Premium Essay

A Long Way Gone Ishmael Analysis

Submitted By
Words 507
Pages 3
Ishmael went through some very unsettling things while fighting as a boy soldier in Sierra Leone. But like

one of Newton’s laws, each action has an equal and opposite reaction. This is true in Ishmael’s case as

well in the story. Ishmael experiences triggered some intense reactions. In one instance Ishmael could

not sleep for a week, which drained his awareness and reaction speed. But he had to live by a rule

where you either kill or be killed. This also influenced his actions. His violent gestures also influenced

him to try drugs, which became an addiction through his time in Sierra Leone. He never really stopped

having nightmares and still has to go to counseling due to post traumatic stress disorder. Like the other

soldiers, Ishmael relies …show more content…
The drugs cause sleeplessness, so he stays up late into the night watching violent Rambo

movies. When the soldiers run out of drugs, food, ammunition, and gasoline, they raid rebel camps.

They also attack civilian villages to force more young boys and men to join their army. In chapter 14

Ishmael’s innocence is completely gone. His attitude toward violence now is one of numb acceptance

and doesn’t fear him anymore. He has become a completely different person than the boy who loved

dancing and rap music before. Violence acts as entertainment as the theme in this chapter as Ishmael

and the soldiers make little differences between the Rambo movies they watch and the wars they fight.

As a result of him taking drugs, he has had many violent experiences. The consequences of his actions

ended up with people being killed. This is a good lesson for people not to do drugs because it makes you

Kiara Terry

do things that you will soon or later regret. By Ishmael killing people and doing drugs results to him

losing his innocence and now is stuck with bad memories and regret now. His violent experiences taught

me to think twice before I do things and to understand the stakes and aftereffect of situations. But

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Analysis Of A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah

...“A Long Way Gone” by Ishmael Beah is a book about the loss of Innocence at the hands of war. Unfortunately this happens to many children across the world every day and it has throughout history. When the book begins Ishmael is a normal boy. He hangs out with his friends playing soccer and listening to music. He has not seen much violence yet and the the only form of war he is seen is in movies and in literature. He has not witnessed a murder or seen the terrible things he will later in his life. I included this part of the book to my analysis to give an example of where Ishmael is in his life before he is thrown into war unwillingly. He is childish and lives like any of us would. However this does not last. A group of rebels go from village...

Words: 653 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Analysis Of A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah

...it hopes and its aspirations, before you lies the future, a future full of golden promises” (Jefferson Davis) “A Long Way Gone” was written by Ishmael Beah and published in 2007. This is a novel about a young boy who was affected by war. Ishmael Beah experienced a lot of horrible things because of the war like losing his family. He later is recruited by the rebel army. The rebel army gives drugs to the recruited child soldiers and make them addicted so they kill without feeling anything. He then gets rehabilitated with the help of the UNICEF. The three most important scenes in this story include going into mattru jong to perform dances, trying to survive day to day troubles,and his life in New York City....

Words: 652 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Analysis Of A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah

...Guns give people immense power, the sort of power you wouldn’t want anyone to be able to possess; the power to hurt, destroy, and manipulate those around them. The book A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, follows the story of young Ishmael Beah during the war in Sierra Leone. It tells step by step the events that led up to Beah being captured and forced to fight in a war at the mere age of thirteen. Those with the most power in this war were the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), they attack villages looking for people to force to fight alongside them but if you were to refuse or if they thought you were not good enough, they would kill you. “The rebels fired their guns toward the sky, as they shouted and merrily danced their way into...

Words: 398 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

A Long Way Gone Ishmael Beah Analysis

...Ishmael Beah on C-span Ishmael Beah, who wrote A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, published in 2007 and interviewed in C-span by, Brian Lamb (2007) explains that he was a boy soldier living a brutal life and had little to no hope for himself because of the Sierra Leone Civil War. Ishmael was not the only that was impacted but also by millions of the world wanting to stop child brutality and it explains to the first world countries how life is not pleasant everywhere. Although, Ishmael Beah talks to the interviewer, Brian Lamb and intonating in a miserable and gloomy but journalistic tone. The war has impacted him today and has unlocked his creativity in how own comfortable way, talking to someone about his miserable life in such an smooth and incredibly controlling way. It has made me believe that he’s overcome his harsh life challenges. Ishmael was so...

Words: 430 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Analysis Of A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah

...A Long Way Gone is a story about persevere descriptive imagery that made it easier for me comprehend and seen clear image. A Long Way Gone is story about a boy name Ishmael Beah. Ishmael Beah is just a young boy who had to go through many difficult things in his life. Ishmael Beah had to run away from his home because of the civil war he ran away for survival .The army captured him and forced him into army. He mentally changed when he got a life changing opportunity. The first reason I like about A Long Way Gone is ishmael beah is very brave. The first reason why he was brave because he going back to Mattru Jong for food and to get the money they had left. “We had no choice but to sneak back into mattru jong, along with some people we...

Words: 459 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Analysis Of A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah

...There are child soldiers throughout the world that no one knows about, who are forced to fight in wars with no cause like Ishmael Beah. The memoir A Long Way Gone, by Ishmael Beah is appropriate for the Sterling High School English IV curriculum because the content of the text has connections to the real world and the text is complex enough that the reader has to infer information about the circumstances Beah is in and the ability of humans to come out of the devastating effect of war. Throughout the memoir, the reader has to connect Beah’s scenarios with the outside world for a better understanding of the content in the memoir. In general, while Beah is in New York with other child soldiers he states, “Some of the children had risked their life to attend the conference” (196). Here, Beah connects his circumstance with others to portray that there are child soldiers all over the world fighting battles and risking their lives for a cause they do not believe in. The reader gets a better understanding of the outside world from the content of the book because they have to make connections with what is happening outside of their comfort zone. This is appropriate for English IV curriculum because the reader begins to understand the world from Beah’s explanations of what he has been through to understand the reality and toll of war. Furthermore, during the beginning...

Words: 715 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah Analysis

...Is (non)violence against oppression immoral? It’s a question to think about, it depends on how someone feels about the situation, it may be in your beliefs. But in my opinion, violence isn’t the smartest way to handle something, a family member can perish or any type of loved ones. Which I wouldn’t desire to experience. Furthermore, in “A Long Way Gone” that’s based on a true story by the author himself Ishmael Beah, was slaved as a young African child by an army to be a soldier. Fleeing the daily life Beah has been going through, refined his life. Due to the fact of Ishmael was a child soldier, a whole community was determined to protest. Which led to Violence, lives were lost and buildings were demolished. In some situations, it’s best to...

Words: 330 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Ishmael Beah Thesis

...Ishmael Beah All around the world, children have no choice but to fight in war in order to stay alive. Ishmael Beah, once one of these children, now acts for those who think they have no choice but to fight. Being the author of a book titled A Long Way Gone provides a platform that allows Beah to provide a better life for those in combat during their youth. This motivational memoir is about Beah’s time as a child soldier himself. Ishmael Beah has used his firsthand experiences of war and death to gain an education as well as a place in the world of advocates and entrepreneurs. Ishmael Beah had a pretty normal childhood. Well, about as normal as a childhood could be for one living in the midst of a civil war. Born November 23, 1980, Beah grew up in Sierra Leone. When he was 12 years old his country was...

Words: 2052 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs Of A Boy Soldier

...Reading A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by: Ishmael Beah Chapters 1-4 Quote Selection and Theme Analysis Theme: The Horrors of War “The sound of the guns was so terrifying it confused everyone. No one was able to think clearly. In a matter of seconds, people started screaming and running in different directions, pushing and trampling on whoever had fallen on the ground. No one had the time to take anything with them. Everyone just ran to save his or her life. Mothers lost their children, whose confused, sad cries coincided with the gunshots. Families were separated and left behind everything they had worked for their whole lives”(p. 23). This quotation...

Words: 1479 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Understanding Islam

...in the bible. There are a not many common foundations and several common aspects of Christianity, Islam and Judaism –in what is referred to as Abrahamic spiritual heritage. Similarities The beliefs and practices of Christianity, Islam and Judaism most significantly starts with the originator of the Hebrews called Abraham ca 1800 B.C.E. Historically, these ideas were also pledged to by nomadic tribes, who settled in current Palestine, close to Mt. Sinai. The individuals of these tribes did not tag themselves same as Hebrews, and knew god of Abrahim as the supreme God (Peters, 2003). This merged as God assured Abraham a son, and in the development of the incidents hesitant that is old wife may well provide him a son, he was with Ishmael his maid, Hagar, and thereafter God's prophecy would be met with the...

Words: 3103 - Pages: 13

Free Essay

Augustie and Infant Baptism

...Dear Charles, Here's a possible rewrite of your thesis: "This paper will examine Augustine's teachings about 'conferred faith' upon infant during baptism. My claim is that Paul misrepresented Paul's teachings on the family's effect upon the holiness of the child." You'll find the "claim" in chapters 1-14 of Turabian's Manual, which is something that our rubric doesn't bring up, but I think it's a good technique. I notice that you have Greek written in Times New Roman font. I have seen other students do this. I have never been able to figure out how this is done. I notice that when I try to add a letter than it comes out in Latin script. These are quotations that you've pasted. This is amazing. I don't know how they do this! Let me know if you can help me! The only defect in this paper that I want to point out is that much of your paper is not really about Augustine's teaching on infant baptism. All subsequent developments of his teachings really have nothing to do with what happened in Augustine's head. Let's take Pannenberg as an example. He may have followers up there in Lutheran country where you minister. His ideas are influenced by Augustine, but Augustine was not a Lutheran. Some seem to think he was a Lutheran or a Calvinist, but they deceive themselves. You must, of course, take Paul into account because Augustine worked with Paul's writings. Paul was a source that Augustine used—or better, abused or misused, as you and argue. Students find it impossible to focus on one...

Words: 6374 - Pages: 26

Free Essay

Up from Slavery

...A TEACHER’S GUIDE TO THE SIGNET CLASSIC EDITION OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON’S UP FROM SLAVERY By VIRGINIA L. SHEPHARD, Ph.D., Florida State University S E R I E S E D I T O R S : W. GEIGER ELLIS, ED.D., ARTHEA J. S. REED, PH.D., UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA, EMERITUS and UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, RETIRED A Teacher’s Guide to the Signet Classic Edition of Booker T. Washington’s Up from Slavery 2 INTRODUCTION Booker T. Washington’s commanding presence and oratory deeply moved his contemporaries. His writings continue to influence readers today. Although Washington claimed his autobiography was “a simple, straightforward story, with no attempt at embellishment,” readers for nearly a century have found it richly rewarding. Today, Up From Slavery appeals to a wide audience from early adolescence through adulthood. More important, however, is the inspiration his story of hard work and positive goals gives to all readers. His life is an example providing hope to all. The complexity and contradictions of his life make his autobiography intellectually intriguing for advanced readers. To some he was known as the Sage of Tuskegee or the Black Moses. One of his prominent biographers, Louis R. Harlan, called him the “Wizard of the Tuskegee Machine.” Others acknowledged him to be a complicated person and public figure. Students of American social and political history have come to see that Washington lived a double life. Publicly he appeased the white establishment...

Words: 13713 - Pages: 55

Premium Essay

Freud Theory

...The Problem of Faith in 'Young Goodman Brown' Author(s): Leo B. Levy Publication Details: JEGP: Journal of English and Germanic Philology 74.3 (July 1975): p375-387. Source: Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Juliet Byington. Vol. 95. Detroit: Gale Group, 2001. p375-387. From Literature Resource Center. Document Type: Critical essay Full Text: COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group, COPYRIGHT 2007 Gale, Cengage Learning [In the following essay, Levy examines Faith as a character, an allegorical figure, and a symbol.] Few of Hawthorne's tales have elicited a wider range of interpretations than “Young Goodman Brown.” The critics have been victimized by the notorious ambiguity of a tale composed of a mixture of allegory and the psychological analysis of consciousness. Many of them find the key to its meaning in a neurotic predisposition to evil; one goes so far as to compare Goodman Brown to Henry James's governess in The Turn of the Screw [Darrel Abel, in “Black Glove and Pink Ribbon: Hawthorne's Metonymic Symbols,” in NEQ 42, 1969]. The psychological aspect is undeniably important, since we cannot be certain whether “Young Goodman Brown” is a dream-allegory that takes place in the mind and imagination of the protagonist, an allegory with fixed referents in the external world, or a combination of these that eludes our ordinary understanding of the genre itself. The story is all three: a dream vision, a conventional allegory, and finally an inquiry into the problem of faith that undermines...

Words: 5791 - Pages: 24

Free Essay

Gender and Transitional Justice: Contribution of Transitional Justice Mechanisms in Addressing Gender-Based Violence in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone

...Gender and Transitional Justice An Assessment of the Contribution of Transitional Justice Mechanisms in Addressing Gender-Based Violence in post-Conflict Sierra Leone Introduction Sierra Leone, a relatively small country with a population of just over 6 million people, has been the focus of considerable attention due to the recent Ebola epidemic and, prior to that, the decade-long civil war (1991-2002) (Mills, Nesbitt-Ahmed, Diggins & Mackieu, 2015, p. 4). After the war, the transition from civil war to peace witnessed a number of landmark procedural innovations with widespread implications for gender justice. The decade-long conflict had shattered the West African country, displacing more than one million people and leaving more than two hundred thousand women and girls dealing with the aftermath of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). Then, in 1999, the Lomé Peace Agreement traded amnesty for peace, making provision for the creation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Sierra Leone to work parallel to the Special Court of Sierra Leone (otherwise called the Special Court or the SCSL) in order to prosecute those who bore “the greatest responsibility” for mass atrocities committed during the civil war. While there is a growing consensus that truth and reconciliation commissions as a transitional justice mechanism can be effective tools “in the construction of a post-conflict society that is more democratic and more respectful of human rights” (Wielbelhans-Hrahm...

Words: 6180 - Pages: 25

Free Essay

Essay on Girrafes

...Giraffid   Newsletter  of  the  Giraffe  &  Okapi  Specialist  Group       Note  from  the  Co-­‐Chairs   Volume  7(2),  December  2013   Wow  –  what  a  bumper  issue  and,  of  course,  only  befitting  for  the   renamed  Giraffid  newsletter  of  the  IUCN  SSC  Giraffe  and  Okapi  Specialist   Group  (GOSG)!     Inside  this  issue:   It  has  been  an  exciting  last  six  months  and  this  issue  brings  you  lots  of   stories  and  tall  tales  from  across  the  African  continent  and  beyond.  From   species  conservation  strategies  and  Red  List  updates,  interesting  wild  and   captive  behaviours  to  translocations,  hooves  and  DNA,  this  is  truly  a  fully   loaded  newsletter.  An  inspiring  read  to  keep  us  all  going  over  the   imminent  festive  season  and  a  relaxing  winter  or  summer  break.   Unusual  sightings  of  wild  giraffe  behaviour  4   GOSG  together  with  the  Zoological  Society  of  London  (ZSL),  the  Institut   Congolais  pour  la  Conservation  de  la  Nature...

Words: 32485 - Pages: 130