The Long Way Home By David Laskin

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.

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.

This summer, I chose to read A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah for my nonfiction book. I chose to read this book for a very good purpose. My entire life, I have been told that I am very fortunate to have the luxuries that I have every day. I knew this was true and that I was very lucky, but I never really understood the full truth of how the other people lived; the people that were not as fortunate as me. This book gave me a very good insight to the daily struggles of living in a poor, dangerous environment.

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.

A book that will be read should not be judged by its cover because the importance is the word that is being written and the meaning that is being express by the writer experience. A Long Way Gone, an autobiography, written by Ishmael Bech need to be read. This book can lead to many connections that will bring back memories of many people. Including its wonderful description that is very understanding. However, one may disagree because this book contains much confusion due to the flashback. But because of the flashback it leads to having a better understanding for the reader to know more about Ishmael Bech.

The book A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park gives a fascinating story of a real life personal journey. Slava, the main character, was born and for 11 years raised in Sudan in 1985 during the civil war. Slava was a member of a successful family, Slava’s father was the village judge and owned many cattle. Slava was able to go to school, that was not common in Sudan. Slava was at school , his village was under attack and he needed to leave to get safety behind a bush so he would not be hurt , Slava ran to a bush get safety. That dash was the call to Slava’s personal journey. Slava would have venture through three (Sudan,Ethiopia,Kenya) countries , without his family and on foot . The character Slava in a Long walk to water was changed by his personal journey, he had to be independent, not having his family disrupted his daily life style, and was compelled to help the people of Sudan

The Long Way Home: an American journey from Ellis Island to the Great War is a book written by David Laskin. Laskin is an American writer who has graduated from elite schools like Harvard and Oxford. He has written 19 books in his lifetime that capture diverse categories starting from weather and gardens to American history. In this book, Laskin focuses his attention on the history of 12 immigrants in which he examines their experience in the United States. Laskin uses the story of these immigrants to show the struggle they went through in order to be citizens and lose their immigrant status. Laskin explains how they have assimilated into American culture by becoming U.S. soldiers and shows appreciation to the, “service of the foreign born-shines” (Laskin, 2010, p.313).

“I never paint dreams or nightmares. I paint my own reality” (Frida Kahlo). Is it true that when war or crime takes place, it is only the fear of reality that causes minds to create nightmares instead of dreams? Ishmael Beah is a historical figure that went through this feeling of deprivation and fear, where he could not tell apart a dream from reality. This appears frequently in his memoir, A Long Way Gone, which is about the civil war near his home, Sierra, Leone. In this war, the rebels were the killers, the ones much like the Nazi’s with no reason to kill. Beah loses his family, and gets brainwashed and loses everything all to become the little boy soldier that he once feared. Throughout, A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah conveys the message that sometimes the fear of reality makes it hard to tell apart a nightmare from a real situation.

Everything from classic novels to obscure pieces of literary work can depict the immigrant experience and reflect the author’s opinion and attitude on the subject matter. To my surprise writers during the 1900-1930s had a very “positive and sympathetic” mindset towards eastern European immigrants. This is not the norm for numerous immigrants of a different race or, ethnicity. In most stories written at the time,“The immigrant is portrayed as an economic success” (Elliott 28). This is out of touch with reality since it does not

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.

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, by Ishmael Beah has made real to me, the horrors of war and the way it can change everything in an instant, and even cause good people to commit terrible acts to survive. I keep up with world news and listen to reports on war, but reading Beah’s memoir has brought emotion to cold facts, and intimacy to the statistics of news reported death tolls. At the age of twelve, Ishmael and his friends are excitedly walking sixteen miles to the city to rap in a friend’s talent show, when their lives are suddenly changed forever.

David Landers articulates, “Witnesses can be essential to the success of any car accident claim. In many car accident scenarios, the only witnesses are the drivers of each vehicle. . . That is why the presence of additional witnesses, known as ‘third party’ witnesses, can become so crucial.”

The image of a decorated war hero is one that Americans are quite familiar with. Many people are taught to honor and thank soldiers for offering their service; however, how many of them think about the psychological damage that these soldiers deal with due to the trauma of their duties? Unfortunately, few people consider the negative effects of war because of they have misconceptions and romantic notions surrounding war. Our society is flooded with these false notions. The inundation of violent video games, the graphic details found on the internet and in the media, and the idolization of violent individuals are all examples of the "romantic notions about war and violence" that exist in our society. Former child soldier turned author and

These twelve immigrant men named; Epifanio Affatato, Joseph Chmielewski, Andrew Christofferson, Maximilian Cieminski, Samuel Dreben, Meyer Epstein, Samuel Goldberg, Matej Kocak, Tomasso Ottaviano, Antonio Pierro, Peter Thompson, Michael Valente, were very brave and strong men. Laskin explains how these immigrants had lived in their born country (Europe) and their adopted country. These immigrant men along with most other immigrants had lived a rough life. They had it hard, the childhood of growing up and not having much to the travel to the United States and trying to follow the

Throughout the five years I became a different Huseyn. Education abroad improved me second by second and day by day. My experiences in the United States of America taught me confidence, endurance, and tolerance. I learned how to understand what is right and what is wrong in social situations. I learned how to make big ideas happen. And finally, I learned how to be a strong, independent individual, who came to America to expand his opportunities in education and to build his future. The first time when I read “The Deportation of Wopper Barraza” by Maceo Montoya and “Make your home among the strangers” by Jennine Crucet, I felt something warm in my heart while I was reading each of these novels. These novels are so close to my life. For a second I thought authors were describing me and my life, but not Wopper and Lizet. “His misery was such that all he could think about was his own misery. How he missed home, how he missed his parents and Lara, how he would do anything to be back in Woodland, to have his