“I believe children have the resilience to outlive their sufferings, if given a chance.” - Ishmael Beah After having gone through the most trying and obstacle-filled period of their lives, Ishmael Beah and Mariatu Kamara were given that chance. Kamara and Beah, although both having lived through the same war, had vastly different experiences from each other. Ishmael Beah was a child soldier for the government, a force to be reckoned with unless you were on his side, whereas Mariatu Kamara was a victim of a Rebel attack, a lone girl trying to survive after having her hands cut off and barely escaping certain death . However, both were victims of tragic circumstance, forced to give up their childhood in order to survive, and both were resilient …show more content…
She not only survived the Rebel attack on her village, but also faced rape, pregnancy, and having her hands cut off at only 12 years old. Kamara shows resiliency throughout her whole novel, especially when she needed to learn how to adjust to life outside of her home village. An example of her resiliency and mettle can be found on page 84, where she writes, “Meat, cassava, beans, and fresh water were increasingly difficult to find. That responsibility soon fell to the kids. We became the breadwinners in our families through begging.” After having lived 12 years without this kind of responsibility, Mariatu steps up to the plate and goes out begging every day to support her family. This shows how she is quick to recover from difficult situations and to adapt to a new environment that she isn’t used to. Another instance where Mariatu shows great strength and resilience is on page 187, where she describes her experience with school. The memoir states, “My teachers gave me extra time to complete tests and examinations. I think I may have failed the first semester... But by June, I did get a report card, and I’d earned Cs across the board.” Although Mariatu struggled greatly with school, as she had just learned English and did not have hands to write with, she worked hard every day and eventually earned impressive grades for a girl who had just come from a war-torn society without schooling. This demonstrates Kamara’s ability to bounce back from tragedy and pick up new skills soon after she left Sierra Leone. All-in-all, Mariatu Kamara is a strong, independent female survivor of war and is an inspiration to others in terms of her resilience and