Ishmael Beah was born in the African Country Sierra Leone in 1980, because of the country he was born in, he was subject to lots of corruption. Unfortunately, during his lifetime there a civil war had broken out and the government of Sierra Leone was in shambles. When he was just 13 years old he was taken in by the army of Sierra Leone to fight the rebel group known as the RUF (Revolutionary United Front). During the time Beah was with the army he had seen and committed numerous atrocities all because of a groups belief of war. Later in Beah’s life he had been rescued because of the United Nations Children’s Fund. The UNICEF program came to rescue Beah, that gave him the opportunity to start a new life in America. When Beah came to America
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.
I will prove Ismael Beah is innocent of what actions he does in the war. Ismael was a happy child with his family. He loves rapping music, soccer and playing with his friends in Maturu Jong. The war came to his town and everything fall apart for Ismael and lost his family. Ismael was thirteen years old when he was first drafted to the army. Thirteen is a very young age for kids to be in the war. His survival or be kill from the army if he don’t join or he does, how drugs affected him, and the lieutenant is to blame of what he do with Ismael.
In the memoir of Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone, Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, Beah states that his life’s journey has been a huge obstacle, but has learned to overcome that struggle by venting while the two contradictory sides continue their battling. Beah accomplishes his goal of explaining to the reader his point of view through the use of rhetorical questions, scenic narration, and parallelism. Ishmael Beah’s apparent purpose is to share personal accounts of his life with his fellow country men, in a country where war affects people to a level beyond the imagination. He is able to apply his purpose using a grotesque and bitter tone. Beah approaches his audience of ordinary people in this manner in order to vent his feelings about war by
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.
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.
The book is written by Ishmael Beah about his life experiences and how he recuperated from his hard times. Ishmael Beah lived in Sierra Leone, West Africa. He had divorced, but
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.
Ishmael Beah changes a lot once he becomes a soldier and when he does he gets manipulated.“So when the lieutenant gave orders, I shot as many as I could but I didn't feel better.” This quote shows how he has changed because his first character he was scared to even see or hold a gun. After the lieutenant gives him a name and encourages him and praises him for doing these types of things he thinks its ok. “The prisoner leaned his weight on me as he gave out his last breath.I dropped him on the ground and wiped my bayonet on him”. This quote shows how different he is he doesn't even flinch when the prisoner is watching him while he kills him. He doesn't look away is sickness when his blood spills and even is happy he didnt the fastest and gets rewarded. He has changed significantly but once he is separated from corruption he changes
Violence affects people in many ways, including how it can desensitize cruelty by means of images in the media and exposure, and how this affects our society as a whole. Violence is defined by, “the unlawful exercise of physical force or intimidation by the exhibition of such force”. In the book, A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah we see a boy go from innocent into a soldier killing hundreds of people a day. Issues of violence our throughout our culture today, like the effects of violent movies and games in adolescents. Ishmael Beah went through something a boy should never go through, a world full of violence that left an impact on him forever.
In Ishmael Beah’s memoir, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, Beah encourages the opinion that everyone is responsible for his/her own actions in all cases. Beah proves this opinion to be true through death, thievery, and violence.
A Little boy forced into a man's shoe Ishmael Beah the boy who survived a war.Ishmael Beah wrote the memoir A Long Way Gone about himself surviving as a boy soldier for the RUF (Revolutionary United Front).Ishmael Beah writes in first person view so the experience is more involving to the reader.Ishmael Beah lived in Sierra leone a small country in Africa he was a little kid with his friends making a rap group on their way to a talent show until they heard screaming and people running.Ishmael Beah develops the themes of sanctity of life,loss of one's innocence,and survival under unique conditions in his memoir A Long Way Gone as an example of describing the importance of the memoir topic.
The autobiography written by Ishmael Beah, shows a lot of experience that tells the reader about the human condition and what it means to be a human being. In this story, Ishmael’s experience is displayed for an eye-opener to everyone about the cruel world around them. With that being said, not everyone is at fault, but this book shows a different perspective of a person with an extremely different culture from our own. For anyone that lives freely, this life story would make anyone feel guilty for not having to battle their way to adulthood. Ishmael’s experiences show how quickly a person’s life can change depending on the current circumstances. Ishmael had a very eventful and traumatizing life, one that took surviving, changing as a person, and a process of recovering. After reading this autobiography, Ishmael’s life story tells the public a lot about human condition and what it means to be a human.
He was brainwashed into doing horrendous tasks that would have a great effect on his life later. When UNICEF workers came and take him to a rehabilitation center he was not the child that he was before the war. In A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, he faced social injustice such as war, becoming a boy soldier, and isolation that he had no control over, affecting him emotionally, psychologically, and physically. Ishmael was affected by social injustices in an emotional way. At the rehabilitation center, a nice nurse named Esther became friends with Beah.
Ishmael Beah had a really tough life throughout his childhood and teenage years. In his literary work, A Long Way
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.