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Gun violence in america
Gun violence and its effects
Gun violence and it's effects
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Gun violence in america
Gun violence and its effects
Gun violence and it's effects
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Gun violence in america
The book A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah is a memoir about himself involved in war as a child. War began happening in Ishmael’s hometown in Sierra Leone, which was Mogbwemo, so everyone broke apart and he lost his family, except for his brother. He had to start running away from the war to stay alive, so he went with some of his friends and his brother into different provinces of Sierra Leone. They went from village to village looking for food, shelter and safety. Ishmael was caught many times by the army and he thought he was stuck with them forever, but he escaped many different ways.
This desensitization is seen when Beah describes “cleaning the blood off our guns”, this is a very basic and casual scene for what it actually is. Especially coming from a child who had said they struggled not fainting at the sheer sight of the rebels. Beah sees violence as necessity and something to be proud of. The pride itself is seen first when Beah remarks that “i killed the owner of this gun in our last raid.” He now takes pride within violence, it is all he knows as his talent.
In Ishmael Beah’s personal memoir, A Long Way Gone, music courses through the story quite often. Music is first seen in Ishmael’s peaceful childhood. He and his friends enjoy singing and dancing along to music, in particular, Rap Music. As the story progresses, and the war becomes more prevalent in the young boys lives, rap continues to play a substantial role in their lives, just in a different way. At the end of Ishmael’s life story, there is yet another role that music plays.
What is the meaning of adversity? Adversity is the difficulties, misfortunes, and sometimes even trials one must face in order to jump over an obstacle. WWll, holocaust, Racism are all adversities that pertain to individuals and events in the past and the present. One of the events that happened was in Sierra Leone and it was a Civil war between different African tribes. This event is explained through the eyes of the main character in the book “A Long Way Gone”, and his name is Ishmael Beah.
The Dinka and Nuer tribes have both been affected negatively by guns. The use of guns by these tribes has changed their beliefs, respect, and way of life. In the excerpt it says "Children, women and the elderly used to be off-limits during raids..." then later on it shows how the tribes start to kill the women and children. It also says " 'They believe, 'The ghost of the deceased will not haunt me, because I did not kill with a spear, '". Finally it also says " He found armed youths running roughshod in a society whose dysfunction paralleled that of inner cities 8,000 miles away..."
Ishmael titled the book A Long Way Gone because he was always a “long way” or far away from home. He was always walking and traveling because of the war, and he always had to go from village to village, farther and farther from his actual home to survive. He didn't have a choice but to keep going even if he didn't want to. For example on Pg.8 he walked for two days without stopping “I walked for two days without stopping.” Another example on Pg.60 when he had to walk barefoot because he didn't have any other choice but to keep walking.
The mass amounts of imagination and passion that a child is able to grasp in their minds at such a young is something that, in most individuals, does not last forever. Children should be able to live carefree childhoods where their imagination is not being replaced by worry and hardships. Once imagination and passion is taken out of a child’s heart and mind, there is no getting that back. In A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah he writes about the emotional and mental changes of the children in his country that have been touched by the war and how he was affected personally as well. Beah recalls, “The children of these families [the refugees] wouldn’t look at us, and they jumped at the sound of chopping wood or as stones landed on roofs…”(5).
”(Beah, 112). The corporal uses the rebels as a way to control the children 's emotions and use them for himself. He makes Ishmael’s desire start to transition towards creating destruction. Later, Ishmael and his friend’s enter into the battlefield. During this time, Ishmael kills his first victim and his desire completely turns into killing sprees.
Additional Activity 1 In the book, A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, the reader can gather certain information about the story he told. The point of view of his story truly affects the reader’s understanding. Also, Beah included details that defined his experience and changed his life. He also wrote his memoir with an emotion that drove the story.
For instance, Ishmael Beah is courageous when he runs into fear head-on when rebels attack the village his parents and family are staying at. Ishmael is separated from his parents in the first place because of the war and the rebellion attacks of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). Beah constantly sees the horror and fear that the rebels bring amongst the people in Sierra Leone, Africa such as brutal mass massacre and ruthless torturing. His fear is clear through his journey as a child. Ishmael faces his fear when the rebels are attacking one village he and his family are at.
In modern society, guns are seen as a form of control. Those who have guns are able to overpower those who do not. This trend was set when guns were first invented and has stayed the same throughout history. The one place where guns are not a symbol of power and control is in literature, specifically “The Old Gun” and Hamilton. In Mo Yan’s short story “The Old Gun”, the protagonist is a hungry boy who does not even know how to use the titular firearm.
For others, a view that has arose later, guns are the “perpetuation of illicit social hierarchies, the elevation of force over reason,” and a promoter of collectivity and remover of individuality. This latter view of guns is a direct application of the conflict theory. For those who hold this view, and likely support the passage of gun control laws, guns are representative of social inequality that is abundant in modern society, that the usage of guns is a means of violently coercing those of lower classes to remain in their class. The view of guns as a symbol of protection is also an application of the conflict theory.
A weapon in the wrongs hands is the maximum danger humanity can face. Nowadays, violence and delinquency in society are viewed as the maximum problem solver. Humanity is full of chaos; hate and envy seize our souls. Guns are the ultimate security for some citizens but for others, these add to a feeling of defenselessness. Throughout history, any topic related to guns means a plethora of problems.
There is an estimation that about half of the households in the United States owns at least one gun. As such many people can have access to guns, including children and other family members. Many school based attacks involve young people carrying guns owned by their parents and going on a rage through schools and other places. Similarly, the ease of acquiring guns has led to vulnerable deaths of people across the country. Moreover, this leads obsessed people to escape their frustrations on minorities by murdering and threatening them.
Guns are normally a symbol of protection, of justice or sometimes of violence and death. All of which are prevalent topics in this short. However, just as the police officer urged Daru to keep his gun close for his own protection, Daru decided to leave his life up to fate and the Arabic man he was hosting, saying “Why? [should he have his shotgun near his bed] I have nothing to fear” Pg 384.