Book Report On A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah

Death, destruction, famine and starvation. These are only four of the millions of horrible impacts war leaves. People live in fear and are constantly afraid of others that they see wondering if they are reckless civilians or soldiers. A Long Way Gone is the autobiography of Ishmael Beah, a 15 year old boy soldier fighting in the Civil War in Sierra Leone. This war started on March 23, 1991 and went through January 18, 2002. Many people died during this tragic war. People want to escape the dangerous situation that war presents. Ishmael experiences the loss of friends and family, he is forced to ingest drugs including cocaine. Ishmael kills many innocent children and adults in the towns he invades. Ishmael is a victim on the fact that he was

They would make Ishmael take drugs to get energy and to be active during the war. The lieutenant would have the soldiers take the drugs on their break time, “I took turns at the guarding post around the village, smoking marijuana and sniffing Brown Brown, cocaine mixed with gunpowder, which was always spread out on the table, and of course taking more white capsules, as I had become addicted to them” (Beah 121). The lieutenant would give the soldiers drugs because the drugs would make the soldiers active in the war and energized. The soldiers would not be tired anymore when they take the drugs because the effects of the drugs will make them hyper. The lieutenant can not have their soldiers lactating on the job, so that is why they gave them the drugs. Ishmael did not want to take them, but the lieutenant made him. During the trainings, Ishmael has to kill people to practice his killing tactics. Ishmael would have to kill prisoners to become better at killing, “The person whose prisoner died quicker would win the contest” (Beah 124). Ishmael and the other soldiers have to train by killing the prisoners. The lieutenant said the first person to kill the prisoners will win the contest. Ishmael would have to kill the soldiers to become a better soldiers. Ishmael was forced to do this throughout his war times, so Ishmael is a victim because he was forced to do the bad and that

Killing people and destroying villages makes Ishmael a very dangerous soldier. Ishmael has joined the team because of how the Rebels killed all of his family. Ishmael was angry that his family died but he was not the one how did. He wanted to have his family around, so this parents can see Ishmael grow up to an adult. Ishmael had to do something to get his revenge on the Rebels, “I joined the army to avenge the deaths of my family and to survive, but I’ve come to learn that if I am going to take revenge, in the process I will kill another person whose family will ant revenge; then revenge and revenge and revenge will come to an end” (Beah 199). Ishmael had to get his revenge on a person, a family or even an entire village. Ishmael was going insane because he is going to kill another family or person just to get his revenge. Ishmael can not leave without killing someone because he has to get his revenge on someone. Ishmael is the victimizer because he wants to kill the people that are innocent to the war. In the mornings the lieutenant had a speech. When the speech was over the went back to the trainings or they did something else. Ishmael and his crew would go back to trains, “The morning after the lieutenant's speech, we proceeded to practice killing the prisoners the way the lieutenant had done it” (Beah 124). After those morning speeches, the soldiers and Ishmael would start killing more prisoners.