23. What is the setting? Why is it important?
They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky takes place during the Second Sudanese Civil War in the late 1980s. The characters move across several nearby African countries as they flee the bloodshed, including Ethiopia and Kenya. I found the setting to be important because the novel tells a story that few Americans know of or remember. Back in high school I remember classmates raising money for Darfur as part of a UNICEF campaign. When I asked these same students where Darfur was on the map, they were unable to provide an answer. Their well meaning ignorance led me to reflect on the U.S.'s interventionist policies in the world and to hold onto my lunch money for another day. The novel opens a window into the struggles and triumphs of a nation that still exists today over two decades after the war.
