A Long Way Gone Character Analysis Essay
Peyton Poovey
A1
9/25/15
In the novel “A Long Way Gone” by Ishmael Beah, Ishmael has his mind pulled in conflicting directions by compelling desires, ambitions, obligations, or influences. The constant struggle to remain sane was a very real problem for Ishmael. These harsh experiences greatly affected the kind of man he is today.
When the terrors of war abruptly entered Ishmael’s life, Ishmael was only a young boy, leaving him with little wisdom and vulnerable to influence. Left alongside his brother, Junior
Beah, and friends, Ishmael is forced to become his own man. This amount of pressure from such harsh decision making wore away the happy young boy he once was. Ishmael eventually became addicted to drugs, something that only made his scars more visible and his functionality
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Ishmael's other savior was rap music. As a child, Ishmael knew he was a good performer, but throughout the years of sorrow and drugs, Ishmael had lost his connection. The combination of self expression through Rap, and Esther as a motherly figure was the best rehabilitation for Ishmael possible. The mental struggle that Ishmael faced at a young age boggled his mind through influence, desires, ambitions, and obligations.
Ishmael did have his mind pulled bit by bit, and he was influenced and obligated, but he successfully fought through the suffering and came out better for it. Ishmael believed that more people should know about the horrors of the situation, so much so that he was inspired and created his novel to inform us about his life and to reach out to those in the same situation he was
Peyton Poovey
A1
9/25/15 in. Had Ishmael made it to the U.S. without a scratch or sacrifice it would've been just another story to tell at the local pub. It was this mental tearing and scarring that inspired him to inform others that things like this are really happening in the
Mexico, Children As 10 Recruited By Mark Stevenson
867 Words | 4 PagesIshmael was given drugs like cocaine, cannabis, and methamphetamines as an adolescent. The Army got Ismael hooked on drugs:” He handed them to each of us with a cup of water. “The corporal said it will boost your energy” (116) ALWG. The Army gave Ishmael drugs to manipulate him by making him dependent on these drugs. Ishmael was forced, to kill other young men like him by the army: “The corporal gave the signal with a pistol shot and I grabbed the man's head and slit his throat in one fluid motion” (125) ALWG.
Essay On A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah
844 Words | 4 PagesA Long Way Gone Book Review A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah is a very powerful memoir that shows his experiences as a child soldier during the civil war in Sierra Leone. His writings show how he went from a regular child living day to day to a violent, bloodthirsty soldier trying to survive. I enjoyed this book because Beah’s writing is honest and blunt, and he’s not afraid to describe the horrible violence and trauma he and his comrades endured as young soldiers. Despite the harsh reality of the book, Beah writes with faith and courage.
The Role Of Music In A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah
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Ishmael Beah As A Child Soldier
821 Words | 4 PagesIshmael is unique because he is both the inflictor and victim. Throughout his “service” as a child soldier underneath the Government’s army, Ishmael was repeatedly drugged and manipulated. These alterations included the glorification of war movies and the consumption of destructive substances (Beah ). Ishmael had never been this way before; he was once just an ordinary Sierra Leonean boy. In the time before he became a soldier, Ishmael talks about the distrust people felt towards each other.
Ishmael's Hierarchy Of Needs In A Long Way Gone
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A Long Way Gone Analysis
1110 Words | 5 PagesNot experiencing war is a luxury many people unfortunately do not get; however, Ishmael Beah, the author of A Long Way Gone, lives and survives the war, though not without heartache. With war there is always fear, death, and hell. Ishmael Beah proves war is hell through the killing of civilians, the distrust, and the after effects of the war. Ishmael proves war is hell through the killing of civilians. Many innocent bystanders of the war are forced out of their homes, made to run for their lives.
A Long Way Gone Literary Analysis Essay
672 Words | 3 PagesThe human condition is full of paradoxes and double meanings. We can commit the most shocking and terrible acts, but we can complete the most virtuous and honorable feats. Ishmael Beah describes the appalling and violent behavior he and other children exhibited toward the human life during his time in the Sierra Leonean civil war in his memoir, A Long Way Gone. Beah also details the forgiveness and kindness of complete strangers that helped him become the man that fate meant him to be. Homo sapiens are complex creatures brimming with irony and surprises.
A Long Way Gone Theme Essay
946 Words | 4 PagesThe major theme in the story A Long Way Gone is that with family and love a person can make it through anything. Overall Ishmael’s story is a very powerful, eye opening read; it informs people on a subject that some know little to nothing about, the civil war in Sierra Leone. Beah uses the theme of family and love, along with the use of symbolism and other literary devices, to inform a larger audience of the issues that he and others had to face while trying to survive in a war zone. A Long Way Gone, an autobiographical memoir, written by Ishmael Beah, takes place in Sierra Leone during the time of their civil war.
A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah Character Analysis
657 Words | 3 PagesIn the book “A Long Way Gone” Ishmael has to overcome his fears and desperation especially when he ends up in villages that dislike little kids because of the assumption that they are rebel soldiers. Sometimes he comes face to face with death like the time when some of the villagers who were suffering the civil war, capture Ishmael and his new accompanied friends they were saying ”We told him we were students and this was a big misunderstanding. The crowds shouted, drown the rebels”(Beah 38). When the village guards found a rap cassette in Ishmael's pocket they played the music and it pleased the chief and so they were excused from execution and as a result they were offered to also stay in the village for how long they wanted. This part in the story paves a path from Ishmael to talk and although that was one of his major obstacles pertaining to his life he succeeded and faced adversity by pleading that they were not rebels but
Music In A Long Way Gone
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A Long Way Gone Conflict Analysis
1572 Words | 7 PagesAt the age of 13 till the age of 16 the author, Ishmael Beah, pulls himself through many terrible conflicts in Sierra Leone. The author uses conflict to show his readers the realism of his story. By using conflict in many different ways, it allows readers to gain an understanding of how Ishmael struggles changed his life for worse and for better. By using person vs person, person vs society, person vs self, and person vs nature conflict the author is opening doors allowing readers to get a full understanding of Ishmael 's challenges of a life in war. The most commonly seen conflict in ‘A Long Way Gone’ is person vs society.
Character Analysis: Don 'T Call Me Ishmael'
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A Long Way Gone Character Analysis
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Reflection On A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah
498 Words | 2 PagesAdditional Activity 1 In the book, A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, the reader can gather certain information about the story he told. The point of view of his story truly affects the reader’s understanding. Also, Beah included details that defined his experience and changed his life. He also wrote his memoir with an emotion that drove the story.
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