Summary Of A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah

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’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.

The word “hope” is defined as a feeling of expectation or desire. People expect things to happen to them such as winning the lottery or meeting the man of their dreams but hope does not guarantee that these things will happen. Hope is quite often found in people involved in hard times such as war. Soldiers have to hope that they will make it home to their families everyday. Ishmael Beah understood what it was like to have hope in terrible situations. When Ishmael wrote his book “A Long Way Gone” he was able to show how he had hope when he lost his family, when he went to New York and when he tragically lost hope when he was in the war.

In A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah the main character, Ishmael Beah, encounters a lot of problems and all of those problems shape who he becomes throughout the story. Those obstacles make Ishmael more desperate to survive throughout the book. At the beginning of the book Ishmael isn 't ready for change. And when change comes with him losing his family he does not know what his next move is. He goes through villages begging for food and looking for sympathy. This was his first big issue for him. Later on in the book he is with a group of boys and a large problem occurs for them each day. He becomes more desperate as more things are thrown his way but still can 't completely deal with what is happening to him. He begins to steal, which at the start of the book he would have never done. Yet it was the need to survive that drove him to do this. He is captured by another group of soldiers. They take him in and make him feel like he has a family again. After Ishmael feels that he belongs he realizes that he must kill people to stay apart of the family that he longing for. He was desperate enough to do anything to be apart of a family again,which wills him to kill other people. All of the obstacles in the book drive him to want to stay alive more. So he became more willing to face his problems in unusual ways.

The story of ishmael's life is set in Sierra Leone. The country was doing well until civil war broke out forcing ishmael and other boys to

Ever since that day, the pigs would try to get revenge and harm every human they see. Another story his grandma told him about is about how we strive to be like the moon. An old man would said this and when Beah asked his grandmother what it meant she told him that everyone always complains about the sun, but no one ever complains about the moon. In the story she said, “no one grumbles when the moon shines. Everyone becomes happy and appreciates the moon in their own special way.

Many and many child are forced to become soldiers and is becoming a major issue in the global level. A long way gone is a real life story that was faced by Ishmael Beah who became soldier even if he didn’t want to be. He wrote this book to show people around the world, the suffering that child goes through in the war country. He didn’t have any other choices. Ishmael Beah uses imagery, flashback, and narrative techniques to show the condition of the child soldiers is a major issue going on the world through the memoirs “A long way gone”.

In Ishmael Beah’s memoir, A Long Way Gone, Ishmael’s dream is a manifestation of his life when he is fleeing from war, experiencing and participating in bloodshed, and rehabilitating at the Benin House. Ishmael's dream first symbolizes his dream when he returns to a dark empty house. After Ishmael and Junior have an oyster picking competition, they head home. When Ishmael arrives, his house is desolate and pitch black. Everyone is gone, Junior included.

During my reading of the Biography a long way gone by Ishmael Beah, there are many character developments shown of him and a few of his acquaintances based on the setting and situation that they are in such as the deaths and traumatic events happening to their loved ones. There are also a few themes I found present while reading the first half of this book such as: Survival, this theme is almost constantly present after the rebels start attacking nearby villages. Another is life and hope, this goes along with the previous theme and is discussed by the boys several times over their travels. Another theme I have noticed so far is family. Ishmael is constantly trying to keep his family together by constantly making sure his brother is with him and asking people in villages if they have seen his parents. The last theme I noticed was the horrors of war, this theme is present whenever the fighting is currently happening or whenever the main character has flashbacks of the horrors of war.

Since the beginning of A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, the protagonist of the novel Ishmael endeavors to flee from the hardships enkindled by the RUF rebel organization that has amalgamated the country of Sierra Leone, officially making it a war zone. Furthermore, for over 2 years, Ishmael has been on the run as “lone wolf”, moving from one village to the other, escaping near death situations. Self-determination was one of the reasons for such bravery, but it was also due to specific objects that helped Ishmael pursue freedom. The central themes of the novel A Long Way Gone are the theme of freedom and oppression. Seemingly, the central themes are distinguished by objects that Ishmael symbolizes, these include the moon, the rap cassette, and

On March 23rd, 1991, a civil war started between the Sierra Leonean Government and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). This war had an enormous impact on everyone in and around the country, especially young civilian boys who were taken from their families and homes to become child soldiers. One of these former government soldiers is Ishmael Beah, who was brought into this battle between powers at only 13 years old. Throughout his lifetime, he has had to confront many challenges and conflicts, most of which can be found in his memoir, “A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier.” After reading his memoir, I have gained much knowledge on the topic of both the Sierra Leone Civil War and the issue of children becoming soldiers. The themes of this

Throughout A Long Way Gone Ishmael Beah refers to memories before the war to comfort him during difficult times. Bringing up memories from the past are known as flashbacks. He put his mind at ease by focusing on happier times he had with his family such as his grandfather’s medicine, the blessing of his home in Mogdwemo, and picking up Ibrahim from school.

The novel A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier tells the story of a boy named Ishmael Beah and his experience in the civil war that was happening in his country. Beah experiences many violent consequences in childhood. These violent experiences teach the reader about how his trust and other people’s trust change due to violence.

In conclusion, the book " A Long Way Gone" by Ishmael Beah includes some weaknesses to the book. The depressing moments shown in the novel, the reader doesn't know if its suppose to be sad or it's just implying to his viewpoint of what's happening in the book. In addition, the beautiful memories can turn into depression moments which makes the point worthless to be read because having the happy memories destroyed by departing from families are horrible. However, the imagery shown in the book of the depression moments makes it interesting to read since the descriptive thoughts that are written from the author makes it easier to have an honest and vivid image in one's mind. So, I would recommend this book to others to read and have a chance to