A Long Way Gone Analysis

Throughout the book, A Long Way Gone, rap music plays an extremely important role in saving Ishmael’s life. While the boys are traveling one day, a group of large, muscular men jump out from the bushes, holding up their machetes and hunting rifles. These men are the voluntary guards of the village and were ordered by their chief to bring Ishmael and his friends back to the village. They are immediately tied up in the village and questioned. Even though the boys continue to insist they are not rebel soldiers, the chief does not believe them. The chief would not believe the boys until they discovered a rap cassette tape in Ishmael’s pocket. The chief forces Ishmael to explain the rap music. Ishmael was instructed to sing and dance to “O.P.P” by Naughty by Nature and “I Need Love” by LL Cool J. The chief is still cautious of the boys until a young boy from the village admits to knowing Ishmael and his friends. The boys are untied and the village surprisingly feeds them and even offers them a place to stay. Knowing that the rebels will eventually come, the boys refuse the offer. At that point in the book,

First, the author tells “It is hard enough keeping yourself alive. And this wild boy, loving nothing but music.” He is only six-year-old who does not know anything about how to survive but with the love of music he is able to live . The author also reveal the second time music give him the strength through “ And the hurricane,now brewing near Barbados...will still be singing,

Ishmael Beah is described as a pre-teen, with a love of rap and hip-hop music. He finishes as a drug-addicted killing machine, out avenging the death of his entire family. Before being rescued by a United Nations Program, and eventually fleeing to New York for rehabilitation, it is a tragic and harrowing tale that gives substance to the term ‘Boy Soldier’, that isn’t really understood in most cases. Ishmael gives a gentle portrayal of his life, before the war reached his small village and forever changed his life. Abruptly he becomes fugitive fleeing for his life and eventually into a corrupted teen.

In the memoir A Long Way Gone, author Ishmael Beah describes his survival journey as a lost child in his country, because of the civil war in Sierra Leone, then becoming a child soldier facing war daily, afterward the process that Beah went through during rehabilitation and finally in fear escaping the civil war. Ishmael Beah emotional journey has three stages of development in which Beah utilized music. In the first stage, Beah uses music as a survival mechanism to keep sane and safe. In the second stage, begins when he loses his brother and friends, Beah reaches the lowest point with the loss of his entire family again, some friends, music, and being forced to join the war. In the final stage, is the process of rehabilitation where Beah connects with music once again. Ishmael Beah exposure to music at a young age stayed with him throughout his life. (Beah, 2007, p. 5-218)

In the novel A Long Way Gone, there are many examples throughout that emphasize the theme by using symbols. The hip hop cassettes that Ishmael carries around with him are an important symbol as without them he would not have been able to survive. It also provides the image of his lost childhood. The music was able to assist him in many ways of survival. On his journey Ishmael uses them to show his talent and passion, and to prove to other’s that he is just a teenage boy trying to escape from the war. “I ran toward the fire, but the cassettes had already started to melt. Tears formed in my eyes, and my lips shook as I turned away." (Beah 110). Once the cassettes were gone, he lost all hope. Beah created a clear and evident meaning behind the

In Ishmael Beah’s memoir, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, Beah encourages the opinion that everyone is responsible for his/her own actions in all cases. Beah proves this opinion to be true through death, thievery, and violence.

In the book, A Long Way Gone, there is an array of different tones. The author uses them to shine light on the central theme and main idea of the story. The tone is important because it emphasizes the emotion of the text and the story being told. The author, Ishmael Beah, who is also the main character in the book has had a rough life. He grew up in the city of Mattru Jong, which is in the country of Sierra Leone. War had swept over the land changing everything and everyone. Beah was forced into being a child soldier at the age of twelve. By looking at the book, A Long Way Gone, one can see that Beah was put through things that no person should go through and it has shaped his entire world, with death, loss, and pain.

what had happened in the war." (Beah, 163). Ishmael Beah's rap cassette tapes had a huge impact on his life and how he

In 1957, president Eisenhower made Central High School intergrate and the press played a big role in that. In 1896 Plessy vs. Ferguson decided separate but equal. But before Plessy vs Ferguson the 13th amendment was made to abolish slavery. In the regards to the events surrounding the integration of Central High School.

In the A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah, a twelve-year-old explains how he used to go on a swim with his friends and his love for rap music and hip-hop dance. When Ishmael and his friends went to visit Mattru Jong, they visited Ishmael's grandparents in Kabati. While staying at the Mattru Jong, they

They drew graffiti on sides of buildings and created their own music, which made their hardships into works of art. These troubled kids began to create music without instruments. Instead of using instruments they used words; it was entirely vocal music. This music depicted the hardships of the city at the time and the way the kids felt. This was the beginning of Hip Hop Rap music. Many of these harmonies, internal rhymes, and lyrics became expressions of the emotions that they were feeling at that time. It was the anger, the despair, the emptiness, the poverty, the sorrow, and the loneliness they felt for the times that they lived in. The history of Hip Hop Rap music proved to McBride that it does tell a story and reflects life as it is lived by young people who felt trapped in the ghettos of New York City. It also proved to him that even rap music takes true artistic ability and expresses real emotions of real people when they feel a certain way.

Music helped him hold onto his purity and was evidence of his youthful memories before all was lost during the war. In addition, it saved his life when villagers misidentified Ishmael, and his fellow friends as rebels: “The chief turned his head from side to side as if trying to understand what I was saying. I watched him to see if his face was going to change for the worse, but a look of amusement flickered on his face” (Ishmael 87). This verifies that without them, there would have been no confirmation that they are young ordinary boys passing through villages. Furthermore, music allowed Ishmael to temporarily forget his uncertainties, as it helped him to relax, and reminded him of joyful memories of his childhood: “I didn’t care because the song had taken hold of me, and I listened closely to every word” (Ishmael 186). Likewise, on many occasions Ishmael would have troubles with falling asleep due to the nightmares that will haunt him. He would start to write down lyrics to keep himself occupied: “I had not slept well for months now, and so far I had been able to avoid my nightmares by busying myself day and night with listening to and writing the lyrics of Bob Marley’s songs” (Ishmael 198). Furthermore, this indicates how music enhanced his life as a

In both the memoir A Long Way Gone, by Ishmael Beah, and in the book Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a war's ability to convert innocent children to vicious savages is evident. In Lord of the Flies, a group of young boys are taken away from their family and are stranded on a deserted island. They discover themselves in a position full of a thirst for power. The boys think that there is a beast on the island, however, it is just a figment of their imagination. The beast eventually leads the boys to their inevitable downfall. In A Long Way Gone, Beah and his companions are torn away from their families and must survive on their own. To add to the difficulty of the situation, the boys are in the middle of a wartorn country, Sierra Leone.

Something to think about #10 For this weeks something to think about I read the book A Long Way Gone. This book follows the story of a boy named Ishmael Beah and his struggles with being a boy soldier in Sierra Leone. The book tells the story of how Ishmael loses his family because of the war and that he joined the war in hopes of avenging his family. Their were many of the social justice principles present in this book but the ones I found to be most prevalent were; Option for the Poor and Vulnerable, The Common Good, and human dignity and respect for life.

Now Connie was twenty-seven and totally isolated from physical passion and she blames Clifford because he was not really warm and kind. Her depression continues and then her sister Hilda comes to comfort her. They together decide that Connie cannot anymore take care for Clifford, instead they hire Mrs. Bolton who is a local nurse. She will be Clifford’s caretaker and his companion. Her husband, Ted Bolton had been killed in the pit, twenty-two years ago, leaving her with two children. Ted’s mother helped her with children when she went to take courses at the ambulance and become a nurse. She told Connie that in her memory Ted hasn’t died.