A Long Way Gone

While writing a memoir, the author does not always have to be truthful. As long as the author gets their point across, then that’s fine. Most authors, in every genre, have either some kind of information that they add in to try and make the book more appealing, or have information that they take out because it's either not worth telling, or it doesn’t add to the point of the story.

War is a devastating event which tears nations apart, and causes death and pain in the hearts of the inhabitants. Whether it is the countries strong males being sent off into the battle zones, or the young children, war scars people. Soldiers are dehumanized, and lose all morals and sense of right and wrong. In the book Long Way Gone, Ishmael and his friends are dehumanized through the war because of the traumatic events they endure, and their time spent in solitude away from civilization; luckily, they were able to regain humanity through the love and hope provided from others.

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

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 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

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

“Compelled to become instruments of war, to kill or to killed child soldiers are forced to give violent expressions to the hatreds of adults” (Olara otunnu). “A Long Way Gone” was written by Ishmael Beah and published 2007.A boy who runs away from Sierra Leone after losing his family. He is captured by the army. He was forced to do drugs, kill innocent people etc. He was sent to rehab to get him away from war.

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, by Ishmael Beah, tells of the experiences in his intense journey through Sierra Leone during the outbreak of war. Beah had to learn to survive the harsh outcome of the war, resulting in the loss of those whom were close to him, family and friends, and trust in people. The book has a recurring theme of nature and the natural world. In the book, the world at night, as well as the moon, serves as both a safeguard and a bringer of bereavement.

Furthermore into the story, he ends up at Benin Home; a rehabilitation center. Here, he encounters more opportunities than ever in his life, and even, than everyone at this place. With time, these unique opportunities actually become the reason why he ends up where he did. After several months at this place, Ishmael is given the opportunity to perform in a talent show. “You can sing your reggae songs,” Esther suggested. “How about a Shakespeare monologue?” I asked. “Okay, but I still think you should do some music…”(Beah, pg. 202) The thing is, he wasn’t as lucky for this, but for what happened next. Ishmael eventually performs a Shakespeare monologue along with a rap-composed track, thus gains recognition at Benin Home. “After that event, I became popular at the center.”(Beah, pg. 203) For this reason, and out of all of the children at here, he and only he is given a special opportunity. “ ‘How would you like to be the spokesperson for this center?’ he asked me.”(Beah, pg. 203) Ishmael Beah gets offered this job, which no kid really has. In other words, this is just another example of the kind of opportunities he received. Though, this was not the only opportunity he had while his stay at this place; he later is given the extraordinary and very unique change of speaking from a child soldier’s point of view at a conference in New York City. And this is for sure and undoubtedly the clearest

Have you ever wondered what the life of a child soldier is like? Well, if you have, then the story of Ishmael Beah may be of interest to you. Ishmael Beah’s story is one of hope and of humanity and how if given a chance any child who has experienced being a child soldier can eventually regain their humanity and live a normal life again. In this essay I will be telling you how Ishmael is able to regain his humanity after being a child soldier. Now, I will be talking to you today about what happened when Ishmael became a child soldier.

In the beginning of A Long Way Gone, Ishmael is an innocent little boy, his will to survive was as strong as ever, and there was partial damage to the community. The war is approaching, and Ishmael is around fifteen years old. He is a very innocent kid, who loves to dress and act like a rapper. “The four of us had started a rap and dance group when I was eight.” (Ishmael Beah 6). The boys were filled with innocence

Imagine you hear gunshots echoing through the woods. You begin to see soldiers running towards you with overwhelming aggression. You begin to run as fast as you can and flee from the terrifying men. A Long Way Gone , written by Ishmael Beah is a story that was written of the author's experiences in the Sierra Leone civil war. Ishmael was constantly faced with dangers and the terrors that came from this civil war. Ishmael begins happy with his family but by the end he has lost his family and has the traumatic experience of being a child soldier. In A Long Way Gone the consequences of war shown include, a change in native culture, loss of family, and death and injury to innocent people. These consequences were shown throughout the story and the civil war.

When Ishmael and his friends have to travel all of the Sierra Leone seeking food and shelter, they face many hardships. Men kidnap the boys with loaded guns and show no mercy to any age groups. Luckily, when Beah and his friend’s were captured Beah had a rap cassette in his pocket. In this excerpt Beah explains, “One of them found a rap cassette in my pocket and handed it to the chief. He asked for it to be played… He called for a young man who was from that village...He knew my name, my brother’s, and those of my friends. None of us knew him, not even by his face, but warmly smiles as if we recognized him as well. He saved our lives (ALWG 38).” In Beah’s life his music is what saves him. Also Beah leaves his home to visit the talent show in Mattru Jong. This trip to Mattru Jong saves his life also because his village was raided by the rebels. Music in our lives also pushes us through bad times, just not on the same level as

Even though he feels as if he has failed; he has not. Ishmael is one of the strongest people I have heard about. At age 12 his whole family had been taken from him, his home destroyed, and he was on his home with a few friends wandering the country looking for help. Imagine what was going on in your life at age 12? Then by age 15 he became a child a soldier. Ishmael became high off the feeling of war and killing others, but not only that, but he also became drug dependent. He numbed himself to become this child solider, at one point within the book he says, “My squad is my family, my gun is my provider, and protector, and my rule is to kill or to be killed” (Beah 116). Ishmael has become a ruthless killing soldier at the age of 15, but he did not know any better. He was brainwashed into this way of life. Ishmael eventually found his way out of being a soldier with the help of UNICEF. Ishmael continually shows the struggles he faced, but illuminates what someone who is strong should be

Ishmael Beah uses many symbols in the novel A Long Way Gone to emphasize the central theme of oppression/freedom. Ishmael uses music cassettes to symbolize freedom as they are carried from a time when he was free and happy. The cassettes also symbolize survival as they save Ishmael’s life on more than one occasion throughout his story. A good example of the cassettes saving Ishmael is when they help a village chief to see Ishmael and his companions as boys, not killers, ‘These boys are no mercenaries, look at them.’ The chief went back to inspecting the cassettes. I was a little glad that he had called us boys and refrained from the word ‘devil’” (85). The cassettes have a direct connection to North American culture which also links them to