Military use of children

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. The first consequence of violence is how Beah’s trust changed due to the violence. In the novel, he starts questioning everyone he meets. He says in the novel “I was

Memoir Essay A Long way Gone, written by Ishmael Beah is a memoir that exposes the reader to a part of the world a majority of people know almost nothing about. An area where life is cut short by conflict and a blatant disregard for the value human life. Where Mothers lose their sons, families lose their homes and people lose their sense of morality. Yet, through these struggles, the resilience of the human spirit and psyche is exposed. Ishmael, through many points in his life was challenged physically

Starting a calm day in Sierra Leone to surviving, and being trafficked into the army is what Ishmael Beah experiences as a child. A Long Way Gone is a memoir of a child soldier, Ishmael Beah, and the memoir shows the experiences he has throughout his childhood. Beah experiences trauma of the war just like all of the other child soldiers. Ishmael is one of the very little amount that survive the war. The three main themes in A Long Way Gone are the themes of survival, healing, and memory. In

the RUF. Ishmael was both a victim and a victimizer because he had been influenced by government soldiers to do terrible things, and aided them in the fight and killed many people. Ishmael was a victim of war because he and many other teens and children were told to take “energy boosting” pills that were actually drugs, and being young they were able to be easily brainwashed/trained to kill others who weren't government soldiers. Ishmael had been addicted to drugs because the tablets the government

Ishmael Beah: Child Soldier Many children in countries like Sierra Leone are surrounded by war since they were young. They grow up in a community where playing outside and being able to roam around is unknown. A majority of children in societies like Sierra Leone are brainwashed from a young age and sent to war as soon as they are strong enough to hold a gun. Ishmael Beah is a heroic figure in the Sierra Leone community, not only did he survive the brutality of war but was able to overcome his obstacles

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”. One of the technique he uses to show the seriousness is imagery. Like in page 112 “Visualizes the enemy, the rebel who killed your parents, your family, and those who are responsible for everything that has happened to you” . These kids were brainwashed to kill the rebels, they

In the book A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah encounters many “kind-hearted” people throughout the war and after the war. These people who have a lot to lose if they help him still step into his life and lend a helping hand that saves Ishmael's life. In the book the man who helped Ishmael and his friends with their feet that were severely burnt and Laura Simms had a positive impact in Ishmael's life. In the book, the man who helped the boys with their feet goes out of his way to help these boys who

Ishmael and many other young children killed numerous people. One of these murders was described by Ishmael when he said, “The corporal gave the signal with a pistol shot and I grabbed the man’s head and slit his throat in one fluid motion” (Beah 125). This shows that Ishmael used his power over this person because he used the victim’s weakness. By murdering this man, Ishmael shows that he believes his weapons give him power, and uses them to hurt someone who is seen as “weak” and

bullet holes. A father falls from his car, vomiting blood as his family sits in pieces, dead in the car. In a blink of an eye, the children go from happy and carefree, knowing they have loving families at home, to wondering if they will ever see anyone they know alive again. I felt very sad and sickened, seeing those events through his eyes, and thinking of how many children in the world have lived through similar events. Eventually, hunger sets in and the boys steal food from people as they sleep and

The sacrifices we make today determines what we highly value in our life. Our willingness to sacrifice directly amplifies how desperate we are to achieve the outcome we desire. In the memoir A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah deliberately sacrifices his sole humanity in order to survive from the rebels. In other words, Ishmael suppresses his true emotions in order to remain alive. Thus, this explains why Ishmael joined the army and became a living killing machine. Although he felt immense guilt for each