Comparing A Long Way Gone And Bite Of The Mango

For many years the only injury soldiers were believed to have could be seen with the naked eye; however, the real injuries are within the soldier’s mind. Most soldiers and victims of war suffer from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), their own minds become danger zones as they recall horrific experiences when they dream, think, or merely close their eyes. The emotional pain stays with the victim years after the war is over. The physical pain that a soldier or victim endures can be healed with time and care, the emotional trauma they deal with stays with them for a lifetime. The psychological pain that the victims endure usually goes unnoticed until after the traumatic event. In the memoirs, A Long Way Gone and Bite of the Mango, the real torture for both of the narrators occurs in the aftermath of the catastrophe not during the war.

While Ishmael is in the army he is given different pills and medication to alter his mind and actions. The medication is meant to energize the boys, they son become addicted to the medication. As the boy began to fight, Beah transforms into a soldier, and Ishmael loses his innocence. At this point Ishmael undergoes a psychological transformation. Beah goes from being to numb to pull the trigger on a war during battle to a cold blood killer. His actions during this period of time will haunt him forever. After Ishmael, the author of A Long Way Gone, is taken away from the army he is put in a rehabilitation center and at this moment the reader realizes the psychological distress Ishmael is experiencing (601). The distress he struggles with while he is in rehab is a perfect example that the hardest thing Beah experiences is after he is taken out of the