Book Report On A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah

Henry Andersen

Mrs. Freese

English 2

March 14, 2023

A Long Way Gone Essay

Around the world, teenagers are forced to fight each other and become drug addicts. Ishmael, like many others, became a child soldier. The story A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah is about Ishmael’s life before and during his time as a child soldier, as well as his struggles rehabilitating. Ishmael exposes the reader to the tragedies that he encountered. His accounts of the war were graphic, and brutal but were very eye-opening and powerful. I believe that this book is worth reading.

While reading A Long Way Gone I was consistently captivated by Ishmael Beah’s story. Every chapter told another part of his devastating childhood, and his constant challenges navigating the

Compared to Memory Police the book had a more natural and enjoyable flow. The book never felt rushed, yet it had a rapid pace and constant action. Ishmael decides to integrate a time skip into the middle of the novel, skipping over the bulk of his time as a soldier. Although being a soldier was Ishmael's primary motivator for writing A Long Way Gone, he chooses not to make it the entire story. I thoroughly enjoyed this approach to writing the book. As the reader, I enjoyed the style that the book was written in. Ishmael allowed the reader to learn about his recovery process after the war. He didn't completely deny the reader the details of when he was in the war. He took time to flashback, and recall important times in the war. He spared the reader the redundancy of his soldier routine and only told us the abnormalities he faced, and what he deemed crucial to write about. His experience of getting injured in the war stood out to me the most while reading. Ishmael describes his injury treatment by saying, “My bones became sour. Just when I thought I had enough, the doctor abruptly pulled the bullet out. A piercing pain rushed up my spine from my waist to the back of my neck. I fainted.”(Beah 158).

The change prompted a rebellion that left the country in shambles. Despite the tragic civil war, the youth of today are not completely aware of what occurred during this time. They are naive to what is happening around the world, and the realities of war. This was perfectly exemplified by the opening scene with Ishmael in an American high school. He highlights the romanticization of war in the media. The high schoolers have an inaccurate perception of the brutalities of war. Ishmael's purpose in writing this novel was to inform the uneducated on the truth of war. Ishmael's story was a shock to everyone who heard it. Even in his initial speech at the UN, he captivated his audience and showed them the reality of war. His speech to the UN was brief, but every word held immense weight and meaning. He explains at the end, “I have been rehabilitated now, so don't be afraid of me. I am not a soldier anymore; I am a child” (Beah 199). Although not a particularly complex sentence, it holds lots of meaning. Ishmael is no longer the soldier he was in Sierra Leone. He is moving on to a new chapter and wishes to be a child. But he isn't neglecting and ignoring his past, instead, he wants to change people's view on war. It is not like what people see in movies, and shouldn’t be glorified. Ishmael was taken as a child and had his innocence stripped away. He uses his trauma and past to teach. The