Strength In A Long Way Gone
Carson Edwards
English I
Ms. Thaden
10 February 2023
Family Provides Strength
Twelve-year-old soldiers, blinded by cocaine, violence, and war, can only find strength through the love of family. Ishmael Beah, in his book, A Long Way Gone, is struggling through the war but keeps going toward the ultimate goal of seeing his family again, proving how the unfailing love of family will give one the strength to persevere through the hardest times. This book shows the instinctual longing for the family during times of need.
Beah remembers a quote from his father during the beginning half of his war journey. This helped Beah to continue surviving when he recalled his father saying, “When I was very little…’If you are alive, there is hope for a better
…show more content…
Before Beah said this quote, he figured out that his whole family died, and he wasn't able to see them again. Gasemu did not allow the boys to go into the village earlier, but this ultimately saved Beah's life. Beah then says he would have rather seen his family and die than wait and be alive without seeing them. This shows how much family means to Beah. Beah now knows he must keep moving for his own life. Being willing to die for the chance to see his family again is a momentous statement, but Beah truly had this …show more content…
This is by drugs and brainwashing from his superiors, but also by missing his family and wanting revenge. Beah went into the army with bad intentions but found the truth in retrospect saying, “I joined the army to avenge the deaths of my family and to survive, but I've come to learn that if I am going to take revenge, in that process I will kill another person whose family will want revenge; then revenge and revenge and revenge will never come to an end...”(Beah 199). Beah loves his family so much that he will kill to avenge them. His love of family, even if this is not morally right, makes him want to stay alive and kill everyone that is relatively related to the deaths of his family. Even though killing people isn't the best way to go about revenge, it shows how far Ishmael will
How Does Ishmael Beah Use Literary Devices In A Long Way Gone
887 Words | 4 PagesWhen Beah lost the tapes he and the other boys felt their childhood and innocence being taken away in just a few seconds. The tape’s presence in his life was very strong since they were given to him by his brother Junior. Ishameal used the tape's presence to escape from the reality of what was going on including the war, seeing the bodies, nightmares, headaches, and hopelessness he
Examples Of Hope In A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah
564 Words | 3 PagesA Long Way Gone is Ishmael Beah’s memoir. It retracts all of the tragic events Ishmeal endured while the Sierra Leone civil war occurred. Ishmael was a child who lived an ordinary life until rebels infiltrated his village which left him and others with no choice, but to flee. He was then forced to become a child soldier. This book shows the physical and mental torture Beah had to go through while has was a child soldier.
Essay On A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah
426 Words | 2 PagesOne night, once Beah was back in Sierra Leone, the rebels had reached Freetown, both the rebels and the soldier filled up the city and Beah thought to himself, “I couldn’t return to my previous life. I [don’t] think I could make it out alive this time” (Beah 203). Before Beah got his humanity back, he would have loved to go back to the war, because that was all he knew for about three years of his life; but one can see that he has really changed because he knows that he won’t be able to survive the war with his new found humanity. He has achieved success because he does not want to go back to the war, he wants to continue his better life; by the end of the book he is able to free himself of his war
Ishmael Beah Narrative Report
777 Words | 4 PagesSo when the lieutenant gave orders, I shot as many as I could, but I didn't feel any better”(Beah 122). Beah sums up his method and motivation for becoming an effective killer in the Sierra Leone civil war. He channels all his pain, misery, anguish, and suffering into every single one of the rounds that leaves the barrel of his Ak-47 and kills a rebel. Even as he uses this method to rip threw his enemies,he realizes that even if he killed the entire rebel army he will never be able to bring his family and friends back from the dead. But with this method there comes a price, he begins to become dehumanized and starts to rely on the drugs to give him the extra boost to kill the rebels, slowly turning him towards madness and uncontrollable
Loss Of Innocence In A Long Way Gone
1508 Words | 7 PagesA second way we see that Ishmael will always be human is when he accepts Esther as his sister and is happy with the connection. Ishmael reminisces, “That afternoon, as Esther walked away from where I sat on the rock, she continually turned around to wave at me,
Long Way Gone Themes
675 Words | 3 PagesThroughout the book, A Long Way Gone Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah, violence is a predominant theme. Ishmael is a witness to violence at the early age of twelve when the civil war reaches his village in Sierra Leone. The death of his family, the loss of his childhood/ innocence and his transformation into a killer were all direct results of the violence due to the war. The rebel forces killed Ishmael’s mother, father, brother and grandparents during the war.
Symbols In A Long Way Gone
1118 Words | 5 PagesAfter the “white tablet” Beah takes to boost his energy before battle wheres off following his return that night, he is faced with an extreme nightmare where Beah dreams, “... I was picking up Josiah from the tree stump and a gunman stood on top of me. He placed his gun on my forehead. I immediately woke up from my dream and began shooting inside the tent” (120). This intense nightmare from Beah shows how war, especially at this young of an age causes extreme difficulties as they take drugs to try to cover up these problems which does not last. Succeeding the wars end, after falling asleep reading the lyrics of a song in rehabilitation,
Symbolism In A Long Way Gone
533 Words | 3 Pages“We had left home with only these cassettes and the clothes that we wore. ”(Beah). During this time in the book, the boys had tried to go back home only to realize it was too dangerous. On their way, They passed through Beah’s grandma’s village which had been torn apart by the rebels.
Morality In A Long Way Gone
1538 Words | 7 PagesIn the chaos and violence of war, the lines between right and wrong become blurred. Beah at the beginning found violence and specifically death disgusting and repulsive but as the novel progresses he turns into a killing machine. Beah’s ability to judge something as morally bad or good was blurred or completely eliminated. What may have been considered immoral in peacetime may be seen as necessary for survival in a warzone. Beah was forced into a position where it was either kill or be killed, he wanted to survive so he killed.
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.
Dreams In A Long Way Gone
1452 Words | 6 PagesOne would think that dreams would soothe Beah too, but for him, they only bring fear, angst, and sadness. The first dream the audience hears about takes place years in the future, when Beah is living a calm life in New York City. He is pushing a wheelbarrow holding a dead body and writes, “I lift the cloth from the body’s face. I am looking at my own” (Beah, 2013, p. 32). This dream is very important because it displays the idea that even years after the war, Beah is still affected by the memories of past events.
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.
Ishmael Beah Trauma
1092 Words | 5 PagesBeah was exposed to and committed many offenses such as killing, stealing, and many forms of trauma. After a few long years, sixteen-year-old Beah is taken out of the war by UNICEF and sent to a rehabilitation center. Eventually, Beah is helped to find
A Long Way Gone Quotes
1131 Words | 5 PagesI believe this because Ishmael wants to get revenge on the rebels for killing some of friends, during war. He is also determined to find his family, which he lost when the rebels were coming towards his village, the only person he was with from his family, was his older brother Junior. In the book A Long Way Gone it states, “This is one of the consequences of the civil war. People stop trusting each other, and every stranger becomes an enemy” (pg. 37). I feel like this explains how Ishmael is determined because he does not care that the people he is killing could be friends and when the war was over all his friends thought he would kill them.
More about Strength In A Long Way Gone
How Does Ishmael Beah Use Literary Devices In A Long Way Gone
887 Words | 4 PagesExamples Of Hope In A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah
564 Words | 3 PagesEssay On A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah
426 Words | 2 PagesA Long Way Gone Response Essay
654 Words | 3 PagesIshmael Beah Narrative Report
777 Words | 4 PagesLoss Of Innocence In A Long Way Gone
1508 Words | 7 PagesLong Way Gone Themes
675 Words | 3 PagesSymbols In A Long Way Gone
1118 Words | 5 PagesSymbolism In A Long Way Gone
533 Words | 3 PagesMorality In A Long Way Gone
1538 Words | 7 PagesA Long Way Gone Analysis
1110 Words | 5 PagesDreams In A Long Way Gone
1452 Words | 6 PagesA Long Way Gone Theme Essay
946 Words | 4 PagesIshmael Beah Trauma
1092 Words | 5 PagesA Long Way Gone Quotes
1131 Words | 5 Pages