A Long Way Gone Analysis

His memories show the readers parts of his past before having to flee for his life or even before, he was recruited into the army. “When I was very little my father used to say, “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”” (54) Beah claims shortly after this flashback that the words of his father are what kept his spirit alive after every horror that he had witnessed. Beah had joined a group of boys during his journey and had said, “Our innocence had been replaced by fear and we had become monsters” (55). During the time, the sight of seven boys all together caused fear for anyone the group of boys came by. After all the boys could have been spies or rebels. “Fear is healthy…Panic is dangerous” (Chasing Mavericks). Throughout the memoir, the boys are attacked by panic of many people. Going back on

Throughout the story of this one deployment, there are parts where the author talks about his early life as well as some parts of his earlier days in the Army. The author puts these Stories in to the book in an intriguing way to help explain why and how the author ended up where he did.

The author of A Long Way Gone argues against boy soldiers but also against the loss of

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.

Although there are many tones in the book, there is an emphasise on the loss of humanity. The war caused people to lose everything that they once had.. Losing everything caused them to have a wary approach on anything that came into view. . “Someone had started a rumor of the seven boys…” (Beah 57). The people in the villages were scared of outsiders because of the pain they have caused. No one knew who to trust anymore. Beah used great tones to show how the people felt and while reading the book one can sort of imagine how the boys felt knowing this. In the book the author writes about how he approached a family swimming in the river. They were having fun and and trying to be normal and escape the horrors. Beah walked up to them and, “...all of them

Ishmael Beah had a really tough life throughout his childhood and teenage years. In his literary work, A Long Way

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 introduction of A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, he writes, “There were all kinds of stories told about the war that made it sound as if it was happening in a faraway and different land. It wasn’t until refugees started passing through our town that we began to see that it was actually taking place in our country” (Beah 1). During this statement Beah says that he is completely oblivious to the war around him. These people living in Sierra Leone had adapted to the war to the point where their perception had been altered. With this memoir he shares his experiences and obstacles he faces throughout the war to become a beckon of hope in this despairing country. Ishmael uses his social skills, timely luck, and emotional strength, to find the courage to overcome these adversities and survive in and out of the war.

In the memoir of Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone, Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, Beah states that his life’s journey has been a huge obstacle, but has learned to overcome that struggle by venting while the two contradictory sides continue their battling. Beah accomplishes his goal of explaining to the reader his point of view through the use of rhetorical questions, scenic narration, and parallelism. Ishmael Beah’s apparent purpose is to share personal accounts of his life with his fellow country men, in a country where war affects people to a level beyond the imagination. He is able to apply his purpose using a grotesque and bitter tone. Beah approaches his audience of ordinary people in this manner in order to vent his feelings about war by

Quickly though, Beah became used to the lifestyle as it benefited him; becoming a solider provided him with food, clothes, shelter and a family. His new family was made out of many other young boy soldiers who he thought of to be his brother. Beah’s role models became his lieutenants due to the great power and authority they had over the young boys, some boys so young they could not even hold guns. Soon Beah was killing men left and right without feeling any emotions. The war was intense though for many boys, so using marijuana, cocaine and other narcotics was an easy way for the boys to forget about the crimes they committed (Beah

In the book “A Long Way Gone”, by Ishmael Beah, a story of his childhood experiences growing up in Sierra Leone is told. When Beah was only 12 years old, his entire village was destroyed by rebel soldiers. He was separated from his mother and father during this attack. His brother Junior, some friends, and himself had to run away and try to get away from the rebel soldiers. Later in the book, the rebels keep attacking places where the kids are hiding, and he gets separated from Junior, the last family member he knew was alive. Beah has to continue on but continues to struggle living on his own. Even later in the book, Beah is recruited by the military of Sierra Leone to help fight the rebel soldiers at the age of just 13. Beah chooses to share

“Finally, we were approaching the village where seeing our families was actually a possibility” (p.91). Banana and coffee trees replaced the forest and that path appeared. On the side of the banana’s farm they saw a man, but couldn’t see his face. Kanei try to talk to him, and when the men got closer to them Beah realize he knows his face. Although the men was a lot skinnier now and had more wrinkles on his face, he knew him from his home town. The man recognized Beah as well, and asked them to help him carry bananas back to the village. While helping him, he told Beah that his whole family was waiting for him in the village.That Junior had gone looking for him but came back few days ago and now they were just waiting to hear something from him. Beah got impatient and just wanted to get to the village, he walked in front of everyone and got mad when they stopped for breaks. As they were going down hill they started to heat gunshots, dogs barking and people screaming. They dropped the bananas and run so they will not be at the open hill side. When they saw the heavy smoke coming up from the houses they understand, the rebels had arrived. Beah run to the village finding nothing but fire and bullet shells covering the ground. He became so angry, missing his family by seconds, seconds when he helped Gasemu taking to bananas, seconds that they took those breaks. Again, somehow, Beah manage to stay alive, those seconds that he missed his family were those seconds that saved him. Letting him live longer, and managing to get to a safe village. The one that soon will recruit him to be a boy soldier and change his life

Beah’s mental health suffers greatly, both during and after the conflict. During the conflict “being alive itself became a burden”(20). Witnessing and participating in the civil war severely damages Beah’s psychological well-being. The intake of narcotics inhibits the morality of child soldiers. The drugs Beah uses cause “numbness to everything”(121). Child soldiers are unable to ponder the morality of their missions when on drugs. The narcotics inhibit their ability to make thoughtful decisions. During rehabilitation former child soldiers suffer withdrawal symptoms from the drugs they are addicted to. During Beah’s rehabilitation he craves “cocaine and marijuana so badly that [he] would roll a plain sheet of paper and smoke it”(139). Withdrawal symptoms decrease the effectiveness of rehabilitation and reintegration, thus the use of drugs by child soldiers has a long-term effect on a nation. The conflict causes excruciatingly painful flashbacks and nightmares. Due to nightmares, Beah is “afraid to fall asleep, but staying awake also [brings] back painful memories”(19). These dreams plague Beah’s mind, he worries “about what to do when [his] nightmares and migraines [take] hold of [him]”(179). These concerns increase stress aggravating Beah’s already delicate mental health. Beah deprives himself of sleep to avoid

Ishmael Beah’s book, A Long Way Gone, details his harsh life as a child soldier. The editorial and the book have different structures, but both have the secondary purpose of persuading readers against child soldiers. Text types cause differing structures due to their differing primary purposes.

There are two areas of the memoir I am looking at for my research paper. Specifically, Beah talks about the Lieutenant and how he is this controlling figure that is irresponsible but yet he tricks Beah into looking up to him and forces Beah to rely on him for support. The two do have a bond that is true, as he eventually hands Beah over to UNICEF for him to have a better chance at making a life. However, the Lieutenant has made these boys into animals and adjustment to the real world is harsh and takes several steps. Enter Esther, Beah's nurse in the post-war recovery camp, has so much unconditional love and care for him, she manages to begin to bring back the old Ishmael. These two pivotal characters both play key roles in the scenes described