The Theme Of A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah

In the book A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, the importance of family is a very big topic. Ishmael Beah writes so much about family because during his childhood and during his time as a child soldier in Sierra Leone, he had many different families. Each of these families that he belonged to had something special about them and offered him something different that also proved to be necessary for him at the time. During his time in Sierra Leone, Beah was part of his many families. His families were: his own family, a group of seven boys that he traveled with, his small squad in the military, Esther from the Benin Home where he was being rehabilitated, his uncle Tommy’s family, and Laura, his mother in the United States. Ishmael’s

Ishmael felt that he should be fighting in the war because that was all that he had known after fighting for two years. This quote shows that he truly felt lost without the military. “My squad was my family, my gun was my provider and protector, and my rule was to kill or be killed. The extent of my thoughts didn't go much beyond that. We had been fighting for over two years, and killing had become a daily activity. I felt no pity for anyone” (Beah 126). During his first few months there, he and the other boys that were soldiers were very violent towards the staff and each other. They also suffered from drug withdrawal which did not help with their recovery. After a few months at the rehabilitation center, Esther, the nurse at the hospital, starts talking to Ishmael. At first, he does not acknowledge her, but after much persistence by Esther, he eventually warms up to her and they become good friends. She even offers to be his sister because he has no other family, and this helps with Ishmael’s recovery. He is able to talk to Esther about the war and everything that he went through as a child soldier, and is able to move past it as a result. As a result of Esther’s love and kindness, Ishmael is able to become the boy that he was before the war for the most part. After Ishmael leaves the Benin Home, he never sees Esther again, but she still played a huge role in his recovery

The family easily accepted him and they were very loving to him. This loving nature made Ishmael feel like he had a real family again, and he was able to have a good life there. Uncle Tommy treated Ishmael like one of his own sons, and was always willing to talk to him, but he did not push to know what he had been through. Uncle Tommy and his family provided Ishmael with what he needed in order to live happily after just being rehabilitated and still somewhat angry. Ishmael stayed with Uncle Tommy and his family for a while, until the Civil War ended up in Freetown. Ishmael knew that he had to leave, because if he did not he would go back to fighting or be killed by someone that knew him. His desperation to leave is shown by this quote. “The entire nation crumbled into a state of lawlessness. I hated what was happening. I couldn’t return to my previous life. I didn’t think I could make it out alive this time” (Beah 203). Ishmael left Sierra Leone to live with Laura Simms in