Garrett Bilich

PRC 320
Living The Absurd
Sleepwalking Land is nothing short of astonishing. Compared to the western
world, theres not a single instance at this day in age when one has to confront the types
of problems that surface in sleepwalking land. An abandoned bus full of carcasses of
casualties produced by the war would never be considered as a viable place to make a
home. An advanced society would never consider eating expired food slowly to enjoy it,
and much less eat it at all. In sleepwalking land, however, we see that when one deals
with a dire situation, theyre not given any other option but to live the absurd. In fact, by
definition, the absurd is the quality or condition of existing in a meaningless and
irrational world.
One of the most intense scenes that really stuck out as absurd was how Tuahir
took advantage of Muidinga, upon discovering his sexuality. Because of his apparent
intelligence (hes literate), I wouldnt have expected Muidinga to allow for that kind of
mistreatment had the two of them not made progress of escaping the village, and
receiving directions to the sea. Because it seemed like everything was going so well, my
thought is that Muidinga accepted Tuahirs guidance even in an issue as delicate as this
one. The instance also goes to show the state of mind in which Tuahir lives. Tuahir is
older, has lived and had experiences, and knows how life is, and what it does and does
not include. More specifically, a country like Mozambique at this time would not have
approved of LGBTQ relations of any sort, which brings me to assume that Tuahir does
not identify as gay. As an adult male, who most likely is not gay, the audience sees the

lengths at which people go to satisfy a need in the face of absurdity. In this case, it was
the pedophilic abuse of Muidinga.
Going back to the image of the abandoned bus, one can take this image as a
metaphor for the whole situation in which the two characters find themselves. The
abandonment of the bus represents the recurring abandonment sees throughout the movie.
People abandon their homes, their families their lives, just as the dead people inside the
war-torn bus were abandoned. Full of carcasses of the casualties of the war, the wrought
with death bus represents the land of Mozambique, a war-zone where most are being
killed. The fact that the bus is no longer functioning also can be interpreted as a metaphor
for the lack of mobility in the countrybe it social mobility or even just physical
mobility. The lack there of is a representation of the struggle to find any sort of
movement, a big catalyst in the creation of the irrational that dictates the life choices of
the two characters, and thus perpetuating the absurdity of their lives.
Another instance presented in the movie the seemed somewhat backwards is the
role reversal of Tuahir and Muidinga. Although tuahir helps to teach Muidinga survival
skills, it is Muidinga who brings a sense of home, so-to-speak, to their shelter. Muidinga
does so by reading the book allowed to Tuahir, adopting pets and expressing love, etc.
This sort of general expression of emotion is something that a superior typically teaches a
child. In this case, however, Muiding appears to inspire this sort of expression in Tuahir,
along with motivation to keep moving forward.