Ellie- Geda, In the Sea there are Crocodiles
This book ‘In the sea there are crocodiles’ is written by Fabio Geda and is the based on the life of a small boy called Enaiatollah, who crossed countries in the hope of finding a better life. When you first start reading you come to learn that Enaiatollah’s mother has left him, all alone in a strange and unknown place, where he must make a life of his own, throughout the book you travel with Enaiat through various countries and experience his suffering and joy with him. The book is a recall of events from Enaiatollah’s 5 years of travelling until he is finally able to settle in Italy with a new family.
After reading the first chapter of this book I was still struggling to get into it, and I couldn’t really relate to the book. There was various words written in Enaiat’s language, which I struggled to pronounce, which slowed me down, and at the beginning I couldn’t really tell where the story was heading. As I read on it was as if pieces of a puzzle were joining together, I could see part of the bigger picture as Fabio and Enaiat reconstructed his life slowly. Although I couldn’t really relate to Enaiat’s life, I was still able to get into the book, and feel as though I too was on that journey with him, suffering with him, rejoicing with him and living the life of Enaiatollah Akbari.
Overall I really enjoyed this book as I feel that I have learnt so much about the world, and the struggles of the less fortunate, it was a real eye-opener, and it taught me that life for refugees is so much harder than I ever could have imagined. I would definitely recommend this book to others, as I feel that everyone would take something out of reading this, especially as it is non-fiction.
Whilst reading this book there were a few quotes that truly stuck in my mind, each for their individual reasons.
“I was a jack of all trades”. It was when Enaiat used terms like this that made you realise it was no longer the 10 year old boy that was speaking to you, but his fully grown self. The fact that he had made it so far, had learnt so much and was ‘the jack of all trades’ showed me that no matter your circumstances, you can do anything if you are determined and hardworking. Enaiat had nothing, no family, no stability, and not much help, but he still managed to make something of himself, on his first job he didn’t know a single thing, but now he was experienced and at his young age had accomplished a lot considering all that he had gone through. This was truly inspiring, as was his perseverance throughout the book.
“I’ve never seen the sea”. This quote taken from page 114, really helped us to understand how much Enaiat had progressed, at the age of 10 he had never seen the ocean, but within 5 years, he had crossed the seas and found himself in many different countries. This shows that there is no limit to what one can do, a small Afghan boy who had never seen the sea, crossed two countries in a simple rubber dingy. This idea made me realise that with something so small and insignificant, you can achieve your dreams. At one point, Enaiat only dreamt of being in Greece, and at another, he had made it, it wasn’t perfect, but he had achieved his goal and was where he wanted to be. A strong reoccurrence in the book was death, which reminded me how tough life must have been for young Enaiat, but still he had faith and continued on through his journey, leaving old friends and memories behind to make new ones.
“They’d been sitting there forever. They were frozen. They were dead.” This part of the book really opens your eyes to what life could be like. Reality doesn’t hide away for anyone, children like Enaiat are forced to face life head on, and they have no other choice.
Finally, language played a big part in this book. At times it can be a beautiful thing, but then it can also be a barrier, a wall put between people, making life that little bit harder. “The first problem was the language”, this suggests that some of the troubles faced by Enaiat were caused by the language barrier, in Greece and Turkey for instance, he couldn’t communicate with the people. However language also help Enaiat to gain his political asylum in Italy. He talked about how a translator cannot portray the emotions of the narrator, and it is better to try and speak from your own mouth, than to have your words completely changed or lost in translation. This shows that language is such a powerful tool, and to speak more than one language is a blessing.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and although it was slow to start, I am glad to have read it and to have lived the story of Enaiatollah Akbari.