A Long Way Gone

A Long Way Gone. Ishmael Beah. New York: Sarah Critchton Books, 2007, 229 pages. The theme of this book is to never give up on hope. Hope is what everybody should believe in and have because hope occurred in the past and will be there in the future. The author uses a lot of imagery, symbol, and builds a connection with the readers. In the country Sierra Leone, a war broke out in 1993 where the rebel turns against the government. The main character, Ishmael Beah, at age 12, face his hardest situation that took away his childhood. He has to find safety and his lost family. Many times he would get caught but his talent of rapping has helped him escape death because he has hope. Ishmael has a tough journey looking for safety until he settles

Readers can relate to the narrator’s situation, as well as the universe. Everyone struggles in life and goes through many obstacles, such as losing a loved one. On page 208, Ishmael loses his beloved uncle. In denial, tears ran down his aunt’s and his face. Many people have gone through the heartbroken experience of losing someone special, like how Ishmael did. Readers who became independent at a very young age can relate to Ishmael. On page 49, Ishmael walked for two days straight and felt afraid. This mutual connection between the narrator and readers increases the readers’ interest to continue reading. Therefore, I strongly recommend this memoir for all people to read. Ishmael has done a splendid job continuing to have hope. He manages to survive and remain strong through 2 to 3 years during the terrifying war. Overall, creating a strong imagination, representatives, and being able to relate the memoir to the readers’ life was how I evaluated A Long Way Gone. Readers like to have vivid images in their head as they read, to examine the text and find many minimum interesting facts, as well as allowing themselves to think that they weren’t just the ones that has gone through a particular