Child Soldiers

"We went from children who were afraid of gunshots to now children who were gunshots… Shooting became just like drinking a glass of water" (Barnett, 2012). Ishmael Beah, the main character and writer of the novel A Long Way Gone is a clear example of the loss of innocence that war causes. During the Sierra Leone’s civil war, Beah is recruited as a child soldier and eventually turned into a cold-blooded killer with no sign of naivety in his body. At a tender age, Beah is trained to kill, mutilate and terrify dozens of people, which causes him to be bared to a flood of disturbing scenes; transform into a murderer; loose all sense of emotion; and in time, lose his innocence. In the novel A Long Way Gone, the reader can view the multiple events

A long way gone by Ishmael Beah, attempts to evoke a powerful response from the leader, by using vivid descriptions to show how he has become emotionally traumatized by the acts of violence in the war. The reader then sympathizes with Ishmael and begins to understand the lasting and deep, emotional pain that Ishmael deals with on a daily basis.

In the book A Long Way Gone written by Ishmael Beah, an experienced soldier was writing about his memories of the war. Ishmael was born in Sierra Leone with his family, but one day it all changed. At the age of 12, Beah was taken by the Rebels to kill. His whole mindset changed during the war. However, when the war ended child soldiers were taken to a rehabilitation group, and it did help Ishmael go back the way he used to be before the war.

War has scared people all over the world, including the people outside it, and has made changed people to do things they did not know they were capable of. A Long Way Gone is a book that features Ishmael Beah who is both the author and the narrator in this novel. Beah was born in 1980 and was only around 11 years old when a civil war in Sierra Leone broke out in 1991. The civil war had many problems that took place, but this novel aims its focus on the fact that both sides of the war used child soldiers and he was one of the victims to become one. Beah had become a child soldier when all his friends started to die off and were forced to become a soldier and survive the war he had desperately tried to escape from. Ishmael Beah can be seen

Jaelyn Sullivan Honors English IV 2 February 2024 Safety is a Priority A Long Way Gone is a true story about a thirteen-year-old named, Ishmael Beah, who becomes a boy soldier during the Civil War. Throughout the book, Beah is faced with many times where he has to put one need over another. Beah put himself first when it was necessary by putting others at risk.

Kids forced to kill other kids. Made to take drugs and destroy human life each and every day. This is not a young man’s typical lifestyle, but it is for child soldiers that were made to fight in the Civil War in Sierra Leone. In the memoir of Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone, he describes the atrocities he faces and actually does himself. The reader learns how Ishmeal fights for his country but is permanently scarred due to the trauma he is put through.

Through the use of imagery, Beah documents the hardships he experienced, including the exposure to war, loss of innocence, and loss of family. He intricately details these events as frightening and overwhelmingly difficult to tolerate. For Beah, being exposed to combat at age 12 was traumatizing, and he portrays details of the horrifying events through imagery.“When the rebels finally came I was cooking...My heart was beating faster than it ever had. Each gunshot seemed to cling to the beat of my heart.” (Beah 23). He describes how intimidating and alarming each bullet was and how horrific each shot exploded throughout his being. War quickly developed into a regular occurrence for Beah, leaving him deprived of his childhood and innocence. He later illustrates his

“Survival was my only hope, success my only revenge.” -Patricia Cornwell. A Long Way Gone is a memoir of a child soldier named Ishmael Beah. Throughout the story, it talks about overcoming different obstacles about life as a child soldier. Throughout the story, Ismael conquers his problems but also shows signs of wanting revenge. The most powerful motif in A Long Way Gone is revenge because of his will to kill the rebels for killing his friends families and being bloodthirsty to kill any rebel in his path for the terrible things the rebels have done.

Now take another African country, Sierra Leone, for instance. RUF with the assistance of NPFL mediated in Sierra Leone in an effort to take over the Joseph Momoh government. Once again, children were needed to fight the battles of these adults and with the innocent smiles of these children the adults felt no shame in robbing them of their childhood. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier is a memoir written by Ishmael Beah, an author from Sierra Leone. The book is a personal account of Beah's time as a child soldier throughout the civil war in Sierra Leone. In his novel, he described gun shots piercing through the bodies of innocents and specifically says, “It was a girl, and her eyes were still open, with an interrupted innocent smile on

At 12 years old imagine knowing that everyone you know is gone and your home is torn up. Imagine wandering in the wilderness and being alone. Imagine becoming recruited as a child solider, and being brain washed and drugged to kill people of the same culture. Imagine the innocence being corrupted and the pain being brought on. This is no life for anyone to live, but in the story A Long Way Gone: memoirs of a boy soldier written by Ishamael Beah that has became his life. The story take places in Sierra Leone when his life is take over by soldiers who have killed his family and destroyed his home. Ishmael is forced to flee his home and finds himself becoming a child a solider. Sierra Leone has been filled with war and poverty, but within this story it shows Ishmaels strength, but it also shows the pain of his innocence being robbed from him at such a young age.

A Long Way Gone reflects a child’s ability to survive during harsh times. It’s the story of Ishmael Beah a boy living in Sierra Leone during the time of war. The theme of this story is survival, and how adaptable human beings can be to any situation. Ishmael gets separated from his parents at a very young age. He is left to be with his friends since the rebels have entered their town of Mattru Jong. Ishmael starts to go through a phase in which he starts losing hope in life. He feels as though he has lost himself completely. The story signifies getting back up and putting life back together no matter the damage done. Ishmael is able to recover from his life during the war, and he creates a new life for himself.

Children exposed to violence within their communities are left with emotions of hopelessness, insecurity, and doubt. Historical events such as the war on terrorism, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the tragic events of September 11th have had a detrimental effect on the entire nation, including the children. Although every child is not directly affected by the aspects of war, it somehow has an emotional effect on all. The involvement of a nation with war affects every individual differently, whether it is out of fear, anger, doubt, hope, or love. In the short novel A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, he narrates the story by telling his own involvement in the Civil War in Sierra Leone as young boy and the many issues he faces while living in

No, it should not be about holding child soldiers responsible for their actions. Instead, it should be about getting children like Beah inserted into rehabilitation. The child soldiers are trained to be horrible they can’t help themselves. “We had been fighting for over two years, and killing had become a daily activity…My childhood had gone by without my knowing, and it seemed as if my heart had frozen,”(page 127). Beah has been deprived of his childhood and all he knows is the war. Like teen gang members, he’s brainwashed into thinking and acting the way he does, while being told it’s the right thing to do. He’s growing up around a cycle of violence; everyday is a struggle to stay alive. Beah has been denied his childhood since the day the

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

Children do not have the same responsibilities in society as adults. They cannot vote, drink or drive. And, of course, they are not punished in the same way as adults for crimes they commit, because they are judged not to possess the moral foundation and grounding that would allow them to understand fully the consequences of their actions. Child soldiers are distinct from other armed forces because they are both minors and not complicit in their fate.3 The reality of a child soldier’s life is far removed from that of a normal child. As many as 40 percent of child soldiers are recruited by force, and most others cite hunger, poverty and desperation of life in conflict zones as their reason for joining.4 Fewer than 10 percent are ever paid.5 Their corrupted childhood development precludes any ability for moral judgment. In short, they are not only as ‘innocent’ as any well-fed, first world child, but child soldiers have been removed from their agency. We can envision a scenario in which the ‘correct’ moral judgment would be to sacrifice the life of an adult in favor of the life of a child. The question becomes whether a child’s ‘innocence’ and lack of agency overrides the right of combat troops or peacekeepers to self-defense in this