In the book, Arn spends months at the camp constantly worrying about his life and only holding on to life due to the relationships which he created with people at the camp ruled by the Khmer Rouge. He is convinced that all of his family is already dead and that he will never see them again. However, when he is sent off to be a child soldier he finds somebody who he barely recognises, which turns out to be his sister. Pondering over this, I believe that this increased his will to live tremendously as he would aspire to see his sister again.
During a genocide, it is very difficult to continue to keep a will to live, however throughout you create relationships which aid in keeping you alive as you don't want to lose the only type of love you can get in such situation. Therefore, throughout the genocide Arn creates relationships with Mek and Sombo which helps him keep his will to live, however when he is sent off as a child soldier he loses all contact with them both. During his mission he finds his younger sister, who he thought he'd never see again. This increased his will to live as he believed that this is the only family member which he has left therefore, he does not want to lose her. His sister told him, "Don't be too brave," during a time of war just so that they would not separate. Therefore, this relationship helped him live as he refused to die in order to see his sister again. When he was in a jungle all by himself he found ways of surviving which he could have never thought of. When he saw his sister it brought him a sense of love which is rare to find in a war, and he did not feel it in so long. All he would think of is that when the war is over he and his sister could go back and live like the old times and just be happy. he ached for this therefore, he could not just let himself die. Even when his body told him to give up, he trained his mind in such a way that he just continued in order to see his sister again. Even though he never saw his sister again, just seeing her allowed him not to die and gave him a chance to continue to live.
During a genocide, it is very difficult to continue to keep a will to live, however throughout you create relationships which aid in keeping you alive as you don't want to lose the only type of love you can get in such situation. Therefore, throughout the genocide Arn creates relationships with Mek and Sombo which helps him keep his will to live, however when he is sent off as a child soldier he loses all contact with them both. During his mission he finds his younger sister, who he thought he'd never see again. This increased his will to live as he believed that this is the only family member which he has left therefore, he does not want to lose her. His sister told him, "Don't be too brave," during a time of war just so that they would not separate. Therefore, this relationship helped him live as he refused to die in order to see his sister again. When he was in a jungle all by himself he found ways of surviving which he could have never thought of. When he saw his sister it brought him a sense of love which is rare to find in a war, and he did not feel it in so long. All he would think of is that when the war is over he and his sister could go back and live like the old times and just be happy. he ached for this therefore, he could not just let himself die. Even when his body told him to give up, he trained his mind in such a way that he just continued in order to see his sister again. Even though he never saw his sister again, just seeing her allowed him not to die and gave him a chance to continue to live.