Long Way Gone Themes

Throughout the book, A Long Way Gone Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah, violence is a predominant theme. Ishmael is a witness to violence at the early age of twelve when the civil war reaches his village in Sierra Leone. The death of his family, the loss of his childhood/ innocence and his transformation into a killer were all direct results of the violence due to the war. The rebel forces killed Ishmael’s mother, father, brother and grandparents during the war. “Whenever I looked at rebels during raids, I got angrier, because they looked like the rebels who played cards in the ruins of the village where I had lost my family. So when the lieutenant gave orders, I shot as many as I could, but I didn't feel any better” (Beah, 122). The reason Ishmael fought in the war was to fight against the force that killed his family. The death of his family was his motivation for getting involved in the war and the violence. Family was important to Ishmael so he had a difficult time accepting their deaths. Once Ishmael is in the rehabilitation center he opens up to Ester. “I feel as if there is nothing left for me to be alive for. I have no family, it is just me. No one will be able to tell me stories about my childhood” (Beah, 167). Family was important to Ishmael and the war tore it apart from

When the children were not in the field fighting they were forced to watch movies about war. They were surrounded by the violence all day every day. They were brainwashed to believe that they had to fight to survive. “My squad is my family, my gun is my provider, and protector, and my rule is to kill or be killed” (Beah, 116). Prior to the war and violence Ishmael lived a normal life but once he was surrounded by the war he was forced to have a survival mentality the he believed justified the killings. Children are impressionable so the violence and propaganda were able to turn children into trained