The relationship between the characters

Part of your assignment asks you to focus on relationships. There are two key relationships in the story “The Sentry” by Téa Obreht which we will help you discuss next.

Bojan’s relationship with his father

Bojan’s relationship with his father is at first one of fear and admiration for the father, who is a dominant and aggressive figure. The father’s dominance is first suggested when he pulls Bojan by the sleeve to face the frightening dog: “He slid instinctively behind his father, who reached around and pulled him forward by the sleeve so the dog could smell him.” (ll. 18-19)

Even though the father is distant and imposing when he is around, Bojan admires him and longs for the man’s protection and appreciation. This is suggested through the way Bojan sees the man’s relationship with the dog: “Bojan could picture the two of them on sentry duty (…) while they performed manoeuvres, or, in some of Bojan's more daring fantasies, searched for mines.” (ll. 42-44). Bojan’s imaginative recreation of his father’s activities reveals that he does not know much about what his father really does - we find out that he is a sentry at a prison camp where atrocities are committed.

The father is also distant, as we find out that he leaves Bojan in the housekeeper’s care while he is on duty. Additionally, he never seems to stay with Bojan even when he is home. When Bojan is bullied by other children, the father’s reaction suggests that he considers Bojan to be weak: “…his father, stooped with something more draining than disappointment, more palpable than rage, stood looking at him from the hallway stairs.” (ll. 115-116)

At the end, Bojan’s fear is stronger than his admiration for his father, as his father discovers how Bojan tortured the dog: “His father had blu...