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A Long Way Gone Sparknotes

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Ismael Beah: Ruthless Killing Machine to Healed Civilian 1993, Sierra Leone is a war zone: bombs exploding, rebels attacking, and blood gushing through the streets. Amidst this chaos, Ishmael Beah’s life is hung by a thread as he runs for his life. Every decision he makes is a gamble on his fate, and a single misstep could prove catastrophic. His memoir, A Long Way Gone, vividly depicts his struggles as a child ensnared in war. At age twelve, Beah is thrust into a violent and unforgiving life, witnessing the murder of loved ones, and then falling prey to the Sierra Leone army’s mind-twisting manipulation. Escaping the army’s clutches, Beah battles trauma and flashbacks, until finding peace at the Benin rehabilitation house. There, he is supported …show more content…

Through compassion and care, the staff at the Beinin house transformed Beah’s community and healed his shattered childhood, allowing him to transition into a fully rehabilitated civilian who can rely on his community for support and care. Beah can recapture his humanity through the love and encouragement he receives from his newfound family, allowing him to undo the manipulation he underwent, and rehabilitate back into civilian life. Ishmeal Beah’s narrative, A Long Way Gone, serves as a beacon of light, proving that healing is possible through the support and care from a committed family, even after experiencing manipulation as a lost and broken child. His journey serves as a testament to the importance of an empathetic community, and the crucial role of rehabilitation in helping soldiers heal and reclaim their lives. Although Beah lost most of his childhood to the manipulation from the army after his family was murdered, he was saved for his future by the compassion and care from the staff at the Benin rehabilitation house, especially Nurse

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Compare And Contrast A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah

503 Words | 3 Pages

The impact of war can have very harmful effects on people, especially children. In “A Long Way Gone” by Ishmael Beah, he explains the war of Sierra Leone from his point of view. The tragedy of losing his family, becoming a boy soldier, and the effects of war is said throughout the book, making it an interesting story to read. But, while Ishmael explains what he went through, it is hidden that other people were affected by the actions he took. Although Ishmael did play a victimizer, he was also a victim at the same time.

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Examples Of Hope In A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah

564 Words | 3 Pages

A Long Way Gone is Ishmael Beah’s memoir. It retracts all of the tragic events Ishmeal endured while the Sierra Leone civil war occurred. Ishmael was a child who lived an ordinary life until rebels infiltrated his village which left him and others with no choice, but to flee. He was then forced to become a child soldier. This book shows the physical and mental torture Beah had to go through while has was a child soldier.

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Ishmael's Changes In A Long Way Gone

800 Words | 4 Pages

Within Ishmael Beah’s book A Long Way Gone we see the sierra leone civil war take over and consume a young boy’s life. During Ishmael’s life his settings change rapidly because of the war, this causes him to change with his surroundings. Throughout the book the 3 reoccurring themes has to be family, death and food.

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Analysis Of A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah

1585 Words | 7 Pages

The influence of war on his inner turmoil is exhibited when he encounters the wounded family in the van. This was his first real exposure to the casualties of war. He personifies the ground he stood on. He writes that he felt the ground moving beneath his feet (13). Beah feels as if he no longer stands on solid ground because the world he firmly knew has shifted, leaving him dazed and confused.

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How Does Beah Use Metaphors In A Long Way Gone

220 Words | 1 Pages

In his memoir A Long Way Gone, Beah uses rhetorical techniques like metaphors and anecdotes to showcase how your innocence can still be regained. For example, he says “My squad was my family, [and] my gun was my provider and protector” (Beah 154). This metaphor showcases his initial loss of innocence during the war, which happened after he had lost his family when the rebels attacked their village. The personification of his gun and the comparison between his squad and his family highlight that he has been transformed into a mercenary, as he can no longer depend on anyone else to protect or provide for him, the typical duties of one’s family. Beah also describes one of his dreams where he “sat in the rain for a while,” and let it “clean the

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Examples Of Ptsd In A Long Way Gone

635 Words | 3 Pages

In the novel, “A Long Way Gone,” Ishmael Beah suffers from PTSD due to the exposure to war at such a young age and the rehabilitation process. Ishmael was exposed to guns, drugs and other types of violent acts due to the war at the age of 12. As time went by, Ishmael lost his family and slowly his friends too. Ishmael was traumatized from all the violence he experienced due to the war approaching his village. He had been forced by the Sierra Leone Armed Forces to serve as a child soldier during a civil war and “It was not easy being a soldier, but we just had to do it.

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A Long Way Gone Character Analysis Beah's '

555 Words | 3 Pages

Beah becomes a pile of clay into the army’s hands thanks to his plight in life; he lost his family, friends and village because of the war, strangers everywhere he goes mistrust him and he has no basic human needs like water to drink and food to eat. Beah is angry, vulnerable and exhausted. The first stage of vulnerably he feels is the lack of basic human needs. While roaming the county, there is very little food and water in abundance and this causes many problems for Beah and his friends.

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A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah Sparknotes

542 Words | 3 Pages

Hunter Davis Mr.Werley English lll 9 March 2023 Unusual Normalites Ishmael Beah reflects on his experience as a former child soldier in Sierra Leone and his societal challenges after the war. Ishmael describes the difficulty of readjusting to normal life and the struggle to find a sense of belonging and purpose in the world. Beah begins by describing the unreal experience of returning to his village after the war. He says, "Everything seemed so normal, yet it was all real." (8)Beah had spent years as a child soldier, forced to commit acts of violence and witness unspeakable atrocities.

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A Long Way Gone, By Ishmael Beah

477 Words | 2 Pages

Babes in Arms is a story written by Boyd that explains Beah’s life and horror. With all the violence Beah witnessed, the evidence in A Long Way Gone proves the war in Sierra Leone impacted Beah’s life in several ways. For starters, Beah was an orphan at twelve years old after he was separated from his family and never felt safe throughout this “journey”. It is stated that, “...in Beah’s case the arrival of the rebels in his small town meant sudden separation from his parents….”(Boyd 302)

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Examples Of Resilience In A Long Way Gone

498 Words | 2 Pages

ECR: A Long Way Gone In “A Long Way Gone”, Ishmael Beah's journey as a child soldier in Sierra Leone highlights the resilience required to survive in the face of traumatic events. Ishmael Beah's resilience in the face of trauma and adversity shows the importance of hope and determination in overcoming life's challenges. After a devastating attack in his village, Ishmael escapes and struggles for independence. "I ran for my life, my heart pounding, my mind racing.

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A Long Way Gone Analysis

1110 Words | 5 Pages

Not experiencing war is a luxury many people unfortunately do not get; however, Ishmael Beah, the author of A Long Way Gone, lives and survives the war, though not without heartache. With war there is always fear, death, and hell. Ishmael Beah proves war is hell through the killing of civilians, the distrust, and the after effects of the war. Ishmael proves war is hell through the killing of civilians. Many innocent bystanders of the war are forced out of their homes, made to run for their lives.

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Examples Of Loss Of Innocence In A Long Way Gone

1258 Words | 6 Pages

On Saturday, March 23 the Sierra Leone army came under attack from rebel forces from within the country called the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), a ruthless group of soldiers led by a former army Sierra Leone corporal, Foday Sankoh. They would do anything to gain control of the country including the enlistment of child soldiers, and they had the upper hand until the army followed their strategy and drafted children themselves (Fyfe and Davidson). Many of the child soldiers suffered a lot of physical and psychological trauma from the war including a young boy named Ishmael Beah. In A Long Way Gone, Beah’s recounting of his experiences in the war, portrays the loss of innocence and hope in child soldiers due to the effects of war.

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A Long Way Gone Quotes

600 Words | 3 Pages

Ishmael Beah’s memoir, "A Long Way Gone," tells the story of a young soldier boy in Sierra Leone and explores topics of death and rebirth. The narrative is instrumental in demonstrating how the human being can be strong even amidst the adversities of life. His journey from a happy childhood to a war-torn existence and on to convalescence shows how loss can have far-reaching effects on the possibility of redemption. The dark moments that Beah refers to are described in great detail and evoke emotion, through which he aims to show that it takes courage to overcome such situations. Before the start of the civil war, Ishmael had his family close by as well as a lively community.

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A Long Way Gone Comparative Essay

864 Words | 4 Pages

All survivors from 21st century wars have traumatic memories that people can sympathize for and stories that are cringe worthy. Two 21st century war autobiographies that exemplify how gruesome the war was in Sierra Leone, Africa are The Bite of the Mango by Mariatu Kamara and A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah. These real accounts from children who grew up during these hard times give insight on how the standards of life have changed.

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Reflection On A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah

498 Words | 2 Pages

The way Beah explained what happened to him, he did it in a sad way. My response to the writer is that I feel sorry for him. I cannot relate to him in any way since I have never been exposed to war and even been a soldier fighting in it. He was strong through the hardest part of his life; the actual war itself, rehabilitation, and ultimately escaping Freetown, Sierra Leone to eventually fly over to New York and start a new life. Ishmael Beah’s memoir, A Long Way Gone, replays a part of Beah’s life that will always be very vivid to him.

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