Themes In Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah
Most people assume that their lives are constant from day to day, the same routine goes to school or work, some afternoon activities and so on. But what most of us don’t imagine is that we are so close to the edge, tragedies that seem foreign to us appear from nowhere and turn our lives upside down. In long way gone, a story of a child soldier named Ishmael Beah, many tragedies, events has bestowed upon him, and he to choose to die or survive. These tragedies have transformed him from innocent child to ruthless child soldier to rehabilitate adult with the scars of war that destroyed his country.
This is the true story narrated by the author Ishmael Beah in which depicts how at the age of twelve he was stranded by a tragic war in his homeland
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Ishmael illustrates this point as follows "My squad was my family, my gun was my provider and protector, and my rule was to kill or be killed."[126]. Throughout the book, the author conveys this message that he has to make decisions to survive as illustrated in the following passage “ We could not find anything substantial to eat. We got hungrier day after day to the point that is our stomachs were hurting and our vision blurred at times. We had no choice but to sneak back into Mattru Jong, along with some people we encountered on the path, to get some money we had left behind so that we could buy food.” [27]. Ishmael buried all his emotions to survive, the author makes this point over and over "In the swamp, we ran past people who were stuck in the mud, past handicapped people who couldn't be helped, for anyone who stopped to do so was risking his own life." [24]. The Author makes the point that survival makes people only think about themselves to remain alive and survival emotion overrules every other emotion "We had yet to learn these things and implement survival tactics, which was what it came down to. That night we were so hungry that we stole people's food while they slept. It was the only way to get through the night." [29]. The author makes the point that in order to survive you can’t trust others because when the going gets tough, everyone will choose to save herself or himself. "I had learned to survive and take care of myself. I had done just that for most of my short life, with no one to trust, and frankly, I liked being alone, since it made surviving easier." [153] The author shows that Ishmael wants to so survive so much that he wants to be alone because it is easier to survive without having to worry about someone
Compare And Contrast A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah
503 Words | 3 PagesThe impact of war can have very harmful effects on people, especially children. In “A Long Way Gone” by Ishmael Beah, he explains the war of Sierra Leone from his point of view. The tragedy of losing his family, becoming a boy soldier, and the effects of war is said throughout the book, making it an interesting story to read. But, while Ishmael explains what he went through, it is hidden that other people were affected by the actions he took. Although Ishmael did play a victimizer, he was also a victim at the same time.
Book Report On A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah
355 Words | 2 PagesThe book A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah is a memoir about himself involved in war as a child. War began happening in Ishmael’s hometown in Sierra Leone, which was Mogbwemo, so everyone broke apart and he lost his family, except for his brother. He had to start running away from the war to stay alive, so he went with some of his friends and his brother into different provinces of Sierra Leone. They went from village to village looking for food, shelter and safety. Ishmael was caught many times by the army and he thought he was stuck with them forever, but he escaped many different ways.
How Does Ishmael Beah Use Literary Devices In A Long Way Gone
887 Words | 4 PagesIn A Long Way gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, Ishmael Beah explains his life and how he became a child soldier during Sierra Leone's civil war. During recounting his experiences, Beah uses literary devices which include metaphors, similes, personification, and symbolism to communicate his experiences. Before the war, Ishmael Beah was just a boy who enjoyed listening to rap music cassettes with his friends and preparing for the talent show. Ishmael Beah finally narrates the book when he is an adult, he tells us how carrying the tapes throughout the war changed his life. In his memoir, he used many associations with cassette tapes as a motif to show his psychological degradation and rehabilitation throughout his time in the civil war and return
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.
Attachment In Ishmael's Benin Home
704 Words | 3 PagesIshmael has accept the fact that the war has ruined his enjoyment of meeting new people. Because of him going into villages and being chased out because they believed he was a rebel, Or having to go through other villages because he knew nobody there and he knew what was coming to their village and he did not want to stay had ruined the experience for him until later on in his life. Ishmael's experiences force him to deny his emotional side in order to survive. His flight from RUF attacks on the various villages in Sierra Leone requires him to let go of attachments to family and friends. Although he holds out hope to see his family, he has no choice but to close off himself to the world.
Examples Of What Would They Give In Fahrenheit 451
884 Words | 4 PagesIshmael right now is told to kill or that he was going to die and given drugs so much that he had become so mindless that that was the only thing that he could think. But some people believe that if everybody is thinking the same then there is no way for everybody to be happy. “The bigger your market, the less you handle controversy, remember that!” But without controversy then people aren’t able to grow any further, they are forced to stay right where they are. When people are having their own ideas and there is a lot of controversy the people still care about about other people's
A Long Way Gone Quotes
131 Words | 1 PagesA Long Way Gone: inaugurates a world where young men, like Ishmael Beah, are forced to participate in the civil war of Sierra Leone causing them to lose their families. This book definitely outlines the importance of family through Ishmael’s experiences of adaptation, i s o l a t i o n , a n d m e m o r i e s o f h i s p a s t . A L o n g W a y G o n e t e a c h e s u s a l e s s o n t o a p p r e c i a t e t h e family we have, compared to the loneliness Ishmael once felt as a young
Examples Of A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah
682 Words | 3 PagesA Long Way Gone alone can be sufficient enough to show just what writing can do, and how much it can do so. By simply writing about his story, Ishmael thoroughly explained what horrors occurred during the Civil War in Sierra Leone and what it takes to recover these lost memories. He helped his readers gain a better understanding on topics, like child soldiers, that most remain naïve to; much like teachers do to their students, but more specifically, Social Studies and English teachers. During my first year in AMVC, I was just a little kid who was very inexperienced with paragraph writing and the supposed “flow” of an essay. But through my teachers, I was able to break free of my naïve bubble to learn more about the art of paragraph writing; and just how significant its effect can be when used
Reconstruction In A Long Way Gone
586 Words | 3 PagesThroughout Ishmael Beah’s A Long Way Gone, themes of reconstruction of a lifestyle are explored as Beah learns to adapt to his current situations. The importance of reconstruction is displayed through Beah’s ability to rebuild his mindset and mannerisms over and over again after being placed into a new environment. This talent for being able to let go of the past and redefine himself is one of the key factors in Beah’s miraculous survival as those around him pass away.
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.
Long Way Gone Themes
1387 Words | 6 PagesThe book A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, the main character Ismael Beah tells a story of his first hand account of Sierra Leone’s civil war. Ismael Beah was a boy soldier who went from village to village with his brother and some friends in search of food and shelter. Beah was eventually brainwashed into thinking that what the group was doing would make up for his own family’s death. While his is fighting for the government he is heavily drugged to the point that he believes that what he is doing is the right thing. His lieutenant ended up letting him go with UNICEF so they can have better lives.
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 Character Analysis
1035 Words | 5 PagesDesire is the need for an object, a feeling or a person. One can have a desire for something that is essential for survival, such as water or food, but desire could be used to harm others or oneself. Through A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, Ishmael’s perspective of desire was altered dramatically. These desires were changed from his surroundings or events that were taking place. In the book, Ishmael was easily manipulated by his desires.
Reflection On A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah
498 Words | 2 PagesThe 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.
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