Themes Of A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah
Ishmael Beah, recalls his time as an orphaned child soldier, in Sierra leone, in his memoir A long way gone. Amongst those who were moved by the memorable piece of literature, there are those who quarrel with the idea that it is a completely factual account of the events that took place in Sierra Leone and the details regarding the physical wounds he obtained. While some of the claims made against its accuracy made are valid, It does not diminish the merit of the memoir. Beah’s escapade as a child soldier, his rehabilitation and the universal themes contribute to the immense worth of the novel, and allow the reader to walk away enlightened. It has been proven that Beah is a former child soldier, and because of this has acquired first hand experience of the civil war in Sierra Leone. From this experience Beah has lived with brutal memories--memories he revisits in his memoir. In The Australian, writer Peter Wilson cites Beah in his article, ‘Beah’s …show more content…
Although one can see how Beah’s hope falters and is challenged, it prevails and carries him through his ordeal as a child surviving the war. Memories aid him in his fight for survival. Beah is able to keep himself going with memories of his life, while running from RUF. His father's saying, "If you are alive, there is hope for a better day and something good to happen. If there is nothing good left in the destiny of a person, he or she will die,” is one of the best demonstrations of hope in the novel. He expresses that being alive one more day is proof that hope for a better tomorrow is not yet lost. Hope is tested again in the haze of drugs and violence while caught up as a child soldier. However, his father's adage proves true once rehabilitation begins. While this is only one theme that is present in Beah’s memoir, this is one of the most valuable a reader can take after
Summary Of A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah
577 Words | 3 PagesThe biography, A Long Way Gone, Memoirs of a boy Soldier, by Ishmael Beah, tells the story of a thirteen year old boy who spends his childhood being compelled to fight in the civil war in Sierra Leone. Ishmael Beah tries to avoid fighting for the rebels by running from town to town with his friends as the rebels advanced. Finally, his luck runs out and Ishmael Baeh is forced to serve in the civil war for the rebels. The story goes on to describe his horrific childhood as a soldier in Sierra Leone and his eventual rescue by Unicef and rehabilitation center. In this passage, Ishmael Beah created a mental image that allows us to visualize how disturbing and how unreal living in wartone Sierra Leone during the early 1980’s.
Book Report On A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah
486 Words | 2 PagesA Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah is the painfully true biography of Ishmael, his elder brother Junior, their friends and their journey to out run a war that is occurring in their hometown, Sierra Leone. The majority of the story takes place in Sierra Leon in between the years of 1993 and 1998. Ishmael’s journey begins the January of 1993 when he is the age of twelve. Individuals have begun to revolt which takes everything a turn for the worse. The rebels have struck the country with fear and caused complete chaos by killing families and destroying what they once called home.
Book Report On A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah
613 Words | 3 PagesIn 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.
Analysis Of A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah
183 Words | 1 PagesIn Ishmael Beah’s memoir ‘a long way gone’, Beah describes his experience as a child soldier. A deep message that Beah conveys is that “children have the resilience to outlive their sufferings if given the chance”. During Beah’s journey as a child soldier, he commits multiple graphic acts under the influence of drugs, such as demanding that prisoners dig their own graves, then burying them alive (151). This event shows how far gone mentally Beah
Analysis Of A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah
751 Words | 4 PagesA Long Way Gone: Fact or Fiction? Throughout A Long Way Gone, the author, Ishmael Beah, describes in great detail the atrocities that were committed during Sierra Leone’s civil war. Before being forced to get involved in the war, Beah was an innocent child with a passion for hip-hop music. After joining the army, his thoughts and actions became increasingly twisted and immoral.
Book Review Of A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah
895 Words | 4 PagesA Long Way Gone is an interesting, self-oriented book on the Sierra Leone Civil War because of the author’s intentions and credibility in writing, biases, and the lessons it taught. Ishmael Beah has made strong points in A Long Way Gone about his contentions of writing. Ishmael Beah wrote this memoir to inform people about the terrors of war and how the world knew little about the war while the innocent civilians suffered great
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.
A Long Way Gone Memoirs Of A Boy Soldier By Ishmael Beah
1045 Words | 5 PagesHowever when Beah was selected to speak at the United Nations conference held in New York it was an undiscovered dream come to life. Being able to attend the conference gave Beah the chance to meet extraordinary adults and children. Beah’s trip to New York allowed him to share his story in hopes of prevent another child from joining the war. It also gave him the chance to change people’s perception of boy soldiers, “I have been rehabilitated now, so don’t be afraid of me. I am not a soldier anymore; I am a child”
Ishmael Beah's Journey In A Long Way Gone
1086 Words | 5 PagesAfter Beah’s village is raided, he is forced to live outside of civilization and treks through the forest. He recalls something his father used to tell him, “If you are alive, there is hope for a better day… If there is nothing good left in the destiny or a person, he or she will die” (54). Beah admits that these words from his father drove his spirit to keep trekking on. The words of his family made him able to persevere through a hellish forest and stay alive.
Analysis Of A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah
730 Words | 3 PagesOne of the most famous male child soldiers was Ishmael Beah who fought in the civil war in Sierra Leone. Ishmael Beah later wrote a novel titled A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier in 2007. In this novel, Beah describes his personal experiences in a nonconventional military unit and its affects it had physically and mentally. The grave detail of the novel enables the readers to fully understand the seriousness of this phenomenon. Beah experienced many life changing events in his life beginning at the age of twelve.
Analysis Of A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah
1706 Words | 7 PagesAs an innocent child, Beah, nor did any of the children in Sierra Leone, did not have any idea that the majority of them would become child soldiers. They would not only be touched by war, but they would be at the epicenter of the war, fighting on the front lines while raping and pillaging villages. Beah and his older brother, Junior, along with another friend left their village to walk to a neighboring one to rap together at a talent show. Not long after they arrived in Mattru Jong, they received news from their friends that their home village has been attacked by rebels, marking the start of war in Sierra Leone.
A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah
691 Words | 3 Pages“A Long Way Gone” Ishmael Beah, the author of A Long Way Gone, wrote this book based on his real life experiences of being in Sierra Leone, where he is forced to fight in the civil war as a young boy. Ishmael was twelve years old when this war began to affect him, his home village was ransacked and blood covered while he was not there, but when he returned, he saw it all. He, his brother, and his friends then had to look for food, water, and shelter, in other places besides their home village. They continue doing this and going to lots of different villages and in times of desperateness, would do unsettling things to stay alive. “In the back of the van there were three more dead bodies, two girls and a boy, and their blood was all over the
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.
Examples Of Innocence In A Long Way Gone
879 Words | 4 PagesIn A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah’s innocence is taken away when is forced into becoming a child soldier. In The Bite of the Mango, innocence is involuntarily taken from Mariatu Kamara through the amputation of her hands and the incidence of rape. Loss of innocence is a pivotal and life changing necessity because of the transformation encountered and the independence gained. Transformations, both mental and physical, can alter the innocence of a being. Beah experiences a mental transformation through being a child soldier.
Analysis Of A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah
942 Words | 4 PagesThroughout his experience in the civil war of Sierra Leone, Beah was alone. He emphasizes intensity in silence to communicate a feeling of abandonment and a lack of mental, physical, and emotional support. Students must think critically to completely interpret the author’s literal and metaphorical use of imagery. Likewise, Beah spends a large portion of his struggle in the African Jungle.
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