Ishmael Beah As A Child Soldier

Emotions are just as vulnerable to severe injury as physical body parts. In the final decade of the 20th century, a brutal war began in the West African country of Sierra Leone. The war would last for ten long years and ended the lives of nearly 50,000 people. In addition, another two million people were either displaced or injured. Two of those victims are named Ishmael Beah and Mariatu Kamara, their lives were changed, their experiences were traumatizing, and along the way they lost parts of themselves. For Mariatu and Ishmael, the war left them both immobile: one physically while the other mentally. Mariatu’s life before the war was by no means perfect. Family issues and naiveness impacted Mariatu’s pre-war world. When the rumors of an

Ishmael is unique because he is both the inflictor and victim. Throughout his “service” as a child soldier underneath the Government’s army, Ishmael was repeatedly drugged and manipulated. These alterations included the glorification of war movies and the consumption of destructive substances (Beah ). Ishmael had never been this way before; he was once just an ordinary Sierra Leonean boy. In the time before he became a soldier, Ishmael talks about the distrust people felt towards each other. Even a young boy like himself was feared by villagers. This is hard for a young Ishmael to understand because in his eyes he is still an innocent boy. When he arrives into the army, the government soldiers modify his mind to that of a ruthless Rambo like killer. Ishmael commits acts that should never be done at any age, let alone in his teen years. However he does not come to terms with what has happened until he is omitted to a rehabilitation center. There, anger erupts at the nurses and the surrounding boys. It is almost impossible to tame the now brainwashed and addicted child soldier. While in rehabilitation, Ishmael cannot comprehend the way he is being treated. For the past few years he has been dealt with as a soldier, which makes it extremely difficult when the nurses treat him as a civilian. This is because Ishmael’s morals have been diminished after years of participation in inhumane acts. The lack of social skills makes it tedious for Ishmael to make a proper