Ishmael Bah A Long Way Gone Quotes

Throughout the novel, Ishmael and his friends begin to those their humanity and become completely different individuals because of their exposure to the war. The

One of these experiences is when he was about to see his family, then the village they were staying in was attacked by rebels. His mother, father and two brothers were trapped in their house and slowly burned to death. This happened only a few weeks after their former home was attacked and raided by rebels. But it is a better fate then some because one of his now deceased, friend’s 3 sisters were raped over and over again. while their father was knocked out for trying to defend them and their mother being forced to watch. The rebels took the girls with them. Ishmael's fate was not much better than the 3 girls for he became a child soldier: traumatized and hopped up on drugs and told to “avenge” his family by killing every rebel and snorting cocaine until he no longer felt anything. Remember war is not all honor and glory, it is suffering, death and pain. In more ways than

In the memoir, A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, Ishmael talk about his story of his childhood and when he was recruited as a child soldier during the war in Sierra Leone. In the book, it is his journey to escape the war and explains what he went through when the war first made an appearance in his life, to when he was actually a part of the war and fighting, killing, and harming other people, then later on when he was brought to a rehibition center to be established back into society and lastly how he finally escape Sierra Leone and began living in New York City and how he spoke and informed people about the children affected by war. He talks about the horrible things that happened to him and everyone that was affected by the war. On his journey

Ishmael had hope at the beginning trying to push through all of the struggles he had to a child soldier with no hope but just the mindset to kill back to a boy with hope and dreams to fulfill. Ishmael Beah's characterization in order to show how Ishmael had hard struggles changing he had hope at the beginning then eventually gave up on himself, but then he went to rehab and got better with the thought of hope in his mind, along with many conducive people pushing him to get better. It is important to show how the characteristic development of Ishmael is because It shows how his mind changed about everything, and his life changed drastically for him during the war times when he was a child

There may be as many as 300,000 child soldiers, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s, in more than fifty conflicts around the world. Ishmael Beah used to be one of these child soldiers  , Ishmael Beah is a child who lived most of his childhood in the war   . He is one of the first to tell his story in his own words according to  http://www.alongwaygone.com/index.html and his memoir “A Long Way Gone”. The war had made ishmael have perseverance  in the long run , inference that he was brainwashed by the war and that ishmael was a very hopeful child always wishing for better days.

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

Throughout the memoir A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, Ishmael faces a plentiful amount of challenges and conflicts. In the book there are four main conflicts that Ishmael faces and overcomes. These conflicts include Ishmael running away from the war, his family, and his friends, Ishmael's entire family dying and him becoming a soldier at the age of 13, Ishmael going through rehabilitation, and Ishmael trying to move to a safer area when war meets Freetown.

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

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.

“If you are alive, there is hope for a better day and something good to happen...” (pg. 54). Throughout the course of A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, we familiarize ourselves with the exceptional hardships that Ishmael has experienced as a child soldier, in Sierra Leone, and what actions he takes to overcome them. Despite the fact that Ishmael has been through these devastating hardships and that he became the fear that he himself feared, Ishmael is able to instill hope and keep the reader going through the themes of powerful memories, nature and redemption. He does this through the use of powerful memories that contrast the fear and danger of the war with the remembrance of the beauty of life. Furthermore, nature leaves the reader striving

“Hope when you take that jump, you don’t fear the fall. Hope when the water rises, you built a wall.” An important message prevails in both A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah (2013) and “I Lived” by OneRepublic (2007), taking risks without hesitation, being ready for all that comes. This song represents living life to the fullest, no matter situation, life goes on, never coming again. This would be an ideal song for someone in Ishmael’s obstructed position. “With every broken bone, I swear I lived.” “I Lived” by OneRepublic reassures people struggling to remember the gravity of living life to the fullest; reminding us to take chances and accept our legitimate identities, or a song of survival for people like Ishmael. People need to stop taking pity on themselves, there is always a bright side; life never forsakes us. Be strong and jubilant. No one lives forever, to truly

Personally I believe throughout the memoir Ishmael’s life is impassioned, he experiences trust issues and has difficulty opening up to others. He slowly dividend self-confidence; pushing himself to be empathetic towards others. No matter what you go through, if you keep going and you have supporters you can overcome a harsh past. Ishmael was ten years young before his life path took a bitter turn. He was an innocent young boy traveling a journey from their village, Mogbwemo to Mattru Jong with two of his friend to see his mother and little brother. After two days of visiting his mother, Ishmael continues his journey to Kabati, his grandmother’s village still with his two friends. Though he visits his families during the journey, he hopes to

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

This quote shows the horrors of the war, and what a soldier sees every day. Ishmael isn’t used to it because he is a new soldier, but has to learn how to get used to it. The life of the soldiers is tough on him, and the war is even tougher. Ishmael added this flashback because he wanted readers to understand how awful the conditions were, and how many lives were lost. This is a significant quote because Ishmael and his friends understand what they are getting themselves into, and the chances of making it is very small.

Ishmael is a 12-year-old boy who enjoys listening and dancing to hip-hop music. During his spare time, he goes to visit his friends in Mattru Jong to play soccer and participate in other fulfilled activities. He is intrigued by the works of Shakespeare and likes to perform the different monologues from his plays. Although Ishmael did not have the finer things in life, he was able to live the best life out of what he had. Ishmael had a normal childhood before the war caused havoc in his village and the other villages nearby. When Ismael became aware of the rebel’s arrival in Sierra Leone, he made the choice to leave his family and began traveling village to village for safety and survival. This is an example on how Ishmael engaged in choice