Sierra Leone Civil War

Ishmael Beah’s memoir, A long Way Gone, is very descriptive and has a very effective way of painting a picture in the reader’s mind of what he went through as a boy soldier. Throughout the memoir, Beah used quite a few statements that impacted me emotionally, on a personal level. His vivid detail, word choice and how personal, yet professional he kept his writing led me to understand how exactly the war affected him, and everyone else who lived, and lives, in Sierra Leone.

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.

A long way gone by Ishmael Beah, attempts to evoke a powerful response from the leader, by using vivid descriptions to show how he has become emotionally traumatized by the acts of violence in the war. The reader then sympathizes with Ishmael and begins to understand the lasting and deep, emotional pain that Ishmael deals with on a daily basis.

A Long Way Gone touches on the remarkable true story of Ishmael Beah. In 1993 Sierra Leone was experiencing its own Civil War. Ishmael was only 12 years old when he survived the attack on his village as a result to his country’s crisis. In the process of losing his home Ishmael lost his family, and childhood. He was expected to fend for himself and hold on to the little he had as he wandered from village to village. The life of a boy who once played with sand changed within a blink of an eye. Ishmael began to witness an endless amount of blood and violence as he was recruited to be a boy soldier fighting his country’s war. Life for Ishmael was never the same and he lives today to recount the events.

In A Long Way Gone Ishmael Beah, a soldier with the Sierra Leone army during its civil war, has many life changing events that he has to live with forever. Ishmael is taken far away from his childhood dreams when an unexpected civil war breaks out in his hometown. Ishmael had a loss of innocence when he was younger which caused him to become what he became. Ishmael was a young boy who was introduced to war at 12 years old. He lost friends and experienced the horrific results from the rebels attacks.

Ishmael Beah, is a veteran who wrote the novel "A Long Way Gone", that shares his horrific memoir experience in A Long Way Gone. In Beah 's younger years he was a happy child who loved listening to the genre rap along with listening to rap he enjoyed breakdancing on his free time. Ishmael life was different compared to other children 's lifestyle. At the age of twelve, he was one of the children who was taken away by Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and forced to become a child soldier. The 2006 film Blood Diamond demonstrated the manner in which the kids were taken from their homes and forced to become soldiers. The rebels tried taking the kids that looked like they would be able to survive the war and kept those to continue fighting. In one scene, the rebels blindfolded one of the chosen kids, gave him a gun, and told him to shot. Frightened the little boy shot the gun,

In A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah conveys his amazing journey through war and hardship as a child soldier. Sierra Leone, a country on the western coast of Africa, was in civil war, and throughout the country, battles multiplied as bloodshed abounded. Being captured by the military at a young age, he had no choice but to become a soldier. Beah was forced to learn how to survive, find food, face unimaginable dangers and run from the battle front. He fought in battle for a prolonged time before being taken to a rehabilitation

In A Long Way Gone Ishmael uses flashbacks, symbolism, and nature motifs to illustrate the loss of his innocence. Beah’s memoir shows how he and all the other boy soldiers lost their childhood when they became a solider. At the age of 13 was the end of his childhood where he believes his childhood ended. Through the whole book he tries to use his memories as comfort and a reminder that he is still a child no matter the situation.

The novel, “A Long Way Gone”, documents Ishmael Beah’s youth in Sierra Leone in the year of 1993 during a civil war. At the age of twelve, Ishmael lost his family due to the invasion of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) causing his village, Mattru Jong, that he cherishes the most to be destructed. This was the start of his difficult journey of survival. At the age of thirteen, he became a brainwashed child soldier who was filled with raging vengeance against the RUF. Ishmael lost his pure innocence and childhood due to the civil war. Eventually, he escaped from being a corrupted indoctrinate child soldier and was sent to rehab. After some time in rehab, Ishmael received the treatment he needed. He then, lived with his uncle Tommy in the city for some time and soon the war began to repeat in the city, the killings, invasion, and demolition of homes. Ishmael became fearful again and this time he’ll be escaping to another country to avoid from being a soldier again.

A Long Way Gone is a heartbreaking story on how war can change lives. Ishmael Beah, who is also the author, tells the true story of his life and becoming a young soldier against his will. Ishmael finds himself committing acts he could never do normally, such as stealing, killing, and doing drugs. It all started when Ishmael’s village was attacked. Ishmael and his friends are forced to wander from village to village. Eventually, Ishmael is recruited and becomes a soldier. He is forced to kill and commit acts of violence he could never see himself doing.

A Long Way Gone shows the struggles Ishmael Beah faces as a young soldier. A Long Way Gone has many turning points throughout the story. In Chapter 12, Ishmael and his companions are forced to become child warriors. The horror of war is a common theme all through this section as Ishmael and the rest of his friends confront an unimaginable decision, fighting in the army. If they decide to escape the village's protection, they are taking a huge risk of being attacked and killed by the rebels. This demonstrates that in times of war, individuals are compelled to pick among terrible choices that are frequently adverse to another person. Before joining the army, Ishmael was very innocent and could not even stand looking at any dead bodies. Due to

Now take another African country, Sierra Leone, for instance. RUF with the assistance of NPFL mediated in Sierra Leone in an effort to take over the Joseph Momoh government. Once again, children were needed to fight the battles of these adults and with the innocent smiles of these children the adults felt no shame in robbing them of their childhood. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier is a memoir written by Ishmael Beah, an author from Sierra Leone. The book is a personal account of Beah's time as a child soldier throughout the civil war in Sierra Leone. In his novel, he described gun shots piercing through the bodies of innocents and specifically says, “It was a girl, and her eyes were still open, with an interrupted innocent smile on

A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, strongly depicts civil war brutalities and the truth of child soldiers. The author develops a theme through a riveting tale of circumstances that led a twelve year boy to transform into a ruthless warrior.

Published in the early months of 2007 A Long Way Gone tells the story of Ishmael Beah a young boy took in by the army of Sierra Leone and forced to fight along

Ending the book and journey with such poignant finality, Ishmael Beah, the author of A Long Way Gone, comes full-circle with the story he tells us at the end. Having made the journey of escaping as a refugee, Ishmael transitioned from a young, untroubled boy to a man burdened with war and trapped in the crossfire. Having left the RUF and been rehabilitated, Ishmael thought he had finally escaped the war. However, when the violence and war begins again, Ishmael flees Sierra Leone. In the end, he reflects upon a story the grandfather of a friend used to tell him and the other children in the village, which was of a hunter who was faced with two terrible choices.