learns to take these things for granted; that is, he doesn’t expect them and instead is incredibly grateful for the opportunities that America gives him. Since the woman grew up in America, she takes for granted the things Dau views as rare blessings.

He also considers the idea of perspective when he’s in Kakuma. Locals from outside the camp, like the Turkana, view the refugees with jealousy because they have food and shelter while the Turkana live predominantly amid drought conditions and food scarcity. Yet others, like the Kenyans, regard the Kakuma refugees with pity because it seems like they have very little. Even Dau’s own perspective changes throughout his journey. Although his conditions in the refugee camps aren’t luxurious, and are barely livable at times, they are opulent compared to starving under the hot sun during the physical journey between camps.

His perspective changes again when he relocates to America. While in Sudan, most of his friends and acquaintances shared his cultural traditions and worldview. But in America there isn’t one uniform worldview, and many of America’s customs and morals stand in opposition to his. This can be seen when an American asks him if he has children. Since Dau has already said he isn’t married, he doesn’t understand how he could have children; in Dinka culture children can only happen within marriage. What was deeply engrained in him as morally right isn’t an objective standard in America, and issues like this are main contributors to his feelings of culture shock in his new country.