What Is The What

The second “What” of the title represents the unknown in the novel. What examples from Deng’s own life demonstrate the meaning of the “What?”

Deng spent an extraordinary amount of time in the refugee camp before finally being given passage to America. Why did he have to wait longer than the rest of his friends? What qualities or choices may have contributed to this?

How does Eggers use the presence of Michael, Julian, and the members of the club as a rhetorical device to tell the story? Is this effective? Why does Deng direct his story at characters who are not physically listening to him?