Ishmael Beah

Ishmael acts like all the older soldiers by doing drugs, watching war movies and never sleeping just like they do. He acts this new way only because of who he’s surrounded and influenced by. Now in the novel, Ishmael’s character is changing completely. From a considerate, playful, young child; he’s now a ruthless, animal-like killing machine for the government

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

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.

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

Survival is also one of the themes that appear in the novel because of Ishmael’s past being in the war. He quickly learned that in order for him to survive, he had to hide his

After some time as as a child soldier Ishmael thought he had finally found his place. He

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.

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

During the time of the war when the rebels attacked Kamator, Ishmael had a flashback back to a time when there was no war. A flashback is a memory that occurred at an earlier time. He remembered the ceremony that his father held to bless his new home in Mogbwemo.

The human behavior is one that will haunt humanity forever. A Long Way Gone, written by Ishmael Beah, is an original non-fiction story based on Ishmael’s personal experiences in warfare. But, shockingly, he witnessed warfare from the small eyes of his teenage years. Having to experience one of the worst things in history, at such a young age, is terrible. War, in this case or in any case, relates to both human condition and human nature. Human conditions, in short, are things that that defines the human existence (birth, death, etc.) Human nature, close to human conditions, are how humans act naturally to their environment and others. The theme of A Long Way Gone ties strongly with both of these with a passion. It describes war as an art, with human condition as a canvas and human nature to paint in the fine details. The question asked is what Ishmael Beah’s experience tells us about the meaning of the human being, and to answer we have to poke at some topics that we’ve covered. The answers to the sole question include the hypothetical existence of pure evil, the important keys of human social life, and how war affects one’s own mind.

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.

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

In conclusion, war can push people to their limits and forced them to lose their moral. In the book, Ishmael struggles everyday to survive, each day is a hard fought battle. He had to kill the rebels and relied on drugs to survive and relief his pain. He lost a part of himself in the war and had to go to rehabilitation in order to live a normal live again. Fortunately for Ishmael there are those that are willing to help him regain his moral again. I believed that war can change a person for the better or worse, but there are always those, no matter if they’re stranger or close friend, that will helps no matter how broken you are, what matter is your motivation to get back up. I hoped that those kind of people continue to helps other in need

Of first note are the comparisons between Ishmael and other war survivors, namely Carl Heine, Jr. and Kabuo Miyamoto. It is no accident that Ishmael loses a limb in the war but the other two do not. This is a subtle hint that he does not have the natural attributes to match the other two who are both described as physically powerful men. All three men appear changed by the war; it is obvious from the descriptions. For example, when Kabuo tells Carl to keep the battery and that Carl would do the same for him, Carl replies, "I might do the same for you . . . I have to warn you about that, chief. I'm not screwed together like I used to be" (404). Carl goes on to describe himself through the testimony of his wife, "he'd repeated it just the other day-how since the war he couldn't speak. Even his old friends were included in this, so that Carl was a lonely man who understood land and work, boat and sea, his own hands, better than his mouth and heart" (pg. 297). Kabuo himself is much changed by the war as evidenced from Hatsue's memories: “For her husband, she knew, was a mystery to her, and had been ever since he'd returned from his days as a soldier nine years before. . . . At night Kabuo was subject to disturbing dreams that sent him to the kitchen table in his slippers and bathrobe. . . .Hatsue found that she was married to a war veteran and that this was the crucial fact of her