“A war is when the government tells the people who the enemy is, a revolution is when you figure it out for yourself.” This was not true in the case of 12 year old Ishmael Beah who not only had to figure out who the enemy was, but also had to escape the trials of danger that came along with being at both ends of an AK-47. No child at that young age would deliberately put themselves in a situation where kill or be killed was their daily life motto. I think the child soldiers were highly unaware of having been brainwashed which in turn proves their innocence. The rehab center was foreign because they were not accustomed to being cared for, and They did not realize the difference between normal and insane when lashing out violently. Ishmael himself
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Ishmael was now 15 which means three precious years if his youth were spent mimicking the actions of men at the age of 20 or older. Instead of singing primary songs to remember their childhood, they talked about military ranks, guns, and smoking marijuana. Even with all the disagreeable influences surrounding these boys they spent their first day of goofing off and acting their age. They swam and played soccer. This was before their first field mission. Ishmael had a nightmare after his first field mission. “They gave me a few more of the white capsules. I stayed up all night and couldn’t sleep for a week… I had no problem shooting my gun.” (Page 120) The rehab center was supposed to be a clean slate, but the environment was completely different from sleeping in tents, running drills, and taking drugs. Ishmael acted like a war veteran, and showed signs of post-traumatic stress disorder. "I distanced myself from games in the village and sat behind houses, staring into the open space until my migraines temporarily subsided." (Page 102) Luckily, Esther was able to help him open up through rap …show more content…
Even so there was still a part of him that recognized the ill behavior and situation he was sucked into. He might not have realized the reasoning behind his actions, but I suspect Shakespeare was his way of escaping. His arrival at the rehabilitation center had him already questioning the army. He referred to them as the “so-called army” (Page 133) He goes around asking questions, but none of the other boys know why they were “given up”. Just as the army men had bombarded their thoughts with revenge and killing, the staff at the rehab center continued to say “It’s not your fault.” (Page 145) whenever the boys did anything considered not childlike. As time went by the child soldiers were worn down by the patience of the staff at the rehab center. This is when Ishmael first deliberately began trying to remember his life before the war. “I would try desperately to think about my childhood, but I couldn’t. The war memories had formed a barrier that I had to break in order to think about my moment in life before the war.” (Page 149) This happened months after his arrival at the rehab center, and since then he went through detox via vomiting. His brain is slowly trying to awake after a long dosage of foggy
Ishmael was now 15 which means three precious years if his youth were spent mimicking the actions of men at the age of 20 or older. Instead of singing primary songs to remember their childhood, they talked about military ranks, guns, and smoking marijuana. Even with all the disagreeable influences surrounding these boys they spent their first day of goofing off and acting their age. They swam and played soccer. This was before their first field mission. Ishmael had a nightmare after his first field mission. “They gave me a few more of the white capsules. I stayed up all night and couldn’t sleep for a week… I had no problem shooting my gun.” (Page 120) The rehab center was supposed to be a clean slate, but the environment was completely different from sleeping in tents, running drills, and taking drugs. Ishmael acted like a war veteran, and showed signs of post-traumatic stress disorder. "I distanced myself from games in the village and sat behind houses, staring into the open space until my migraines temporarily subsided." (Page 102) Luckily, Esther was able to help him open up through rap …show more content…
Even so there was still a part of him that recognized the ill behavior and situation he was sucked into. He might not have realized the reasoning behind his actions, but I suspect Shakespeare was his way of escaping. His arrival at the rehabilitation center had him already questioning the army. He referred to them as the “so-called army” (Page 133) He goes around asking questions, but none of the other boys know why they were “given up”. Just as the army men had bombarded their thoughts with revenge and killing, the staff at the rehab center continued to say “It’s not your fault.” (Page 145) whenever the boys did anything considered not childlike. As time went by the child soldiers were worn down by the patience of the staff at the rehab center. This is when Ishmael first deliberately began trying to remember his life before the war. “I would try desperately to think about my childhood, but I couldn’t. The war memories had formed a barrier that I had to break in order to think about my moment in life before the war.” (Page 149) This happened months after his arrival at the rehab center, and since then he went through detox via vomiting. His brain is slowly trying to awake after a long dosage of foggy