How do culture, time, and place affect Salva's identity?

Certainly time and place directly affects Salva. Civil war in Sudan displaced thousands of families. For the characters in the novel, family is the most important thing in the world. When the major character loses his family, the rest of the members of the tribe become his family. The tribe takes care of him even though they see him as a burden. This proves that in the community in which the characters live in, family, and tribe are the most important things in life.