Ishmael Beah

us of the disturbing practice of recruiting and exploiting Child Soldiers, but the most prominent and moving of them are the book “A Long Way Gone” (A LONG WAY GONE) written by Ishmael Beah and the documentary, “War Dance” (WAR DANCE) directed by Sean Fine. “A Long Way Gone” follows the true story of the writer, Ishmael Beah during the time when he was a child soldier in Sierra Leone, on the North West coast of Africa. “War Dance” documents the stories of three children living in Patongo, a camp…

War from 1991 to 2001 affected every citizen of Sierra Leone, including children. Ishmael Beah is a man who was caught in the war as a child, and forced to both witness and commit acts of violence as a child soldier, as expressed in his memoir. The role of violence in the memoir A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah is to portray the theme of loss of innocence through the comparisons and contrasts of violent acts while Ishmael was running from the rebels, during his time as a child soldier, and after…

Family can drive you insane. Families have certain qualifications and characteristics that define them. In A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah, “The Best Locker Room Speeches of Week 17”, and in “My Gang, My Family” Rowenna Davis all show and explain these things. The characteristics of a family are people who complete hardships together, gives safety for one another, and they share the same pride. In “My Gang My Family” the author Rowenna Davis gives countless examples of how families and gangs…

Gone by Ishmael Beah, he wrote this novel to share his story and inspire many who are going through tough times, to keep going, and keep hope. While the book was told in the third person from the person who experienced the Sierra Leone war first hand for himself, it was a very well written and captivating novel. One of the main reasons A Long Way Gone was so fascinating was due to the reason that this was Ishmael Beah’s life as a young boy and the way he tells it is very intriguing.…

Title rough copy Although their situations are very different Ishmael in the novel A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah and Chris from the film The Pursuit Of Happyness directed by Gabriele Muccino both exhibit similarities in their journey to success. To begin both characters Chris and Ishmael both lose their homes in their journey. Ishmael is forced to leave his home because of the war that has broke out, he is accepting to go back to his home and see his family once the war is over; As I was…

In the novel A Long Way Gone written by Ishmael Beah, we are given a glimpse into the life of a child that is trying to make his way in life during a time of war. While Beah does lose his family, home and childhood, he also loses his sense of safety and belonging. During the war, people from different villages continue to flee from the rebels that are constantly conquering villages, slaughtering the villagers like cattle. As the villages are broken down and conquered, boys are taken from their…

Both Mariatu and Ishmael go into the Sierra Leone war unknowing of the physical and psychological transformation that will be forced upon them. This transformation, their loss of innocence, rids them of their childhood and forces them to endure experiences inappropriate for children. Mariatu, whose story is told in The Bite of the Mango, is a young girl whose hands are cut off by rebel soldiers. After traveling a long way for medical attention, she undergoes surgery and later finds out that she…

Imagine children fighting in war -- many of them unaware of what’s happening around them. Now imagine you were one of the families that had to watch as one of the children of your family was whisked off to war. Even if that child has no intention of fighting, he/she eventually will fight. The child will have drugs in their system and those drugs will help brainwash them … until he/she is the perfect little soldier. How do you feel after imagining that? Do you believe that child soldiers should…

alike and different. However, the techniques of the portrayal of the hero’s journey had always been different throughout works of literature that include this archetype such as A Long Way Gone and The Hobbit. A Long Way Gone is the true story of Ishmael Beah’s traumatizing childhood of being an unwilling boy soldier in Sierra Leone and how he was able to turn his life around.The Hobbit is about a hobbit by the name of Bilbo Baggins, who embarks on an adventure to help the dwarves reclaim…

All Quiet on the Western Front, written by Erich Remarque, and A Long Way Gone, written by Ishmael Beah, are both stories telling one of many otherwise overlooked tragedies of war. Those who are not forced to fight never see the true horror of the war. Many think of war as something heroic and honorable, and focus on the idea that it is bringing justice and fighting for one’s country. They only see the patriotism fighting. However, people lack the understanding of the horrors that war brings.…