Who has the power in "What is the What" by Dave Eggers

        Currently I am reading "What is the What" by Dave Eggers. "What is the What" is the memoir of one of the Lost Boys of Sudan. The book takes place during a break-in of the narrators' apartment, and flashes back to his childhood throughout the series of the book. Power and power-struggles are obviously a very important subject in "What is the What". The book shows the feeling of being powerless in a rapidly changing environment and staying strong to stay alive.

       In the flashbacks of the main character's childhood, he is portrayed very clearly as being powerless. One quote that illustrates that is "--Stay close and stay close to each other, Dut said. In the region he said, dwelled tribes that would rob boys like us. They would kill boys or kidnap boys and make them tend to their livestock." Also the power divide is great between the people, the government and the rebels, and it seems that no one is in charge of anything and that it is a free-for-all all across the country. Also it seems that anyone with power is killed pretty much instantly so only the children that are helpless are able to survive.

       When the narrator is living in America he also has a sense of incapability. He feels powerless and people are racist towards him as an immigrant. He also especially feels the extent of his powerlessness as his house is broken into.  "The simple robbery had been in a way acceptable. I have seen robberies, have been robbed, on scales much smaller than this. Until I arrived in the United States the most valuable thing I owned was the mattress I slept on". After the robbers steal a large percentage of the narrator's valuables, they knock him out and tie him up and leave a little boy to wait with him until the robbers can come back and retrieve the TV. The little boy is terrified of the narrator which adds a whole other level to the power inequality.

        The narrator feels his powerlessness expressed many times but also emphasizes his moral strength and his hopeful personality. Though the book expresses how little just one person can do, it gives the reader a sense of internal connection to all the people overlooked.