Long Way Gone Quotes

The brilliant author, Michael Gerard Bauer, raises a key topic that affects many people in today’s society in his extraordinary novel, Don’t Call Me Ishmael! Bauer wisely uses humorous situations to pinpoint to young adults a well-known problem in our society today, bullying. There is an abundance of bullying by one of the key characters in the book, the toughest and the meanest kid in school, Barry Bagsley. Not only does Barry bully Ismael, but he also bullies other characters in the book. At first Ishmael blames himself for the constant bullying he receives off Barry, however, as the story continues Ishmael grows confidence and realises that Barry was the real problem and bullying is strictly not allowed.

While being face to face with war, Ishmael illustrates what he, as well as his life, has become, “My squad was my family, my gun was my provider and protector and my rule was to kill or be killed…” (Beah, p.126). With these declarations, the reader can clearly comprehend his lack of innocence and empathy. He has become a unfeeling, cold-blooded soldier trained to kill or be killed and survival is his ultimate goal. Later on in the book, the reader is informed of the barbaric scene that takes place in Benin Home, a rehabilitation center. When Ishmael arrives at this site, he ruthlessly interrogates a couple of his housemates “I took out my grenade and put my fingers inside the pin. 'Do you boys want this to be your last meal, or do you want to answer his question?”(Beah, p.133). Undoubtedly, this is not normal behavior for a 15-year old and when he displays this conduct, it can be unquestionably said that Ishmael has lost all sense of innocence and emotion. In this section of his story, Ishmael is threatening to kill boys his own age, which shows how deviated he has become from his original character and sense. Both of these examples verify that Ishmael Beah in nowhere near the innocent, rap-enthusiast and family loving boy he once was. The child that was Ishmael Beah is now dead, and in his place stands a cold-hearted

Ishmael Beah is described as a pre-teen, with a love of rap and hip-hop music. He finishes as a drug-addicted killing machine, out avenging the death of his entire family. Before being rescued by a United Nations Program, and eventually fleeing to New York for rehabilitation, it is a tragic and harrowing tale that gives substance to the term ‘Boy Soldier’, that isn’t really understood in most cases. Ishmael gives a gentle portrayal of his life, before the war reached his small village and forever changed his life. Abruptly he becomes fugitive fleeing for his life and eventually into a corrupted teen.

In this book the antagonist was the main character Ishmael Beah. He wasn't always a bad character but through the suffering he went through during the war he changed. He was brainwashed from a harmless victim to a physiologically messed up tyrant. Ishmael would shoot to kill, bomb and burn villages, and slaughtered innocents. He did this to attempt to claim revenge upon the rebels who are responsible for the deaths of his family, friends, and the rest of his village.

A major theme of the novel "Catcher in the Rye" is the expression of Loss of Innocence. This is theme is shown through out the novel numerous times. One example of the theme is when Holden stated, "I thought how Phoebe and all the other kids would see it, and how they woner what the hell it meant."(Salinger 201). This quote represents Holden's desire to protect children. Holden is frustrated by his inability to act and to keep little kids fro losing their innocence. It is very difficult to prevent young people from all the terrible things that they can face while growing up. As soon as children go to school and become part of the society they start to learn and see things that they have never seen before, and because they are still young they

Ishamael Beah’s resilience allowed him to be adaptable to many different and difficult situations. In the beginning of the book Ishmael and his friends decide to go to Mattru Jong for a talent show. As they begin to go there they hear that the war has hit the mining areas. Ishmael and his friends knew that they may never be able to find their families again. Ishmael adapted very quickly and never gave up on trying to find them. “For more than three hours, we stayed at the Wharf, anxiously waiting and expecting to see our families or to talk to someone who had seen them.” (Beah 10) They never heard any news of them. Ishmael, Junior, Talloi begin to travel back saying goodbye to their friends. Ismael and they boys saw their first look, at what the war was about. They saw blood everywhere, parents carrying their dead children and people in pain. As Ismael, Junior and Talloi traveled

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

Quote 1: “My childhood had gone by without me knowing, and it seemed as if my heart had frozen.”

Long Way Gone are several stories from Ishmael’s village. They play a very important key role

There are many themes in the book, A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. One of these themes is how when put with the right people one can survive anything. Ishmael luckily was placed with the right people at the right time in order to survive the war. All of the people he was with helped him through the war. The group of boys relied on each other in order to find enough food and water to survive. Also, the staff members at the rehabilitation center, Ester, helped Ishmael get through life after being a soldier. Without Ester, Ishmael would have struggled big time with getting over the past and moving on with his life. Also, Uncle Tommy helps Ishmael find a normal life after the war. He also helps Ishmael have a goal towards to finish his rehabilitation and helps encourage Ishmael to get past all the things in Ishmael’s life. Lastly, Ishmael meets Laura who saves Ishmaels life by allowing him to come live with her and she helps him get away from the war in Sierra Leone. Without Laura who knows what would have happened to Ishmael. All the people Ishmael encounters throughout the book help him

“He never said anything back then and didn’t get upset by what they said.” (Beah, 2007, p. 91) Living freely, this man is a spirited human, not suffering but taking the pain. Pleasant people in ‘A Long Way Gone” are the selfless, secure souls. Next, on page 119, Ishmael remarks “I was not afraid of the lifeless bodies. I despised them and kicked them to flip them.” At the front lines of his first battle as a soldier, trained to fight and through with living fearfully. The water rises and Ishmael builds his wall. Also, on page 187 Ishmael utilizes brutal honesty with his interviewer, never questioning himself, “I meant what I said and it was not a funny matter.” Embodying the confidence of someone choosing to stay when everyone else runs, surviving the war. In conclusion “I Lived” by OneRepublic (2013) the pinnacle of connections between the real world and literary devices in A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah (2007), reflecting the significance of courage and all it can get you

Ishmael started year nine thinking he can stay invisible like he did in year eight. But some students named “Barry Bagsley, Doug Savage and Danny Wallace” made his life tougher than ever by teasing him, bullying him and even sometimes embarrassing him in front of his home room. In chapter 13, it directly says in the second and the third

“Compelled to become instruments of war, to kill or to killed child soldiers are forced to give violent expressions to the hatreds of adults” (Olara otunnu). “A Long Way Gone” was written by Ishmael Beah and published 2007.A boy who runs away from Sierra Leone after losing his family. He is captured by the army. He was forced to do drugs, kill innocent people etc. He was sent to rehab to get him away from war.

“Don’t Call Me Ishmael” is a novel about Ishmael Leseur, a 14-year-old boy, and his experiences in Year Nine of school. It is based on bullying which includes Ishmael and also other victims who get affected by being persecuted. In this essay, I’m going to be showing about a delinquent, who is Barry Bagsley and how he treated others especially Ishmael and Bill Kingsley in a rascal way. The ‘zero-tolerance’ stance on bullying at the all boy’s school St. Daniel. The characters acknowledgement to the bullying, and the manner that the character used to deal with the bullying. All these aspects are exhibited about bullying but to conclude bullying can be a great issue to the sufferer.

what had happened in the war." (Beah, 163). Ishmael Beah's rap cassette tapes had a huge impact on his life and how he