Survival In Ishmael Beah's A Long Way Gone

Work: A Long Way Gone Thematic Subject: Survival

In A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah presents the idea that the way to survival can be a long and rigorous journey of living each day to the next. Ishmael’s only way of getting through the war was to keep that mind set at such a desperate time. This is shown when Ishmael leaves Kaloko along with the others because he became “frustrated with living in fear” (Beah, 46). He leaves them, taking as many oranges as possible; like it’s his last. When he runs out of oranges, “[he] collected more at every village [he] slept in” (Beah, 47). Ishmael had no idea what was in store for him in the future, but because of constantly preparing, he had no trouble with food. He knew on instinct that this was his

However, during the war was insufferable. This time left nothing but the skeletons of flourishing villages, and no food providers whatsoever. When one is starving and left nothing to eat but crow that oddly fell from the sky, then the boys must perform such uncivilized acts like these to survive.

Work: A Long Way Gone Thematic Subject: Sacrifice

In A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah presents the idea that sacrifice is what it can take to be successful. In this case, to be successful is to keep living throughout the war: you must give up something to fulfill that wish. This is shown when Ishmael joined the second group of boys in the book: “Once again I was with a group of boys. This time there were seven of us. I knew this was going to be a problem, but I didn 't want to be by myself anymore” (Beah, 55) Ishmael had to give up his independence, but was fortunate with not being alone anymore. He also mention within the quote that being with this many boys was going to be a problem, which yes, it makes the group very suspicious and even gets them captured. This foreshadowing could also be seen

Most times, substantial would be in a positive light. However, in this case determination leads to a longer life and unfortunate events. This is shown when Ishmael was just about to reunite with his family. Throughout the first half of the book, Ishmael kept moving forward in hopes of finding his family again. When Gasemu was leading Ishmael and the boys to the village where Ishmael’s family was. Before they arrived, they stopped at the mountain to rest. Ishmael, though selfish, was very determined to see his family. He said, “I became angry that we had to rest, and I sat on a big rock away from the group” (Beah, 93). Unfortunately, he was unable to see his family due to rebels attacking. His mental state was heavily damaged at that point. Waiting years to see your family again just to see them killed is truly depressing. When Ishmael started to train as a boy soldier, he soon became determined to avenge his family. This is shown when the lieutenant was brainwashing Ishmael, telling them to kill the one that killed their family. Everyone then “got angry and drove [their] knives in and out of the banana trees” (Beah, 112). Ishmael became so bloodthirsty afterwards, and justified it as avenging is family. His determination helped him get where he was, though not a very good place, it brought him to where he is