Book Review Of A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier is the true story of Ishmael Beah’s, the author and narrator, experience leading into and eventually becoming a child soldier in Sierra Leone’s military during the Sierra Leonean Civil War. The story begins with Beah, then a twelve year old child, leaving his home village of Mattru Jong to attend a talent show where he and other boys, including his brother Junior, would hip-hop dance to their favorite music genre, rap. On his way he encounters his grandmother’s village where she convinces the boys to stay the night, in the morning he is stunned to learn that Mattru Jong was attacked by the Royal United Front (RUF) and that the people who were in the village were now dead or refugees. After this, Ishmael

The impact of war can have very harmful effects on people, especially children. In “A Long Way Gone” by Ishmael Beah, he explains the war of Sierra Leone from his point of view. The tragedy of losing his family, becoming a boy soldier, and the effects of war is said throughout the book, making it an interesting story to read. But, while Ishmael explains what he went through, it is hidden that other people were affected by the actions he took. Although Ishmael did play a victimizer, he was also a victim at the same time.

The civil war that happened in the years 1991-2002 made a big impact on every man, woman and child in Sierra Leone. The author Ishmael Beah goes into exceptional detail in the book A Long Way Gone about his journey making it out of the Sierra Leone civil war. Ishmael was only at the age twelve when the war came to his village. From this point on, his life was changed forever.

However, many people died during the attack. Next, there was the separation of Ishmael and his friends. When Ishmael and his friends were staying in the village of Kamator, the rebels attacked. This caused Ishmael to become separated from his friends. The attack was too sudden for Ishmael to go look for his friends.

A Long Way Gone is the accurate adventure of Ishmael Beah, who becomes a soldier during a horrifying war in Sierra Leone. When Ishmael was twelve years old, his village got attacked while he was out with his friends for a rap music competition. After the village got attacked, he lost contact with his brother, mother and father; but one of his brother stayed with for a while finding food and shelter. Ishmael goal was to survive throughout the war, so he turned himself into a totally new person.

Ishmael Being put in a vulnerable circumstance, he was recruited into the government army by Lieutenant Jabati,

A Long Way Gone Memoirs of a boy soldier is a memoir written by Ishmael Beah. This novel is about Ishmael's first hand experience of the Civil war in sierra leone between Mar 23, 1991 to Jan 18, 2002 .I feel  the book gave a genuine glimpse of war and how Ishmael stayed alive as a refugee and showed what he had to do in order to survive in this war. The memoir also showed the corruption of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) who with the support of the Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia, attempted to overthrow the government. However, a messenger from the RUF said that they were on their side and would like to be welcomed.

There is a problem in the world and something needs to be done of it. There are children, primarily in Africa, that are forced to massacre innocent men and women. These kids are called child soldiers. Child soldiers are kids who are associated in war. A popular book about child soldier is an autobiography by Ishmael Beah called A Long Way Gone.

Ishmael was a 12-year old boy when his town was invaded by rebels. He experienced the daily obstacles of living life during a war. He lost the daily basics of life, including food

Nic Gonet Mrs. Knebel Enriched Senior Comp. 18 December 2014 A Long Way Gone Final Paper In the memoir, “A Long Way Gone,” the author, Ishmael Beah, reflects on many very detailed war scenes that he experienced during the time of Sierra Leone’s civil war. Many of these scenes are heartless and possess things that you think no man could ever possibly live with himself after acting upon.

Many people go through things they consider hard in their lives. For many teens today this can be breaking up with someone, breaking their phone, and fighting with their friends. But, for Ishmael Beah his struggles are harder than that. He has to go without his family, he ends up doing drugs, and has to kill people to survive. In “A Long Way Gone” by Ishmael Beah, all these struggles are true for him and he has to find a way to live through them and learn how to survive without lots of food and water.

Did you know that there are 5,525,00 people that live in Sierra Leone? Ishmael Beah’s tragic transformation into an RUF child soldier, as well as his rehabilitation afterward, proves that all human beings can be given a second chance at life. Ishmael encountered many tragic things including starvation, forced to do things that were not right, and also getting beaten. He learned from what he has done moved on from it but will never forget the tragic things he has seen and done. A long Way Gone is a true story of Ishmael Beah, who becomes an unwilling boy soldier during a civil war in Sierra Leone.

Not experiencing war is a luxury many people unfortunately do not get; however, Ishmael Beah, the author of A Long Way Gone, lives and survives the war, though not without heartache. With war there is always fear, death, and hell. Ishmael Beah proves war is hell through the killing of civilians, the distrust, and the after effects of the war. Ishmael proves war is hell through the killing of civilians. Many innocent bystanders of the war are forced out of their homes, made to run for their lives.

The major theme in the story A Long Way Gone is that with family and love a person can make it through anything. Overall Ishmael’s story is a very powerful, eye opening read; it informs people on a subject that some know little to nothing about, the civil war in Sierra Leone. Beah uses the theme of family and love, along with the use of symbolism and other literary devices, to inform a larger audience of the issues that he and others had to face while trying to survive in a war zone. A Long Way Gone, an autobiographical memoir, written by Ishmael Beah, takes place in Sierra Leone during the time of their civil war.

”(Beah, 112). The corporal uses the rebels as a way to control the children 's emotions and use them for himself. He makes Ishmael’s desire start to transition towards creating destruction. Later, Ishmael and his friend’s enter into the battlefield. During this time, Ishmael kills his first victim and his desire completely turns into killing sprees.