Men in the Sun by Hilary Kalpatrick
is a short shorty of an arduous journey that several men undergo in their
travel across international boundaries. These boundaries which are can simply
be deciphered as simply as lines on a map are in reality, as intricate as a
needle in a haystack, burgeoning hardships along the way for those who choose to
overcome them. These hardships resulted in the death of actors in Men in the
Sun.
What was at first described as a
simple journey in the passage on page 51 as “Personally, I’m only interested in
reaching Kuwait. I am not interested in anything else…” This turned into a
religious one in the passage that followed.
“Just
imagine! In my own mind I compare these hundred and fifty kilometers to the
path that God in the Quran promised his creatures they must cross before being
directed either to Paradise or to Hell. If anyone falls he goes to Hell, and if
anyone crosses safely he reaches Paradise. Here the angels are the frontier guards.”
The transformation
which takes place in the desert is representative of changes which occur to a
man in exile. From the luxuries of life, men begin to appreciate the simplest delicacies
of life such as water as that they would trade gold and gems for it. All the
meanwhile, the exhaustion from the journey leaves a man in thought of his past
and his existence in this world. I quoted this passage in appreciation of the
extreme hardship men have to undergo in their journey for a better life. To the
observer of the journey, it becomes inspirational to his very own life. To the one
experiencing the journey, it becomes metaphysical, and brings into question the
very existence in this world.
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