Yesenia Barrera English 1B Claire Nava 27 August 2017 War in the Eyes of Innocence A young boy, attempting to have a normal childhood in 1980's El Salvador, is caught up in a dramatic fight for his life as he desperately tries to avoid the war, which is raging all around him. This is a sad reality of many people, who are immersed in a society full of violence and without values, where innocent families including children, lose their lives unfairly by a conflict in which they are not participating, affecting notably their emotional well-being and quality of life. However, despite these conflicts, they seek ways to get by living with the war despite limitations in health, education and expression. Voces Inocentes (Innocent Voices) is a Mexican …show more content…
A heavy downpour falls in the muddy streets. Zoomed in close-ups of soldiers’ boots stepping in muddy puddles and water splashing. Tall and short silhouettes move in slow motion toward the camera. As they move in closer, we can clearly see soldiers. Among the soldiers, are four smaller children with their arms raised and hands crossed behind their necks. They are being pushed and shoved by the soldiers. The rain falls on their dirty faces, at a standstill, as if paralyzed by an obscure resignation of expressions. Their march continues in sluggish motion. We then hear the thoughts of one of the boys, Chava, on the soundtrack: “Tengo mucha sed ... Me duelen los pies ... Tengo piedras en los zapatos ... Seguro nos van a matar ... ¿Por qué nos quieren matar, si no hicimos nada.” (I am very thirsty ... My feet hurt ... I have rocks in my shoes ... I’m sure they are going to kill us ... Why do they want to kill us? We’ve done nothing.) (Tovar Canelo) The fates of the four boys’ dawn on the audience. The suspense is almost unbearable, wanting to be able to jump into the film and save these poor and frightened children. The screen then turns white and the story begins in flashback. We got a glimpse of the ending and now we are hooked and crave for the whole
Steven Galloway’s novel The Cellist of Sarajevo follows Sarajevo citizens who are struggling to survive in their home during the genocide which occurred there in the 1990’s. These people become psychologically affected through living on a battleground, and in a life altering way. The very image of war is enough for most to feel disappointed in mankind, but watching your home crumble around you while being able to see the faces of those causing the destruction would likely make one lose any remaining faith in humanity. This is demonstrated in The Cellist by the agency of the bystanders
Karim feels inferior to others because he never knew the free and safe life. This is demonstrated when he states to Milad,”the problem is that we who are young never knew before. We’ve only known after, which is not a pretty sight.”(74) Karim wants to have normal teenage years, although he knows he cannot because he lives in a war zone. He blames the older generation for stealing his life after causing a war to such a beautiful country as Lebanon. Moreover, Karim feels jealous of the people who knew peace and the ‘’before’’ because they had the chance to live a good life. Living in a country where a war is going on can cause a big trauma to children because they witness a great violence and they do not get to live a safe
Poverty and stress take away the pleasures of childhood from the children unfortunate to be born into such families. In Salvador Late or Early, a short story by Sandra Cisneros, tells us about the stressful lifestyle of an underprivileged boy named Salvador. Salvador The author believes Salvador is an interesting character because he’s a boy with responsibilities of an adult, he is a solitary and misunderstood kid at school, and because throughout all the pain and suffering he’s been through, he remains unbroken.
The film Voces Inocentes was based on the true story of a young Chava and his friends growing up in El Salvador during the Salvadoran Civil War and illustrates the extreme and devastating realties of the civil war, particularly regarding the use of child soldiers. The film opens following several soldiers marching four young boys along a road in the pouring rain as they cry. The camera shows the solemn group passing a mother, who protectively guards her infant son, even picking him up as she watches with concern as the soldiers lead the young boys past. Soon, the voice of the young narrator woefully states, “I am so thirsty and my feet hurt. I have rocks in my shoes. They’re going to kill us for sure. Why do they want to kill us if we
It is difficult to portray a young boy as fortunate when his life quickly took a turn on him one day working. Being a prisoner of someone else is a hard experience to suppress especially when one is stripped from their family and homeland. The trials he faced challenged his will to live physically and mentally. He was once reunited with his sister, just to be torn out of her sight forever again. This time he felt the days passing were unbearable, “...I became so sick and low that I was not able to eat, nor had I the least desire to taste anything. I now wished for the last friend, death, to relieve me”(Equiano 54). When Equiano was in negative environments he felt the tragedy of wanting to end his life. He would wake up knowing that his life could end at any moment if he were to make
“His nation chewed him up and spat him out like a pinon shell, and when he emerged from an airplane one late afternoon, I knew I would one day make love with him” (Martinez, 3). And so it starts, the story of a nineteen year old Mexican- American girl named Mary (Maria; as he only chooses to call her), who helps out and eventually falls in love with Jose Luis Alegria, a Salvadoran refugee. Martínez's story of María is told against the backdrop of the 12-year civil war in El Salvador. Maria and Jose Luis develop a friendship that slowly turns into a typical novella love affair. Through their relationship, both characters are forced to confront the violence of their
Ishmael Beah was a boy from Sierra Leone who became a soldier in the country`s tragic civil war. He spent nearly all his childhood running away from the war and eventually ended up joining the army. During difficult times, Ishmael always held on to hope to continue his life’s journey. In A Long Way Gone, the theme is “Always have hope”, and is shown through Ishmael Beah’s hope for a better life, to find his family, and through the rehab staff`s hope for the boy soldiers.
At the age of five Enrique and his older sister Belky are left behind in Honduras when their mother Lourdes left to America. When Enrique’s mother left he was split-up from Belky who went to live with their aunt Rosa Amelia while Enrique was sent to live with their father. The separation of Enrique from his mother set in motion the path of Enrique’s life. It is not long after Enrique is left in his care that his father
During the war, a significant amount of things happen to different groups of families in their homeland. There are soldiers that are fighting for the protection of their families and there are many families that are doing anything in their power to stay safe through the chaos. Yet a number of the individuals involved in the conflict have a tendency to try and escape the madness. In spite of the madness, some children have the advantage to escape yet they are equally impacted with long term trauma by the war as those who did not have the opportunity to depart.
“My Imagination at 10 years old didn’t have the capacity to grasp what had taken away the happiness of the refugees” (6). A child is naïve, innocent, and can’t grasp the idea of war, much less fathom joining it. So the military must find tactics to rework their minds into apathetic killing machines. In the memoir A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah drugs, emotional manipulation, and pop culture are some of the main tactics employed by the militia.
Sonia Nazario composes the story of a boy named Enrique. His life changes when his mother leaves him and his sister in Honduras as she travels to America to make a better life for herself and send money back to them. Enrique does not understand why his mother left him; he begins to rebel against his family and use drugs. Soon, his girlfriend is pregnant and Enrique must go to America to get money to support them. He attempts his journey seven times before he is successful. Enrique is robbed, beaten, and sent back to Honduras. On the eighth try he successfully makes it to his mother. He is quickly disappointed in what his mother has accomplished in America and starts drug use again. Soon, Enrique has to get clean to support his child in Honduras and he sends money for his girlfriend to meet him in America. His daughter is left in Honduras, continuing the cycle that many families struggle with. The authors use of logos and pathos enables the reader to take a deeper look of what is immigration.
After reading the memoir A Long Way Gone:Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah, I now have a much deeper understanding of the atrocities of war and the effect it has upon young people. As an ordinary young boy in Sierra Leone in the 1990’s, Beah grew up with a love for soccer and rap music. In early 1991 the Sierra Leonean civil war began and Ishmael’s life would never be the same again. The rebels, or RUF (Revolutionary United Front), would raid villages and kill civilians, rob homes and set them on fire. In an attack on his village, Ishmael lost his entire family. Beah, a terrified twelve year old boy, was now forced to fight for himself. While running away from the rebel’s massacres, he was recruited by the government militia as a child soldier. The government forced these innocent child soldiers to fight against the rebels. In order to take their minds off of the killing, the soldiers were
This essay is about the universal refugee experience and the hardships that they have to go through on their journey. Ha from Inside Out and Back Again and other refugees from the article “Children of War” all struggle with the unsettling feeling of being inside out because they no longer own the things that mean the most to them. Ha and the other refugees all encounter similar curiosities of overcoming the finding of that back again peaceful consciousness in the “new world” that they are living in .
The Voices is directed by Marjane Satrapi and written by Michael R. Perry released in 2015. The movie was focusing on the importance of mental illness, crime and even romance. It touches comedy to horror. There were mixed reviews in the public getting both good and bad reception.
Fifty-eight thousand were killed, a pair of thousand captured, and three hundred fifty thousand; maimed and wounded, just about everyone throughout this country still feels the results of this conflict. Today, the kids in the country rest uneasy in response to the senselessness of this struggle. A different generation of school students, staff and young parents bring a singular perspective to the analysis of the implications of this specific war. These square measure the sons and daughters of the boys that fought to their death inside the jungles of South East Asia..