A Long Way Gone Ishmael Beah Character Analysis

The mother clung to her child and rocked her. She was in too much pain and shock to shed tears.” This excerpt “plagued” Ishmael’s mind as he put it and brought to the boys attention that there was no possible way their families could still be in Mogbwemo and that they needed to return to Mattru Jong for safety. This is definitely a key passage because before this point, Ishmael had no real understanding of the gruesome, violent, and upsetting occurrences that war brought. He had never experienced war in real life and wasn’t used to it at all.

I find the fact that they were able to even smile during this morbid time was extremely uplifting. To still have such spirit when so much had been taken away from them is astonishing. This shows so much character in Ishmael, how he does not let the war get to his head. He still preserves whatever happiness he has left. It is so important not to take life for granted, as shown in this memoir. In one instant Ishmael was a boy, in another he was a boy soldier. He manages to find joy in a terrible time.

“When I was seven I had an answer to this question that made sense to me….if I was the hunter, I would shoot the monkey so that it would no longer have the chance to put other hunters in the same predicament” (Beah 218). A Long Way Gone is a memoir of a child soldier who is the author himself Ishmael Beah. Beah around the ages of twelve to thirteen grew up in Sierra Leone during its civil war. During his story, Beah talks in a tone that is straight to the point, however many devices help the reader imagine his loss of innocence. Beah uses a series of flashbacks, symbols and motifs to illustrate his loss to his readers.

Ishmael is a kind man, working for his fellow child soldiers. He is someone I look up to. He is a former child soldier who was forced to do unspeakable acts even though at heart he is a fairly gentle person. He is a lover of music and often memorized songs and used to sing and rap them with his friends. He is a strong person who has gone through hell and back, and yet he is still able to smile and forgive himself for what he’s done.

The book is based on actual events and is expressed through a personal point of view. Ishmael wrote a memoir that tells the story of a young boy who is torn from his peaceful life, and then forced into a frightening world of drugs and slavery. In writing about his experiences, he has made the decision to present his experiences in a particular way by missing out details and recounting others. This

The more people Ishmael loses, the less he has to fight for- the less he has to hope for. Upon finding his family’s ashes, Ishmael is enraged- not hopeless. Ishmael’s hope is alive, but shrinking as Gasemu indicates when he says, “Your forehead used to glow naturally when you were just a child … We thought it was because you were happy all the time. Your mother said you even smiled when you slept. But when you started your troublesomeness and were angry, your forehead glowed even more…And here you are, it isn’t shining anymore,” (Beah 92). Ishmael’s forehead did not glow because he was mad or sad or embarrassed or happy. Ishmael’s forehead glowed because he was passionate and hopeful. The angrier he got when he was younger, the more his forehead glowed seeing as he believed in his anger. Despite the fact that his hope shrank when he was faced with the death of his family, the threat of the rebels, and the fear of dying, these events did not destroy Ishmael’s hope- Ismael’s hope begins its descent to nothingness when he becomes a child soldier and, consequently, a drug addict. When Ishmael no longer mourns the death of human life, his hope is lost. When Ishmael cannot care less if he lives or dies, his hope is lost. When he would rather continue killing as

In his time during the war Ishmael’s sense of security was constantly under attack. As

Ishmael wants American readers to know that war is brutal. Americans tend to romanticize war. They believe war involves people committing great acts of heroism and bravery while fighting to protect the love of their life. Ishmael knows that is not what war is like. There is no romance; and there is no heroism involved in war. It is terrible people doing terrible things. War takes humanity away from people. They turn into animals who just kill and torture people. Everyone else is running away from the war just to have the war catch up to them. Americans do not see the honest truth of war, and Ishmael wanted to change that by telling his story of war.

In the story, A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, Ishmael’s life experiences while escaping the war show how everything in life should be cherished, because one day those great features are there but they can easily be taken away. Ishmael Beah has experienced the traumatizing effect of war and how it can tear someone apart and morph them into a completely different person. This happened to Ishmael himself. He was brainwashed and his mind was molded into believing that revenge is the answer to the deaths of his family members. This essentially is why he puts his safety and wellbeing at risk. He goes from being a twelve year old boy who heard stories of the war, but never imagined it chasing after him, to running away from this inescapable war only

“He never said anything back then and didn’t get upset by what they said.” (Beah, 2007, p. 91) Living freely, this man is a spirited human, not suffering but taking the pain. Pleasant people in ‘A Long Way Gone” are the selfless, secure souls. Next, on page 119, Ishmael remarks “I was not afraid of the lifeless bodies. I despised them and kicked them to flip them.” At the front lines of his first battle as a soldier, trained to fight and through with living fearfully. The water rises and Ishmael builds his wall. Also, on page 187 Ishmael utilizes brutal honesty with his interviewer, never questioning himself, “I meant what I said and it was not a funny matter.” Embodying the confidence of someone choosing to stay when everyone else runs, surviving the war. In conclusion “I Lived” by OneRepublic (2013) the pinnacle of connections between the real world and literary devices in A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah (2007), reflecting the significance of courage and all it can get you

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.

beginning of A Long Way Gone Ishmael was terrified of guns. He didn't want anything to do with them. But once he started in

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

For a boy who often has a great deal of misfortune in his life, he also seems to have an endless amount of luck. Though fate may have played a big role in starting Ishmael’s war life, his luck always helps him overcome the obstacles the war throws at him. Before the war, Ishmael spends more than a month in the forest alone before he finally runs into people again. Ishmael consciously joins the new group of six boys. With over miles and miles of empty forest and rebel territory, Ishmael was lucky to find a group of boys who have the same motives as him. As the boys continue on their journey, they’ve been captured and are brought to a nearby village; they wait

A final theme tells us when everything else disappears, there is always love. Ishmael learns this the hard way. He has a kind of family unit with the soldiers that actually carries over into the love and friendship between him and Alhaji. Then, there is the love of Uncle Tommy and his family and their willingness to make Ishmael a son and a brother. Finally, there is the love of people like Esther and Laura who accept him unconditionally and welcome him into their homes when he most needed help and love.