Alas, Achak has appeared as Jesus! Well, in a sense, he has become a "Christ-figure," as Thomas Foster would put it. In Chapter 23, Achak recalls his dream in which he is in a river and is "saving" boys, his "students," at the bottom. He "would float high on a wave of cold water," which is like how Jesus walked on water. In the dream, Achak would see a boy sitting on the floor of the river and he recalls, "...I would put my hands under his arms and then send him upward...I did this knowing that once I did so, that boy would be safe. He would live and breathe the air above again...I moved under the water, from boy to boy to boy, and I lifted them to the air and the light." Achak is like Jesus, bringing his followers to light, to salvation. In order to save others, he sacrifices his time and self. When the boys call him by his different names--"Achak," "Valentino," "Dominic"--it is similar to how Jesus has various names--"Christ," "Savior," "the Son."
Achak is also living up to his name, "Valentino." The priest who had given him that name said that Valentino was a saint who converted a blind girl and was able to bring God to her to help her see again. Father Matong tells Achak that he believes that Achak will make people see--see the things going on in Sudan and the lessons learned--and bring them light. With this book and by spreading his story to anyone he meets, Valentino is certainly making people see.
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