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A Long Way Gone: Memoirs Of A Boy Soldier By Ishmael Beah

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A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of A Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah is a memoir of

his experiences as a soldier during the civil war in Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone is a country

in West Africa that had a civil war that lasted from 1991 till 2002. The war started when

Revolutionary United Front (RUF) attempted to overthrow the Joseph momoh

government. The war resulted in over 50,000 deaths. During the civil war, children as

young as seven years old were recruited to serve in the army but they weren't really

recruited at all, they were threatened to join or they would be killed or kidnapped.

Ishmael was threatened and forced to join the army of Sierra Leone at the age of

twelve. By that time he was a killing machine. Ishmael describes his experiences of …show more content…

During his time in

the army Ishmael becomes addicted to drugs (marijuana, cocaine and other pills). One

day a UNICEF truck comes to his normal life, but Ishmael and many others have

withdrawals from drugs. During his rehabilitation he is reminded of his love for rap

music. With help of rap and a nurse named Esther, Ishmael is be fully rehabilitated. He

then goes to live with his Uncle Tommy in Sierra Leone. Ishmael is chosen to meet and

speak with the UN about his experiences as a child in the war. While he’s there he meets

Laura Simms, a good role model for him. After he returns to Sierra Leone he escapes and

catches a flight to America, where he is adopted and lives with Laura.

Theme

An important theme throughout the book is Survival. Ishmael is forced to survive

on his own after he loses his family and friends. Ishmael survives his training in the army.

Then he is forced to fight on the front lines of battles. During his rehabilitation, Ishmael

fights his addiction to drugs, and in the end he wins. Ishmael survives all of these

obstacles, flees to America and lives happily ever after.

Name

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And went all over the world to tell people how bad the world is then what other people think. and this place has bad shelter and the people sufer bad and i think it said that is were he is from that is how the lived so he is telling people that its a bad world out there. Ishmael has a mother and her name is laura simms and his brother name is junior Beah and his spouse is priscillia kounkou. he started writing books ever seince he was 12 years old.

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He then moves to Mattru Jong to live with his father. The war hits when he is on a trip with his friends and his brother to see his grandmother. He then has to run away from the war leaving his family behind him. ishmael continues running from the war for most of his childhood and eventually losses his brother and the rest of his family in the process.

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The first time Ishmael was ever touched by war was at age 12. At 13, he was picked by the Government Army and brought to a vicious and brutal world. He woke up everyday with fear of dying. He tried his best to look the toughest and satisfy the rebels by fulfilling their demands. Ishmael took a dose of drugs daily to keep him energized and to keep him awake.

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Ishmael has a flashback of his life in the war. In his dream he encounters a body wrapped in white bed sheets, and as he unwraps it he realizes it is his own face he is looking at. He then awakens, sweating and on the ground. He says, “I was afraid to fall asleep, but staying awake also brought back painful memories” (Beah 19). Even being in a different country cannot take away the hell that Ishmael has been through.

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Another event that was probably his final turn before deciding to become a violent child soldier. In chapter 11, Ishmael has just lost his family and blames Gasemu and tries to kill him, “walked behind Gasemu and locked his neck under my arm. I squeezed him as hard as I could” (Beah 96). this quote demonstrates how Ishmael is willing to kill now for revenge as the quote did not show any hesitation from Ishmael. As shown in the article Child soldiers battle traumas in Congo rehab, it reads, “the children, they go back to their villages and they tell other children carrying a gun is not the way” (Nima).

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