Girl at War by Sara Novic tells the story of a young Croatian girl who's life is transformed by the civil war in Yugoslavia. Ethnic and cultural disparity have driven her neighbors to adopt false personas of extreme devotion to Croatia. When her family refuses the farce, they are shunned by their community. As a 10-year-old Ana must learn to adapt to the restrictions and constant danger of wartime. On a return trip from visiting a medic in a different city, the girls are ripped away from their parents by Serbian troops. The parents are murdered. And the girls become child soldiers. Years later, as an adult, Ana struggles to reconcile with her past. She becomes angry at her younger sister, Rahela, for accepting the promises of American consumerism. After dropping her grades and seriously compromising her health, Ana decides to take a trip back to Crotia to find closure.
The contrast between Novic's description of Ana's life in Croatia versus her life in NYC is harsh. Compared to the pressing drama of the war, her banal relationship troubles and basic college kid struggles seem trivial. Although the change in tone is disconcerting, it does communicate some of Ana's internal drama. As an adult, she desperately tries to hold onto the reality of her past by rejecting how simple and easy her present has become. She actually resents the privilege of her life after the war because people seem to forget about her pain.
Since victims and survivors of war and the like are often forgotten after the actual war ends, the New York passages serve to combat the assumption that life moves on. Ana certainly feels that everyone expects her to be fine and to be balanced when she does not feel capable. This conflict finds voice primarily in her relationship to her sister. Ana criticizes Rahela for adapting to the American way of life so quickly, but really she's expressing her jealousy of Rahela's happiness. Although she is justified in her negative feelings after the war, Ana cannot continue to allow them to rob her of her life. Her life in New York exacerbates her refusal to address her trauma because her new environment is so much healthier and prosperous, forcing Ana to recognize how her past has transformed her attitude.
