Ishmael Beah's Journey In A Long Way Gone

It is often said that one’s early years of upbringing in his or her family can shape the rest of that person’s life drastically. More often than not, people’s caretakers immensely influence and shape their beliefs, thoughts, and morals. Sometimes this can lead to issues such as a child growing up in an abusive household and then abusing his or her own family later on. In Ishmael Beah’s book, A Long Way Gone (2007), he tells the story of his childhood life during a war. In the early 1990’s, a civil war broke out in Sierra Leone. Beah tells his story from first person point of view about his survival through the war, and how it changed him. It begins with him as an innocent boy with his family, not yet stained by violence. It was when the war

In the beginning of his journey, Ishmael would sometimes overstay at villages and suffer from rebel attacks. Through his journey with his family of boys, he learns to move frequently to avoid being raided. After a village feeds Ishmael, he leaves quickly, “We thanked them for their generosity and left. We knew that the rebels would eventually reach the village” (39). Traveling with many other boys let Ishmael pick up good habits. He starts to think smarter and travel more cautiously. In addition to this, Ishmael also shows he had acquired intelligence when the secret market was under attack, “I was getting furious, but… I knew I couldn’t afford to lose my temper. The result would be death, since I was now a civilian; I knew that” (205). Prior to living in the rehab center, if Ishmael had been put in the same situation, he most certainly would have snapped and joined the massacre, but while staying with his civilized families, he learned to think about the outcome of his actions beforehand, so he holds his temper and hides

After Beah’s village is raided, he is forced to live outside of civilization and treks through the forest. He recalls something his father used to tell him, “If you are alive, there is hope for a better day… If there is nothing good left in the destiny or a person, he or she will die” (54). Beah admits that these words from his father drove his spirit to keep trekking on. The words of his family made him able to persevere through a hellish forest and stay alive. Beah also displays tenacity when he is with his family of soldiers. After the lieutenant gave a speech, Ishmael recalls, “I stood there holding my gun and felt special because I was part of something that took me seriously and I was not running from anyone anymore” (124). The lieutenant’s speeches served as inspiration for Beah to keep enduring battle after battle. They helped him to keep facing death and live another day to shoot once more. Another instance of Beah learning tenacity is when he is in the rehabilitation center. Countless times Beah raged and destroyed objects, countless times he longed for drugs and violence, and countless times he felt as though he lost the will and motivation to live. Despite all this, he eventually was able to leave his past behind and become a normal healthy child. While giving speeches, Beah would refer to himself as living proof that rehabilitation works, “We can be