Analysis Of A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah

War is devastating and tragic. It affects the daily lives of the people that are involved in the war. In the excerpt from, A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, it displays a man who is dreaming about war. When the man wakes up, he lays sweating on the ground, remembering the painful memories that the dream has brought. In the end, the man realizes that from now on he will have to live in three worlds; his dreams, the experience of his new life, and memories from the past. Meanwhile, in the image, “In Times of War” by The New York Times, there is an angel on a cloud looking over the dreadful war. Then the angel walks away because the view of people dying makes it sick. The theme of the excerpt A Long Way Gone, and the image, “In Times of War,” is that the war brings death, seriously injured, and psychologically broken people.

Bang! Bang! “At that instant several gunshots, which sounded like thunder striking the tin-roofed houses, took over town. The sound of guns was so terrifying it confused everyone” (Beah 23). 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 embroiled in a bloody civil war in the 1990’s. Battles multiplied as bloodshed abounded and as a child in Sierra Leone Ishmael Beah was forced to survive, find food, and face unimaginable dangers. Running from the battle front was also a routine ordeal. At age 13 Beah was captured by the military and brainwashed into using guns and drugs. As a child soldier he perpetrated and witnessed a great deal of violence. At 15 he was rescued and taken to a rehabilitation center. With time and continual treatment, Beah was able to recover, to some extent, and reconnect with his Uncle Tommy who adopted him. He was later chosen to speak to the United Nations in New York City about his experiences as a child soldier. When he returned to Sierra Leone, war broke out throughout in the city where he lived, causing many deaths including his Uncle Tommy. Eventually Beah escaped Sierra Leone and he managed to reach New York City, where he began a new life. Through Ishmael Beah’s book A Long Way Gone, he conveys a central theme of having to survive, at a young age, through the hardships of war with the use of imagery.

McPherson’s primary goal in writing this book is to hit three main points: “Initial motivation, sustaining motivation and combat motivation” . Initial motivation “consists of reasons why

Motivation is something that we as human beings all possess. There is obvious levels of motivation, these levels make a substantial difference between a regular Joe and a multi-billion dollar executive. What drives a person to reach his/her full potential is motivation, whether good or bad. Sometimes tragedy as awkward as it may sound will provide

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.

Ishmael Beah was a child of war in Sierra Leone. His memoir retells his experiences being in the Sierra Leone army. At just twelve years old, Ishmael Beah’s homeland was infested with Foday Sankoh’s brutal army, who would stop at nothing to take control of Sierra Leone’s diamond mines. Beah then comes to explain his experience as a soldier and his killing spree. Although some may argue that his experiences are too graphic, William Boyd hints that readers should read Beah’s memoir.

Ishmael Beah was only a child he was faced with the horror of war. People are rarely presented with an unique situation that presents themselves with the only options of life and death, though for people who are unfortunate enough to have been placed in a similar situation are able to understand the vast negativity that consumes their life after witnessing such horrific events. As if the impossible became possible Ishmael had hope and light throughout him that granted him to fabricate an abundance of positivity. As Ishmael treated the circumstance with positivity most would have perceived the circumstance as the epitome of a destroyed life. When Ishmael’s life of living in war and murderous rebels he had the ability to use his gained positivity

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.

By examining the novels Night and Sold we can see that motivation is the key to survival, which is important because without it they fail to see why they should keep fighting to the end. Elie Wiesel had much motivation in his time at the concentration camp and it helped him survive against the Nazi soldiers. He had it from his father and the friends

While watching “The Puzzle of Motivation” by Dan Pink, I was very intrigued. Throughout the entire talk, there were several interesting points that were made. It really interested me when Pink talked about the group that was rewarded. Pink stated that if the contestants were in the top 25% of the fastest times, they would be rewarded five dollars. With this incentive, most would hope to do well, if not better than the person that would not be rewarded. Pink then goes on to point out the results. How much faster did the group that was offered a reward actually do? On average, it took them three and a half minutes longer. This really stood out to me because when offered a reward for a task, normally a person would be more motivated and thus do better. What amazed me even more was that this isn’t just a one time thing. This is has been replicated over and over for nearly 40 years. As Pink says around 04:33, “These contingent motivators -- if you do this, then you get that -- work in some circumstances. But for a lot of tasks, they actually either don 't work or, often, they do harm.” These rewards that are being offered are being used to attempt to sharpen thinking and accelerate creativity, but instead it’s proving to do the opposite. It’s proving to dull thinking and block creativity.

Motivation is the number one driving force behind anything and everything an individual does each day. “Motivation is the desire to do the best possible job or to exert the maximum effort to perform an assigned task. Motivation energizes, directs, and sustains human behavior directed towards a goal.” (Honor, 2009). Motivation can determine the outcome of projects, goals, and can set limits on what an individual can obtain or what they believe they can obtain. Motivation often is the deciding factor on how successful a project in an organization is, and an individual’s needs and desires can both influence a person’s motivation greatly. Motivation can also determine how well an individual does in school, college, or university.

Motivation is one of my core values, I know what motives me to be successful and it is my son. I like to get to know people to see what keeps them motivated and driven to be successful in life. People are motivated through so many avenues, whether it is gratification of doing a good job on a project, if they add value to a person, or even are valued as an individual. Leadership for me, is finding that the fuel that lights a person’s fire to keep them driven and focused on a goal and their future. According to Kouzon (2012) “Leaders challenge for meaning’s sake. They challenge, often with great passion, because they want people to live life on purpose and with purpose” (p.169). Another core value is optimism, being hopeful and trying to find the positive in everything even though I may know it will not turn out the way intended. I like to know that even the smallest percentage of something being successful or may work out I am most confident that it’ll work out someway or somehow. These two values at times are forgotten about, that everyone is so used to things not working out that they always brace for the worst and hardly ever plan for the best. If you continue to motivate peers, family, co-workers, and friends, that you have to be optimistic and know that they will do everything to make sure that a project or goal in life is met. You have to stay focused and have a plan and continue to know that the work you put in and the drive behind the plan, will all work out.

Motivation can come from two sources, from inside of you and from outside of you. It can come from your hopes and expectations. It is from your desire to do something or to be someone, but not everyone is highly

Motivation is a very strong tool we can use to get further in life and to achieve our dreams and goals. Setting goals for ourselves is something that I consider to be very important, I believe in always pushing myself further and further in life, not only physically but mentally as well. We all have different things or tools we can use to motivate us towards our end goals. In order for us to stay motivated we have to have a goal and be driven towards achieving that goal.

never lose sight of your need for motivation as it will be the one thing that will push you through the tough times.