After reading the book written by Michele that is talking about Karim and Maha’s grow-up experience during the age of war, I think everyone who has read the book has different feeling about it. It’s a special story telling us about human nature, death, maturity, dream, challenge and love that we have gone through in everyone’s life journey. As far as I’m concerned, though I haven’t experienced such a long travel like they do, I really enjoy their story and they tought me that accepting responsibility is our first but essential step to our maturity and our original dream.
That’s life, right? Only by going through all kinds of hardships can we know the true meaning of how to grow up. Back to the novel, we may think Karim as an cold-bloody boy who treats other people in an unconcerned way, who made the great decision to take a risk with the other girl. The reason why he did it is that he has been hurt before, because of the death of Nada. At last, he also hurt heart of Maha, who fell in love with this brave boy. Giving an example: when Maha was going to have a bitter quarrel with Karim, he didn’t choose to give an apology or explanation to Maha.
On the contrary, he’d rather run away to escape from the reality in a sulk than have a talk with her in a calm mood. That’s what I’m most surprised at, too. At last, it is Maha’s death that makes Karim realize how wrong he used to be in the past days spent with Maha. He is going to face the life with a more positive heart. Now, let’s focus on the other main character, Maha, the girl who gave the proposal to go to Chlifa as well as taking care of a baby along their journey.
In my eyes, she is an impossibly brave and sensitive girl with a fragile heart. She always pretends to be strong but in fact she has been hurt by Karim again and again. She fell in love with Karim in a silent way and she is willing to be his soul mate during their great adventure. Though she died tragically, it finally showed her heart to Karim that she hopes that he can become stronger in the future. So I think this is the most touching part of the whole story when Karim began to reflect on his own.
As we all know, challenges and hardships are the indispensable parts of life, we have no choice but to face them and overcome them so that we can realize our dream at last, so that we become more responsible to undertake more responsibility to greet coming the new life. In terms of me, an international student in Calgary now, of course there is no war, no death, no farewell for me right now, but the hardest thing for me is still about English. I know it will time a long time to adjust myself to a new environment, but this novel teaches me how to become strong in a completely unknown environment just like Chlifa to Karim and Maha.
If I successfully challenge myself in the future then everything is going to be ok. The road to Chlifa is full of difficulties and Karim and Maha have to try to snatch a straw to survive, also, the road to success and happiness is full of hardships but that is the best way to realize the true meaning of journey of life. In a word, this is a really breath-taking and touching story stimulating a lot deep thought to youth. We may start to think more and more about the true world we live in, the people we talk to and the life we lead to… The way to Chlifa is exactly the way to the heart.
