Book Report On A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah

In the memoir A long Way Gone Ishmael Beah states “When I was young, 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” (Beah 54). Throughout the war Ismael Beah survives many difficult situations, that make him think is it worth it to keep running. Ishmael Beah, always remembers what his dad said to motivate him to try and keep surviving the war. Ishmael Beah used adaptability, the kindness of others and bravery to overcome the adversities of the war in Sierra Leone.

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

One of the cases that showed Ismael ongoing struggle with trust in people was when he was saved. This struggle was prominently seen when he was approached by his nurse who was trying to help him. He got help from the UNICEF because the lieutenant handed Ishmael to them. When the lieutenant gave him away to the UNICEF he felt betrayed because he was the only one Ishmael trusted. Ishmael nurse was Esther and everytime she tries to help him he wouldn’t cooperate. He didn’t trust the nurse because for his whole life he wouldn’t trust anyone because he thought if someone wants to friends they only want to exploit one another.

Ishmael Beah was at the age of thirteen when his childhood and innocence was taken from him. For example, Beah says “My childhood had gone without my knowing, and it seemed as if my heart had frozen”(30). It happened so quickly. He was frantic with worry. Beah was forced to join the Sierra Leone military. It was not until later he himself started to believe he has lost his innocence. At this young age he was killing the rebels that traumatized him purely to seek revenge and to survive. His hate for the rebels was very strong, “Whenever I looked at the rebels during raids, I got angrier, because they looked like the rebels who played cards in the ruins of the village where I had lost my family. So when the lieutenant gave orders, I shot as many

Ishmael, in A Long Way Gone was made boy soldier. Ishmael went through many commands to hurt people and try to bring an anonymous message. Treating people with injustice without knowing the reason why he was even doing it. Showing corpses, dead people before torturing them and then killing them. Becoming brainwashed with all the task he was being told to do he thought that this was his life. Making games out of the torture and killing with his friends. Slowly giving up on trying to get away from the rebels. “People were terrified of boys our age” (Beah 37). Having everyone still around scared of him, not doing anything to help him, but just trying to get away from him.

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)

When Ishmael came to the States, he started raising awareness on the issue of child soldiers. He has spoken all over the world on behalf of UNICEF, the Council on Foreign Relations, and more. He speaks about what child soldiers go through, and why an end needs to be brought to the use of child soldiers. At a marine base in Virginia he spoke with the soldiers on what to do if they encountered a child while in combat. He will continue to inform people on this topic because most people are unaware that it is happening. Ishmael hopes that by raising awareness people can fight

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

In the attempt to comprehend the meaning of being human, it’s important to first understand what it must mean to be pure evil. If we can know what pure evil is, we can understand the conditions that brought Ishmael to do such horrid things himself. In several chapters of the book, Ishmael goes through the torture of the militia known as the

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.

He was forced into hiding and had to run away from everything. Eventually, the government caught him and he became a child soldier. Ishmael became addicted to drugs that the government provided him with. He killed many people and burned villages. Ultimately, he was freed and sent to a rehabilitation camp.

After the person is comfortable with their mental and physical state and they have the confidence required to speak out about their injustice, they need to right the wrong within their lives. One of Ishmael’s injustice is the fact that he was forced into the war at a young age. Another is that he starts doing drugs, cocaine and marijuana, at that same young age of thirteen. This causes him to become addicted and dependent on these drugs. It is not his choice to stop taking the drugs, but when he is rescued by the UNICEF men, he is forced to stop using cocaine and marijuana.

During the other study that was conducted, children who went back to less violent places did not have as many feelings of wanting revenge, or being guilty that they survived5. While looking back on his days in the army, Ishmael said, “The villages that we captured….became my home. My squad was my family, my gun was my provider and protector, and my rule was to kill or be killed... my thoughts didn't go much beyond that….. killing had become a daily activity.

Roger Moore, a famous actor, once said: “The saddest sight these days is the image of hundreds of thousands of children kidnapped and lured into being child soldiers from the age of eight.” Many people do not know this but yes, children are being forced to become children soldiers to this day, in other parts of the world. These kids become brainwashed and mind warped from the gore and the fact that they are being forced to kill living people. The reader learned more about the situation from the book A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier.

Ishmael created a plan so that they could write to each other, but when Hatsue’s mother read the letter written to Hatsue she was forced to end things with him. When he received the letter from Hatsue telling him she never loved him he was stationed at Betio. Before he went and fought the Japanese he expressed his anger to Hatsue in a letter he never sent. It read: “I hate you with all my heart, I hate you Hatsue, I hate you always.” (237) After writing and destroying the letter he went to war. From the beginning war was a challenge. First it was swimming to shore. They were shot at while getting off the boat, many died. Next after getting to shore they had to try not to get shot before returning to safety. Unfortunately Ishmael was shot in his left bicep, hitting his nerves and veins. When he returned to safety they had to remove the majority of his arm. THe loss of his arm definitely hurt his self-esteem. However the war affected him