Narrative About Today Is The Day Of Thanksgiving

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 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

The second part of the book takes an uncompromising look at the difficulties this entailed for the boy soldier and his peers, who for a long time resist the most determined efforts to restore their humanity, their anger at having been taken from their family. Children are meant to be protected from violence and war. They are extremely vulnerable both physically and psychologically, to abuse and misguidance. They are easily influenced by those around them because they are young and incapable of forming independent opinions. Adult soldiers at Ishmael’s base were snorting brown brown and smoking marijuana, Ishmael, as naive as any child would be, was influenced by these people and looked up to the adults as role model and leader and so he began to do it as well. “I took turns at the guarding posts around the village, smoking marijuana and sniffing brown brown” The job of a soldier is to fight wars, to take lives, to kill if not be killed. If these children are taught hatred

from one of peace to one of war. However, through the struggles that he goes through,

“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

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

For a boy who often has a great deal of misfortune in his life, he also seems to have an endless amount of luck. Though fate may have played a big role in starting Ishmael’s war life, his luck always helps him overcome the obstacles the war throws at him. Before the war, Ishmael spends more than a month in the forest alone before he finally runs into people again. Ishmael consciously joins the new group of six boys. With over miles and miles of empty forest and rebel territory, Ishmael was lucky to find a group of boys who have the same motives as him. As the boys continue on their journey, they’ve been captured and are brought to a nearby village; they wait

I strongly believe that one of the main purposes of this book is for the author, Ishmael, to educate his audience on one of the negative impacts of war that strongly impact children, the loss of their innocence. He demonstrates this through his personal experiences and his loss. For example at the beginning of the book, Ishmael is living a normal life and is like any other kid, living an innocent life and never having been exposed to violence. This is evidenced on page 23 as Ishmael explains how he felt as the rebel attack took place in his town. He confessed “The sounds of the guns was so terrifying it confused everyone…….My

In chapter 9, he says that, “It was a calm walk along the sand, since we didn’t except trouble in this part of the country. We chased and wrestled each other in the sand, played somersault and running games. We even bundled up Alhaji’s old shirt and tied a rope around it to make a soccer ball. We then played a game, and each time one of us scored a goal, he would celebrate with a soukous dance. We shouted, laughed, and dang our secondary-school songs” (59). This shows Ishmael and his friends becoming children one more time. For an instance they had forgotten everything around them. At first they were scared of the ocean, they feared the crashing waves on the shore, and show their inexperience. This scene is powerful because it shows what his life would have been if he hadn’t been dragged into the

Ishmael was a victim of war because he and many other teens and children were told to take “energy boosting” pills that were actually drugs, and being young they were able to be easily brainwashed/trained to kill others who weren't government soldiers. Ishmael had been addicted to drugs because the tablets the government kept on giving the child soldiers. He wanted more drugs to stop the cravings, “During the same week, the drugs were

While reading, the images that erise from the book are very strong and clear. Thinking about those kids, such powerful minds, fighting for their lives. Facing with such large difficulties, sticking together in try of staying alive. The strong will power being hungry and walking for days. Surviving this war impossible, the long days with food just kept on weakening Beah. It seems as if just a miracle could save Ishmael Beah from dieing. In the next lines, I’m going to review the moments where Beah made himself a survivor rather than a victim. During the years that were supposed to be Beah’s childhood he faces hardship that no one could have imagined that he will. It was after he got separated from his brother when his real problems began. Along

Ishmael reminiscences of his life before, when he was happy and safe, at this point of the book Ishmael is lost, and is influenced by the individuals around him leading to look at life differently, “my squad is my family, my gun is my provider, and protector, and my rule is to kill or be killed” (126)

Ishmael Beah shows many different traits in “A Long Way Gone”. Ishmael is a victim and a victimizer. War can make you do many things. It can make you do good things and it can make you do bad things. War can do good things for you and bad things to you. War can change how you think and act. It can change your morals. War does many things to people. Ishmael was a victim, because his family was killed from it. And his whole childhood was messed up from it. All his innocence was taken away he had to grow up fast. It turned him into a survivor. The war also turned a kid into a killer. It turned into a kid who would never hurt a fly into a person who enjoys torturing people. War changed ishmael into a victimiser, because he tortured people instead

Ishmael is in an unfortunate situation, where he is forced to grow up fast, or he won't survive. Growing up in Sierra Leone while a war is taking place, with no food, water, or a family, it is hard to find hope, but you have to. One of Ishmael’s memories of his dad is, "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). Ishmael, is motivated to find hope, through this quote stated by his dad.

Ishmael and his brother are fortunately in another village when they find out that their village has been attacked. From that day Ishmael, his brother and some of their friends on the run from the war and the rebels. They flee from one nerbrända village to the other and there is not a day without hits for victims of war or being chased by the rebels. But it is not only the rebels who are the problem. They will not be welcomed by the people because they think they are soldiers. Both the army and the rebels use child soldiers, which means that people in the villages believe that they are soldiers when they come and try to seek shelter. It ends anyway they become captured by the army and it does not take long before Ishmael is a cold-blooded killing