How would you act if your country was going through a war? Both books The Night Diary and Playing Atari with Saddam Hussein have similarities and differences, both of them talk about some kind of conflict, the first book mentioned about the civil war between religions: Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus in India. On the other hand, the second book talks about an international war between the United States against Iraq. Both main characters, Ali, an Iraqi boy from the book Playing Atari With Saddam Hussein, and Nisha an Indian girl from the book The Night Diary think that war can just generate problems for its countries and communities, like people dying and economic problems, but they don’t have the power to interfere in this kind of situation. It is also important to mention that Nisha didn’t have the same support and company from their family as Ali had, because she lost her mother.
For some people, it’s hard to deal with big conflicts and wars, because most of the time, in general, people don’t agree with this kind of conflict. That’s the case of Ali, the main character, and the author of the book Playing Atari With Saddam Hussein, and Nisha, main character of The Night Diary book. Both characters think that war can generate deaths and casualties to its countries, but they don’t have the power to intervene in these situations, because they are just children. About Ali, the main character from the story called Playing Atari With Saddam Hussein , he feels terrible about this war against the USA, because he loves the United States, especially tv shows, American videogames and their culture. On the other hand, Nisha is Indian, and she is seeing a lot of kidnappings and deaths near her house. She’s feeling alone, afraid and sad in relation to this civil conflict.
One aspect that is contrasted is that both books depict the difference of upbringing that the characters had, Nisha and Amil ( her brother ) lost their mother when they were born, while Ali has his mother and father presents to help and guide him through his life, besides having three brothers as a company for him. Nisha shows care for her mother, even though not seeing her, because she writes email-s for her ” mother ” in most parts of the book, this shows love and care from her.
Another aspect of difference that can be identified in both books is that the conflict from The Night Diary book is civil ( by different religions ). This conflict came because of concerns about equality between Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs, one day people from Sikhs invaded Nisha’s house in India: “yesterday some men entered here in the afternoon” said Nisha (page 25). The other conflict is an international war between the United States and Iraq, the first war that was heavily televised in the history of the world.
In conclusion, both books and main characters have some things in common, both stories talk about some big conflict. The Night Diary story mentioned about a civil war between religions, and the book Playing Atari with Saddam Hussein mentioned about an international war between the United States and Iraq. In addition to the wars, both main characters think and feel the same way about conflicts, they feel afraid and insecure and think that war can just generate problems to its society, or even to the world.
