What Is the What What Is the What What Is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng is a 2006 novel written by Dave Eggers. It is based on the life of Valentino Achak Deng, a Sudanese child refugee who immigrated to the United States under the Lost Boys of Sudan program. It was a finalist for the National Book Award. As a boy, Achak is separated from his family during the Second Sudanese Civil War when the Arab militia, referred to as "murahaleen" (which is Arabic for the deported), wipes out his Dinka village, Marial Bai. During the assault, he loses sight
Fear Is the Key force him to provide the necessary resources. Talbot has been working for the authorities all along and convinces Vyland and Royale that he is now ready to die on the ocean floor beside his family, eliciting a terror-stricken confession from the two men (their fear of death being the key that unlocks the confession) which is relayed to witnesses on the oil platform. Talbot then returns to the oil platform, where Vyland throws himself to his death from a ladder. Royale survives to be tried and sentenced to death and Talbot, politely turning down General Ruthven's offer of any reward