Analysis Of Babes In Arms By Ishmael Beah

The years spent being a child are the most simplest in life. Many people even find themselves wanting to go back to these times. The immaturity, the oblivion, and the genuine innocence-- yet there are some kids who can lose it all. As discussed in “Babes in Arms”, the young Ishmael Beah, author of A Long Way Gone, was involved in the war in Sierra Leone and forced to see a dark side of humanity that impacted his life in several ways.
A very important factor in a person’s youth that can really affect them is the presence of both parents, which Beah had been taken away from. Family members are some of the most important people around. Siblings stay close and parents teach their kids what no one else can pass on, but there had been an unjustified limit to Beah’s time with his family, which the following quote shows, “..and in Beah’s case the arrival of the rebels in his small town meant sudden separation from his parents...” (Boyd Families stand by and protect each other. In the end, departing from anyone after knowing them for more than a decade will be devastating and sudden. …show more content…
This quote shows Beah’s recruitment, “These terrified youngsters wandered aimlessly along the jungle tracks, starving and desperate, harassed and suspected… they were eventually recruited into the Sierra Leone Army as boy soldiers.” Not only was Beah taken from his parents at the age of twelve, he had also been recruited as a soldier. Although he must’ve been noticeably young, he was still dragged into the war and fought alongside others. A twelve-year-old shouldn’t have to be in a war. Not when their minds aren’t fully developed or they can barely come to understand what a war truly means. Had no one had been thinking of how this war would affect Beah’s