Book Report On A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier is the true story of Ishmael Beah’s, the author and narrator, experience leading into and eventually becoming a child soldier in Sierra Leone’s military during the Sierra Leonean Civil War. The story begins with Beah, then a twelve year old child, leaving his home village of Mattru Jong to attend a talent show where he and other boys, including his brother Junior, would hip-hop dance to their favorite music genre, rap. On his way he encounters his grandmother’s village where she convinces the boys to stay the night, in the morning he is stunned to learn that Mattru Jong was attacked by the Royal United Front (RUF) and that the people who were in the village were now dead or refugees. After this, Ishmael

A Long Way Gone is the accurate adventure of Ishmael Beah, who becomes a soldier during a horrifying war in Sierra Leone. When Ishmael was twelve years old, his village got attacked while he was out with his friends for a rap music competition. After the village got attacked, he lost contact with his brother, mother and father; but one of his brother stayed with for a while finding food and shelter. Ishmael goal was to survive throughout the war, so he turned himself into a totally new person.

In the memoir, A Long Way Gone written by Ishmael Beah, Ishmael faced the tragic start of war in his home place, Mattru Jong, Sierra Leone on January of 1993. At just the age of twelve his village had been wrecked by rebels who had been going to other villages as well. It was just a normal happy day before everything had occurred. When the news spread, Ishmael, his brother, Junior, and friend, Talliou were at a rap performance. They left in search for money and any family, but everything was gone.

“My eyes widened, a smile forming on my face. Even in the middle of the madness there remained that true and natural beauty, and it took my mind away from my current situation as I marveled at this sight” (Beah 59). In the story A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, the author tells his story of the war in Sierra Leone. A story of sorrow and sadness, as he started his journey at age 13 and joined the army are 15. Because of Beah’s pliancy, treasuring of wisdom, and perseverance, he overcame the mental, physical and social hardships of his journey.

How do people comprehend war when everything they know has seemed to vanish, before they can image? A Long Way Gone is heartbreaking memoir written by Ishmael Beah. The book takes place in Sierra Leone during the time of the civil war. The war was fought over economic profit, rather than political and social pandemonium, even though it was claimed that the war was fought over civil and social reasons. There were 2 sides to this war, the RUF and the Government.

A Long Way Gone is a book about the life of a boy living in Sierra Leone who takes part in the war that has been happening around him his whole life. This is a memoir written by Ishmael Beah on his life. This book was written to show how wars today are fought by children and how traumatizing it can be to a child. The book starts out with Ishmael living in Mogbwemo with his mother and brothers.

An autobiography, of which Ishmael Beah unwillingly becomes a child solider due to a civil war that has arisen in Sierra Leone. Before the attacks had happen, Ishmael and his elder brother Junior had gone from home to perform Rap in Mattru Jong with their friends. Not long after their arrival, news of the rebels had come to their attention having raided their home town and no sign of their families being unscarred from the warfare. Ishmael, and his group of friends sought out to travel to each village seeking out their family. However trouble comes across due to the majority of RUF rebel attacks were caused by children around their age, many villagers had no trust for these kids.

These were rough times for Ishmael and the boys;they would go without food for a couple of days. Ishmael explains that they were so hungry that it hurt to drink water. The attack in Kamator was the last time that Ishmael saw Junior. Ishmael was now all alone. This was very hard on Ishmael.

Many people go through things they consider hard in their lives. For many teens today this can be breaking up with someone, breaking their phone, and fighting with their friends. But, for Ishmael Beah his struggles are harder than that. He has to go without his family, he ends up doing drugs, and has to kill people to survive. In “A Long Way Gone” by Ishmael Beah, all these struggles are true for him and he has to find a way to live through them and learn how to survive without lots of food and water.

“When you tell a story, you give it out to the world and whoever listens becomes a part of that story.” Ishmael Beah, raised a war child and now a published author, is very aware of the impact that words can have. Beah published his memoir in 2007, and with it relays the power of stories to influence people. Thus, stories are significant in A Long Way Gone, as they are used to symbolize hope, introduce a new perspective for the reader, and reflect the memoir’s themes. Throughout Beah’s life as a refugee and war child, stories became an anchor for him.

Loss, anger, violence “I imagined capturing several rebels at once, locking them inside a house, sprinkling gasoline on it, and tossing a match” (Beah 113). In Sierra Leone’s civil war, families were torn apart, entire generations lost, these events caused strife in the hearts of the survivors, who searched for revenge. In the memoir A Long Way Gone, a young boy named Ishmael Beah, has his life turned inside out as he tries to survive the civil war in his country. In the country Sierra Leone, Ismael Beah has decided to travel to a nearby town to perform in a talent show when he gets news of a rebel attack on his home. His brother Junior, friends Gibrilla, Talloi, Khalilou and Kaloko and him try to get back, but it is too dangerous to go back

They see nothing wrong with what they do. In 2007, Ishmael Beah published a memoir called “A Long Way Gone” about his time as a child soldier in Sierra Leone. When he was twelve, the RUF (rebels) attacked his home village of Mogbwemo while he was in Mattru Jong with his older brother and their friends. The RUF then began to attack neighboring villages, sending Ishmael and his brother running.

Some people call them instincts, but others call them natural tendencies. When people are under pressure, what drives them to make the decisions they make? The novels Night by Elie Wiesel, and A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah help demonstrate why people choose to do certain things. Hope for better circumstances and fear of what could possibly happen is what forces people to make the decisions they make.

One day while Ishmael is staying in his place, he has a run-in with a pack of wild pigs. This scares Ishmael out of his makeshift home and he returns to the path. This is where he finds yet another group of boys to traverse with and is no longer alone with his thoughts. The solace he found in his patch in the forest eventually brings him out to discover he is not truly alone in his journey or his battle. The kindness the forest brought him foreshadows the kindness the group of boys

The way Beah explained what happened to him, he did it in a sad way. My response to the writer is that I feel sorry for him. I cannot relate to him in any way since I have never been exposed to war and even been a soldier fighting in it. He was strong through the hardest part of his life; the actual war itself, rehabilitation, and ultimately escaping Freetown, Sierra Leone to eventually fly over to New York and start a new life. Ishmael Beah’s memoir, A Long Way Gone, replays a part of Beah’s life that will always be very vivid to him.