Symbolism In A Long Way Gone

Humanity constantly brings life and destruction to the world every day. In the novel A Long Way Gone, the protagonist, Ishmael Beah, constantly endures simple acts of charity, even in the cruelest environments of that time; however, what goes around comes around. Even though Beah does receive a minor variety of kindness, he still encounters the face of death everywhere he goes due to mankind’s hostility, whether it be in a deserted village or the everlasting depths of the forest. Throughout the majority of the novel, readers can find themselves praying for a miracle for Beah in addition to knowing about the violence of mankind. For the human condition project, groups are to cite a minimum of ten quotes from both the novel and previous articles

After reading the book, The Other Side, the author uses symbolism, tone, and he wrote it to an audience. The book is based on racism, today we may not know about it, and it still goes on today. Whites and blacks have both been against each other until one very powerful leader stopped racism. The book has lots of symbolism related to racism.

Violence consumes Sierra Leone during a civil war, as well as Ishmael Beah’s childhood. This theme of war highlights itself through the events of bloodshed, gunfights, and senseless murder in Ishmael’s A Long Way Gone, but can also be seen through the hidden details of literary devices throughout the book of memoirs. To express the violence involved in his traumatic experience in Sierra Leone, Ishmael uses imagery, personification, and quotes an individual’s diction. First off, Ishmael’s use of imagery paints a vivid image in the mind of the reader.

Ishmael had hope at the beginning trying to push through all of the struggles he had to a child soldier with no hope but just the mindset to kill back to a boy with hope and dreams to fulfill. Ishmael Beah's characterization in order to show how Ishmael had hard struggles changing he had hope at the beginning then eventually gave up on himself, but then he went to rehab and got better with the thought of hope in his mind, along with many conducive people pushing him to get better. It is important to show how the characteristic development of Ishmael is because It shows how his mind changed about everything, and his life changed drastically for him during the war times when he was a child

Opportunity’s life shattered as soon as the first gunshot went off. All because of the other student’s actions that built up, until Opportunity couldn’t stand the pressure anymore.

Another way the theme, “Always have hope” is shown in A Long Way Gone is through Ishmael`s hope to find his family by keeping his will to live and the memories at the forefront. In Ishmael`s first account of war, his village was overturned by the rebels and his family was split up. Therefore, Ishmael and his friends were left to survive

In every society there are rebels that oppose what the majority thinks is normal. Many of these people seek shelter in nature. In Jon Krakauer’s novel Into the Wild, Krakauer uses symbolism to show Chris McCandless’s struggle between society and nature. Chris sets out into the Alaskan wilderness in an attempt to escape civilization and find himself, knowing that at some point he will need to rejoin society. His trip to Alaska ended up being his last and when going through Chris’s belongings, the rescuers found a diary that revealed some of Chris’s thoughts.

In the book, A Long Way Gone, there is an array of different tones. The author uses them to shine light on the central theme and main idea of the story. The tone is important because it emphasizes the emotion of the text and the story being told. The author, Ishmael Beah, who is also the main character in the book has had a rough life. He grew up in the city of Mattru Jong, which is in the country of Sierra Leone. War had swept over the land changing everything and everyone. Beah was forced into being a child soldier at the age of twelve. By looking at the book, A Long Way Gone, one can see that Beah was put through things that no person should go through and it has shaped his entire world, with death, loss, and pain.

Ishmael Beah's memoir "a Long Way Gone" is a true story about his early life and his experience in the war in Sierra Leone as a child soldier. There are many symbols, figures of speech and images used in Beah's memoir. Interchangeably, there are relationships between all three of these terms in the book. In "a Long Way Gone" Symbolism, Images and figures of speech convey a very moody message to the reader, based upon what they are reading. These literary building blocks helped shape the memoir and keep the reader engaged throughout it.

The final thing that encapsulated Ishmael Beah that was a symbol in A Long Way Gone was drugs, which

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. Moreover, for more than two years Ishmael has attempted to escape from the rebels, moving from village to village, rummaging through abandoned homes. Seemingly, the rebels would make their way to Ishmael, sweeping all villages. Deprived of food or any sign of hope surviving as a “lone wolf”, Ishmael enlisted in the Army of Sierra Leone to fight against the radical organization. Ishmael risked his life for the prime purpose of surviving and to pursue freedom. Furthermore, self-determination was one of the reasons for such bravery, but it was also due to specific objects that aided in Ishmael’s journey for freedom. Nonetheless, in his literary work, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, Ishmael Beah uses symbols to underscore his central theme of oppression and/or freedom. The most evident symbols that accentuate the theme of oppression and/or freedom are the moon, the rap cassette tape, and the AK-47.

In the memoir “A Long Way Gone” by Ishmael Beah, there are several examples of people who show they are capable of evil, because everyone is.

Music helped him hold onto his purity and was evidence of his youthful memories before all was lost during the war. In addition, it saved his life when villagers misidentified Ishmael, and his fellow friends as rebels: “The chief turned his head from side to side as if trying to understand what I was saying. I watched him to see if his face was going to change for the worse, but a look of amusement flickered on his face” (Ishmael 87). This verifies that without them, there would have been no confirmation that they are young ordinary boys passing through villages. Furthermore, music allowed Ishmael to temporarily forget his uncertainties, as it helped him to relax, and reminded him of joyful memories of his childhood: “I didn’t care because the song had taken hold of me, and I listened closely to every word” (Ishmael 186). Likewise, on many occasions Ishmael would have troubles with falling asleep due to the nightmares that will haunt him. He would start to write down lyrics to keep himself occupied: “I had not slept well for months now, and so far I had been able to avoid my nightmares by busying myself day and night with listening to and writing the lyrics of Bob Marley’s songs” (Ishmael 198). Furthermore, this indicates how music enhanced his life as a

Ishmael uses his love of hip-hop and rap music as a symbol of freedom and a reminder of happier times. This is evident in the lines, “The four of us had started rap and dance group” as well as the line, “I ran towards the fire, but the cassettes had started to melt. Tears formed in my eyes, and my lip shook as I turned away.” These lines describe Ishmael’s love for hip-hop and rap and his devastation when his cassettes of the music are destroyed. The most significant moment for Ishmael with the music would be when it helps him learn to trust. This is evident in the line, “When I unwrapped it, I jumped up and hugged her.” This line shows the joy that Ishmael feels when a nurse gives him a Walkman and a cassette tape of a rap artist. In time this gesture of kindness helped Ishmael trust the nurse, Esther. Music is a strong symbol of freedom throughout his young

Why it is important to see the ramifications that Ishmael feels is because it shows the inequality he has to live within the matter of joining the army.: “I joined the army because of the loss of my family” (Beah 199). This displays that he never wanted to murder any individual. He is unwilling to murder yet through fury he wants to. Throughout this event the inequalities that is shown is Ishmael does not want to kill, but through anger he has to, this is important to understand because you can see the human side before he becomes a killing machine. Ishmael says this because he wanted to show the audience that everyone is human and no one is born a killing machine.