Similarities Between Macbeth And A Long Way Gone

A simple act of violence can genuinely affect an individual's state of mind. Through violence, individuals feel empowered and are tempted to prolong their violent nature. This results in one heinous act, following with worse violence. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Ishmael Beah’s A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of A Boy Soldier, both authors effectively highlight a theme, that violence will ultimately lead to more violence. Both of the protagonists endure massive shifts in character that are induced by violent acts. Their first act of murder is what begins this vicious cycle and with the introduction of heavy influences, their characters dramatically change for the worst. As the protagonists enter this endless spiral, they become trapped with no point

In the war, Ishmael has stripped away from his childhood home and kidnapped into the dreaded civil war, where he is forced to become a child soldier. Through the traumatic experiences of the war, Ishmael slowly loses his innocence and violence is bestowed upon him. While in his first armed battle, Ishmael must take another human's life and he states “My face, my hands, my shirt, and gun were covered with blood. I raised my gun and pulled the trigger, and I killed a man. Suddenly, as if someone was shooting them inside my brain, all the massacres I had seen since the day I was touched by war began flashing in my head” (Beah 119). Ishmael undergoes a massive shift in character as he moves from childhood innocence to a hardened murderer. This traumatizing event creates a huge impact on Ishmael’s life; it is Ishmael’s first experience as a child soldier and his first act of violence. This later induces more bloodshed, and Beah is soon “killing everybody” as if it were an everyday

Prior to Duncan’s death, Lady Macbeth recognizes Macbeth’s inner turmoil and she takes matters into her own hands. Lady Macbeth advises him of her plan to kill Duncan and explains that she will conduct the evening's events. She states, “Look like the time. Bear welcome in your eye,/ Your hand, your tongue. / Look like th' innocent flower,/ But be the serpent under ’t. /He that’s coming / Must be provided for, and you shall put / This night’s great business into my dispatch, / Which shall to all our nights and days to come” (Shakespeare 1.5.55-61). This influence on Macbeth is what challenges him to kill Duncan. Moreover, although Ishmael is pressured by fear tactics, Lady Macbeth constantly questions Macbeth's manhood and repeatedly asks “are you a man?”. This causes Macbeth to feel inferior to his wife and urges him to prove his manhood. This overall results in Macbeth relying on violent acts to do so. Ishmael and Macbeth both struggle with overcoming their surrounding influences as they are heavily manipulated. Both influences attempt to justify the violent acts that encourage the protagonists to progress in their cycle of