History Literature / SomeoneElsesWar

* {{Tykebomb}}: Children who are born to the female captives get automatically thrown into the army themselves, raised to fight as soon as they're capable of hand-eye coordination. Jeremiah, the youngest of the [[ChildSoldiers child soldiers]], is only seven. The adults only ever talk to him if they need him to do something for them. As a result, no one ever taught him how to read or write, what a mother is, or that people who die aren't just "sleeping."

* AdultFear: Your child is kidnapped and trained to be a [[HumanShield human shield]] for the local rabble-rousing [[ChurchMilitant church militants]]. Even if he doesn't die, he's changed for life--childhood gone, innocence shattered, his body a haunted shell, his peace of mind violated by the things he's seen and the people whose lives he was forced to end. [[SexSlave And you thank God your child isn't a girl.]]

* AdultFear: Your child is kidnapped and trained to be a [[HumanShield human shield]] for the local rabble-rousing [[ChurchMilitant church militants]]. Even if he doesn't die, he's changed for life--childhood gone, innocence shattered, his body a haunted shell, his peace of mind violated by the things he's seen and the people's killed. [[SexSlave And you thank God your child isn't a girl.]]

* AdultFear: Your child is kidnapped and trained to be a [[HumanShield human shield]] for the local rabble-rousing [[ChurchMilitant church militants]]. Even if he doesn't die, he's changed for life--childhood gone, innocence shattered, his body a haunted shell, his peace of mind violated by the things he's seen and the people's killed. [[SexSlave And you hope to God your child isn't a girl.]]

* {{Forgiveness}}: Most definitely the main theme of the novel. Especially most poignant with Matteo's realization that [[spoiler: Lieutenant Luo is not an evil person, but the product of an evil childhood]]

* {{Forgiveness}}: Most definitely the main theme of the novel. Especially most poignant with Matteo's realization that [[spoiler: Lieutenant Luo is not an evil person, but the product of an evil childhood, which he himself almost became]]

** There are many, many more within the narration itself. Indigenous words like "zeer," "umbuyu," and "Shing'weng'we" are left untranslated, and it's up to the reader to figure them out by context.[[hottip:*: A zeer is a sort of miniature refrigerator that doesn't require electricity. Umbuyu is a sweet-and-sour candy made by coating baobab fruit with sugar. Shing'weng'we is a monster from East African folklore who [[BigEater swallowed everyone in the world]] until the one person he missed, a brave young boy, slit open his belly and freed them all. Arguably, Someone Else's War is a less allegorical telling of the same folk tale.]]

** There are many, many more within the narration itself. Indigenous words like "zeer," "umbuyu," and "Shing'weng'we" are left untranslated, and it's up to the reader to figure them out by context.

** There are many, many more within the narration itself. Indigenous words like "zeer" and "Shing'weng'we" are left untranslated, and it's up to the reader to figure them out by context.

->''This is not our war. This is [[TitleDrop someone else's war.]]''

* ToyShip: Matteo and Ruth.

* {{Tykebomb}}: Children who are born to the female captives get automatically thrown into the army themselves, raised to fight as soon as they're capable of hand-eye coordination. Jeremiah, the youngest of the [[ChildSoldiers child soldiers]], is only seven. The adults only ever talk to him if they need him to do something for them. As a result, no one ever taught him how to read or write, what a mother is, or that people who die aren't just "sleeping."

* {{Tykebomb}}: Children who are born to the female captives get automatically thrown into the army themselves, raised to fight as soon as they're capable of hand-eye coordination. Jeremiah, the youngest of the [[ChildSoldiers child soldiers]], is only seven. The adults only ever talk to him if they need him to do something for them. As a result, no one ever taught him how to read or write, what a mother is, or that people who die aren't just "sleeping."

* {{Tykebomb}}: Children who are born to the female captives get automatically thrown into the army themselves, raised to fight as soon as they can walk. Jeremiah, the youngest of the [[ChildSoldiers child soldiers]], is only seven. He does not understand what a family is or that the people he kills can never "wake up" again.