The Soccer War (pg. 210-234)

It's amazing how a books ending, must be the most inspiring part of the piece. During the novel the reader experiences various emotions thanks to the descriptions given by Kapuscinski. The beginning of the book seems far away, but several events are still present in ones mind. "During the search, a policeman found a mechanical pencil in the pocket of my jacket. I was ordered to take it apart. I did so. I was ordered to put it back together. I put it together. Take it apart again. the policeman conferred: there was something funny about that pencil. I had taken on a new role, role of suspect, not knowing what the verdict would be (The Soccer War, Chapter 2, pg. 121)." All throughout the book one lives these experiences with Ryszard. Sometimes we see tranquil situations and in other occasions we're not so lucky. Death is but the beginning from some of the events Kapuscinski writes about. This man is incredible. He has lived the most brutal moments, but still looks for them to show the true story about the conflict. Since we started the book, I've been wondering if anywhere along the book Ryszard Kapuscinski would get scarred, injured or both. Reading along we notice that there is a moment where he wants out on his journey. A scorpion stings him and he gets very agitated. "From here to the nearest hospital was two days on the road. Lie down, said Marcos. They left me alone in the tent. I sat on the cot afraid to move, so that I would not agitate the scorpions, not give them any sign of myself. They crawled along the ground in the darkness. Up the flaps of the tent, dragging their barbed abdomens behind. From that night on, through my whole stay in Ogaden, I could not free myself of them. They spawned in the sands, emerged from under the rocks, lurked on the trails. I wanted to get out of there, but we were imprisoned in the desert and had to wait for a chance to escape (The Soccer War, Chapter 6, pg. 218)."

Connecting this last chapter was a challenge, because every movie, song, event, etc. has already been used. After a long search, I decided to connect the book with the movie 'In The Name Of The Father.' This movie is about a man who gets charged with the worst crime committed in England by the I.R.A. Since he and his friends are Irish, the police decides to place the blame on them. Later on, they also imprison his father for trying to help him. This mans father dies in jail because of an illness he has and not being treated correctly. Gerrard Conlon fights after getting out of jail so his father's name is freed from his conviction. This is similar because we see Kapuscinski trying to free himself in various moments, like the one mentioned above when he is bitten by a scorpion. One can find so many other relationships between the book and movies, but this seemed to be an interesting connection that I found.