4 Different Aspects of New York and Sierra Leone Discussed in A Long Way gone Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
Ishmael Beah presents a sharp comparison between the life in New York and Sierra Leone in his book A Long Way gone Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. These differences are based on his own personal experiences as a native of Sierra Leone and a resident in New York. Beah was a teenage soldier in his native town during the civil war that his country faced during the 1990’s. He participated in that war as a teenage soldier representing his government against the rebel fighters. Overall, Beah’s remarks throughout the book about the different social and law and order situations in New York and Sierra Leone show great examples of different aspects of New York in comparison with Sierra Leone. These examples of contrast are based on social life-style, law and order, social attitude, weather, city attractions in the case of New York, value of human life, and life of teenagers in New York in comparison with Sierra Leone.
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As he talks about the social life in New York, Beah says that in this city he was surprise to see that people walked on the sidewalks without any fear of bullets or death. The reason that he thinks was responsible for this was the face that there was no civil war in the city. This was very much unlike in Sierra Leone. In New York, boys, and even adults, were not allowed to carry around weapons whereas in Sierra Leone, it was common for teenagers, let along adults, to have their own weapons and move around with them. This situation presents a sharp contract between New York and Beah’s native town for the