"A Long Way Gone: Memoirs Of A Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah, has permanently altered my understanding of "Civil War". Due to the way Ishmael Beah talked about his own near death experiences, children who read his book can now have knowledge of war, from a child's perspective. The absurd savagery Ishmael was exposed to, taught him lessons a child like myself should never have to learn. Reading this book has brought light of the many intentional and unintentional consequences of war. Ishmael had been born in Mogwemo, a poor segregated village, like most of the regions in Sierra Leone. He came from a split family, as if that wasn't a sad enough start at an early age. throughout the journey of war, Ishmael and his brother, Junior grew a stronger …show more content…
Without all the family Ishmael needed it was as if he were no longer a child but an adult. Family was important to Ishmael and without them there was no living to be done, just surviving. Ever since Ishmael was little, he was told that he should try to be more like the moon, even when in Benin Rehabilitating home he thought of the moon. Living in nature was where Ishmael felt the most safe, where he could continue to stay innocent. wherever
Ishmael ran and hid to, he was protected by the hugging forest away from the rebels.
Ishmael being born as a villager, the most important thing for him was to know his wild life and greenery, Ishmaels Grandparents were brought up a lot for how they taught him of plants and medicine. The period where Ishmael became lost in the forest and depressing thoughts clouded his mind, really goes to show how lonely times were for him and how hard it was to deal with all of the family lost and war. Ishmael's only way of staying alive and safe from the gangs that went from town to town killing, burning, raping and destroying villagers along with their homes, was running