What Is The What

The little clay cows made by the children of Sudan are fragile, and easily damaged by outside forces. This is a metaphor for the lost boys themselves, who are also worn down by the rain, wind, and heat as they march:

The rain weakened us all. It was very much like what the rain would do to the cattle we would make from clay—under the relentless rain, the clay would soften and give, and soon the clay would not be a cow anymore, but would break apart. The rain did this to the suffering people of Pochalla, especially the boys who had no mothers: they broke under the force of the rain, they melted back into the earth (344).

In Chapter 12, the boys are on their death march, and have lost their leader after having to scatter when confronted by villagers about a theft. They try to guide themselves, but end up moving in a large circle, and return to their point of origin. When they first left the village, there was a skinny blue dog. On their return, the first thing they see is the same blue dog, now fattened from eating the dead. The animal functions as a symbol for the futility of their march.