A Long Way Gone Quotes

a) The impact their experiences have on them as characters Ha, Marji, and Ishmael all experience war in their lives. Marji has to survive an unfair government and ruler. Ha has to leave Vietnam because the communists are coming to take over. Ishmael is recruited to the military when he is 12 years old and there was no other way to survive without becoming a child soldier. The experiences these people have been in, impact them because they all have lose their childhood and innocence. Ha has lost her childhood because she has to live on a boat and in a refugee camp. In the book Inside Out & Back Again it states, “I can still hear them begging when I go sit with Brother Khoi, who rarely speaks anymore but I’m happy to be near him” (pg. 99).

In Persepolis it states, “We didn’t like to wear the veil, especially since we didn’t understand why we had to” (pg. 3). This shows a loss of childhood because she and her classmates do not want to make changes to what they wear to school because of the new regime. I also believe this shows a lost of innocence because none of the children understand why changes are being made and do not want to follow the new rules. The book states, “Everywhere in the streets there were demonstrations for and against the veil” (pg.5). This quotes shows a loss of childhood because many people are demonstrating, which makes Marji want to do it as well. This shows how children are being affected by the new rules. This quote also shows a lost of innocence because no one cares about the new rules or their

I believe this because Ishmael wants to get revenge on the rebels for killing some of friends, during war. He is also determined to find his family, which he lost when the rebels were coming towards his village, the only person he was with from his family, was his older brother Junior. In the book A Long Way Gone it states, “This is one of the consequences of the civil war. People stop trusting each other, and every stranger becomes an enemy” (pg. 37). I feel like this explains how Ishmael is determined because he does not care that the people he is killing could be friends and when the war was over all his friends thought he would kill them. Ishmael is headstrong as well because he wants to get his way and try to have a better life after the war ends. He is trying to accept who he is and this allows him to understand why the children are afraid of him. He also is headstrong because he wants to go and try to live in New York with Laura because there was another war starting, and did not want to become another child soldier.
I believe Marji is a very determined and intelligent young girl. I believe this because she is determined to go to demonstrations and to become a prophet. In Persepolis Marji says, “At the age of six I was already sure I was the last prophet. This was a few years before the Revolution” (pg. 6). I feel like this shows how Marji is determined because she knows what she wants to be when she grows and is