"Older men declare war. But it is youth that must fight and die," said Herbert Hoover, 31st president of the United States. This quote that is still relevant today, is referring to the situations in countries such as the ones in Venezuela, Ukraine, Syria and Iraq are in today. The situations in these two books, A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, are similar to the ones of these countries. The main characters, Ishmael Beah and Katniss Everdeen, are kids in a war they did not choose to be part of. War and conflict interfere with the lives of two survival-driven adolescents who will be seemingly scarred for life.
Violence and death are forced upon both Ishmael and Katniss as they observe death and at one point they kill, causing them to slowly lose their innocence. After Ismael witnesses his friends murdered by the rebel group of Sierra Leone he says, “I raised my gun and pulled the trigger… Suddenly, as if someone was shooting them inside my brain, all the massacres I had seen since the day I was touched by war, started flashing in my head” (Beah, 145). The beginning of his loss of innocence starts when he takes his first kill. Ishmael is mad, …show more content…
The pair want to survive for their own sake and for their family’s sake. What kept Ismael going was wondering if his family was still alive. In fact, in several occasions, Ishmael states that he is looking forward to seeing his family. In one occasion Ishmael “To survive each passing day was my goal in life… I thought about where my family was and whether they were alive” (Beah, 89). Katniss says that she has to survive for her family as well because, even though it was “slow-going at first” she was “determined to feed” them because she said she “kept [them] alive.” (Collins, 51). Both had a common goal, and that was to survive for their loved
Violence and death are forced upon both Ishmael and Katniss as they observe death and at one point they kill, causing them to slowly lose their innocence. After Ismael witnesses his friends murdered by the rebel group of Sierra Leone he says, “I raised my gun and pulled the trigger… Suddenly, as if someone was shooting them inside my brain, all the massacres I had seen since the day I was touched by war, started flashing in my head” (Beah, 145). The beginning of his loss of innocence starts when he takes his first kill. Ishmael is mad, …show more content…
The pair want to survive for their own sake and for their family’s sake. What kept Ismael going was wondering if his family was still alive. In fact, in several occasions, Ishmael states that he is looking forward to seeing his family. In one occasion Ishmael “To survive each passing day was my goal in life… I thought about where my family was and whether they were alive” (Beah, 89). Katniss says that she has to survive for her family as well because, even though it was “slow-going at first” she was “determined to feed” them because she said she “kept [them] alive.” (Collins, 51). Both had a common goal, and that was to survive for their loved