Analysis Of A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah

The concept of Shared Humanity is like chains linked together. Humans make up this chain, but each person is “linked” by similar experiences. Each human has a distinct personality but all share relationships, loss, survival, emotions, choice, and morality. Shared Humanity is the assortment of characteristics that compose all humans to be human. These characteristics falling under these categories unite the human species, as they are found in all people, some including a need for formal definition, familial relationships, or having morals and values. The question of what makes humans human goes beyond physical characteristics, decisions people make, how people survive, emotions experienced by humans, and personal qualities such as wittiness

A choice made by all humans is refusal to accept what is. The story begins with the setting in a small village located in Sierra Leone, Africa. Rebels are fighting against the government, which includes the destruction and killing of civilians and their homes. Villages near Beah’s community were invaded, and refugees would pass through his town, telling stories of their families torture and death. He wrote, “Apart from their fatigue and malnourishment, it was evident that they had seen something that plagued their minds, something that we would refuse to accept if they had told us all of it,” (Beah 5). Ishmael’s family and friends choose to ignore war because it is painless for people to ignore their problems than come to terms with the reality of a completely altered future and the risk of lives. Denial from humans occurs periodically, whether consequences arise or not. This characteristic of humanity is existent because people do not want to focus on what rough experiences are to come. Need more analysis. After war eventually struck Ishmael and his village, he and his friends had to learn to survive. Following the invasion of Mattru Jong, Ishmael and his friends had to escape by crossing the river, Jong. He wrote, “we ran past people who were stuck in the mud, past handicapped people who couldn’t be helped, for anyone who stopped to do so was risking his own life,” (Beah 24). Humans can kill or help each other in order to survive. Although everyone who did not help the handicapped people stuck in the mud did not kill them, they were conscious that their decision would result in death. Ishmael and his friends wanted to survive because they had hope of reuniting with their families, or did not want their death to be caused by rebels. While readers may perceive their tactic of survival amoral, their situation allows people to evaluate what they