A Long Way Gone Response Essay

A Long Way Gone Response While reading A Long Way Gone, I noticed that family is an important subject throughout the book. In the beginning, Ishmael has a mother, father, older brother named Junior, and a younger brother. Ishmael and Junior were very close. When Junior would come home from school, he would bring Ishmael rap cassettes;they would memorize the lyrics and dance to the beat. Ishmael had a rough relationship with his father because of all the stepmothers who had destroyed it. Ishmael’s mother was always happy to see her sons when they came to visit. Ishmael’s grandmother had a huge influence on Ishmael. She told him that she tried to be like the moon, and after telling him that Ishmael tried to do the same. One day, Ishmael and

Ishmael hoped his family was safe and not heartbroken over Junior and him. At the time, Ishmael was traveling with six other boys. All of the boys stayed quiet all afraid to speak about their families. After this, the boys were their own little family. They would travel village to village just trying to get away from the rebels. These were rough times for Ishmael and the boys;they would go without food for a couple of days. Ishmael explains that they were so hungry that it hurt to drink water. The attack in Kamator was the last time that Ishmael saw Junior. Ishmael was now all alone. This was very hard on Ishmael. When Ishmael was in the forest, he thought about how his grandfather, Junior, and him would take walks on the paths around the coffee grounds. During the visits, their grandfather would give them a special medicine that supposedly made you smarter. Ishmael would take it before every test. Every single time that Ishmael’s memories of his family come up, it brings him strength and the perseverance to find them. In one village, Ishmael ran into some boys that he knew. From then on, he started traveling with those seven boys. They were like a family;they were the only people that Ishmael had. One