Men in The Sun

In the novel we see the theme of hope and hopelessness. Throughout the journey we see the struggle of the characters to achieve their goal of reaching Kuwait in order to find jobs to provide for their families. Abu Quais in the beginning of the novel shows a sign of hopelessness when he is suggested the idea of going to Kuwait for financial stability. He says that the journey will kill him and this foreshadows his death. His death was fate from the moment he says he will not make it to the journey and it is in this journey that he dies. We can also see the internal struggle that Abul the person that is smuggling them across the border when they die I mentioned this in class located in pg. 74. It starts off with "As he returned to the lorry" This is an internal conflict that Abul was having after having dumped the bodies and taken their valuables. He was reflecting on what he had just done to the three men he promised safety to. He entered a stage of shock in which he tries to say something but couldn’t. He wants to shout and release the stress of what happened during the day, he could not even climb into his car because not only was he exhausted of driving in the hot sun that was suffocating, but he was also exhausted because he lost the men he was transporting. We see him trying to expel the thoughts of these men he had just bonded with, but the emotion overpowers him. In the end he gives into his emotion and can no longer take it and he ends up questioning himself. For Abul knowing that he was suppose to help them and he couldn’t is always going to gnaw inside of him. Even though he tried his best the guilt is always going to be within him.