INTRODUCTION

MAN OF THE PEOPLE is a short story based on fiction and somehow related to the history written by Madhol A Bol known as Jeremiah Madhol Ater. The book describes how different communities have had a bitter rivalry for years due to land ownership and livestock issues, but the originality of the war can be traced back to when they were turned against each other by their neighbouring communities. The author details how these two communities have been engaging in wars over the years as the generations come and go but never have they managed to come together to find a long-lasting peace until the time a young man was born. A man by the name of Luong, was born to two parents, Ulang, and Achila who came from these two different rival communities and happened to have married each other when the two communities had a peace that was cut short again due to some reasons related to their unending rivalry. A Peace came as relief but was cut short due to a lack of commitment toward peace and other issues such as the hunger for revenge among the youth and trust issues. Despite the challenges from both sides, the young man managed to bring the two communities together. He sacrificed and dedicated himself to this cause, although his life was almost taken by the people who never wanted peace, as a dedicated man.

The book clearly conveys the actual image of most of the South Sudanese communities and other African communities who undergo the same experience as explained in the MAN OF THE PEOPLE. The book's theme is how societies put their interests over the common values that bring them together as a society. Moreover, we also see how one person who cares more about the peaceful co-existence of the society sacrifices to ensure that the differences do not burn the society. There is also a clear indication of how people focus on the past, find ways to ensure that they avenge what was done to them in the past few and not think about what the future has for them. They do go ahead to oppose people who want the best for the community to satisfy their interests. These are what we see in the society we see today and people, like Luong, are always there to ensure that things happen the way we want them to be, but we never support them. Instead, we turn against them.