Drinking milk
Readers meet Salva in the first chapter. He is at school and thinking about the moment he will be able to return home. While there, Salva imagines drinking a big glass of milk to quench his thirst, and he feels happiness at the prospect of having food to eat. The image portrayed here is that of simplicity. The characters live in a harsh country, where every day is harder than the last one. Despite this, they maintain their optimism and choose to focus on the little things that can make them happy, such as drinking fresh milk or spending time with their families and loved ones.
All alone in the barn
In the second chapter, Salva is abandoned by the rest of the villagers in the middle of the night and finds himself in the tough position of having to take care of himself despite his young age. The image of the young boy all alone in the barn transmits a tough message to the reader and makes us understand better the dire situation in which the country was in. Salva was perceived as being a burden by the rest of the village and thus he was abandoned. This event portrays the people who left Salva as being desperate people, unsure of what to do to survive and willing to give up everything and everyone just to make sure that they will live another day.
Dirty water
Every day, Nya had to walk a great distance to a pond just to bring back water to her family. Unfortunately, the water was extremely dirty but despite this, the family still had to use it as they had no other choice. The water is described when Nya goes to the pond and the image invoked here is that of a country desperate to survive—a country that struggles to provide enough food and clean water for its citizens.
Orange Headscarf
Salva's mother wears a recognizable orange headscarf, which he mentions at the beginning of the text. When he ends up in the refugee camp, he thinks he sees his mother because he sees an orange headscarf weaving through the crowd of new arrivals. The headscarf is a small but potent image that sums up family, home, comfort, and love to Salva; thus, the reader can imagine that they see it, bright and bold against other muted colors in its potential indication that Salva still has family left.
