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Symbolism In Ishmael Beah's A Lesson Before Dying

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Symbolism is the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities. In A Lesson Before Dying, author Ishmael Beah uses symbolism to reinforce the theme of oppression and the struggle for freedom. First, Beah’s rap cassettes symbolize his free boyhood and the loss of it. Beah carries a cassette with him until he is conscripted into the army. The cassette stays in his pocket, and acts as a reminder of his free childhood. When Beah and his friends are mistakenly caught as rebels in a village, the cassette saves their lives. As he describes, “The chief explained to everyone that there had been a misunderstanding and that we were only children looking for safety” (Beah 87)
The cassette reveals Beah’s identity as an innocent child and saves his life. Later, when Beah joins the army, the soldier burns the cassette, and with it goes Beah’s …show more content…

When Beah drifts into the war, the horror of which makes Beah believe the moon is hiding to avoid seeing atrocities. Beah’s belief of the moon as a role model and a loving character wanes, and his hopes are replaced by horror. Ultimately, the moon gives Beah hope in his pursues for freedom, and guides him through the oppressing influences of war. Finally, Beah’s gun symbolizes freedom and oppression. The gun signifies Beah’s loss of innocence to the influences of war. As he describes, “My mind had not only snapped during the first killing, it had also stopped making remorseful records" (Beah 122) Evidently, the war leaves Beah with the only choice to survive—to kill without remorse. Beah’s gun plays a crucial role in transforming him from an innocent child to a merciless killing machine. The gun relates to the oppression caused by the war against Beah’s freedom. Ultimately, through the symbolisms of rap cassette, moon and gun, Beah reinforces the theme of freedom and oppression. Through his encounters, Beah conveys the traumatizing effects of war on one’s

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I began to feel my ribs when I touched my sides” (Beah 30). From this the average human could comprehend that Beah is starving. Also that he has not drunken water for a while. Which would result in his parched lips. Beah is now getting to know what the war is doing to him.

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Furthermore, Beah has struggled with losing his family and is brain washed that he starts to lose his humanity. To clarify, when the rebels were planning an attack on a village Beah releases his anger on the rebels by shooting as many rebels from the other village as he can. “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”(122). In this moment, the pain that Beah has from losing his family turns into hatred for the rebels that killed his loved ones and Beah believes that killing more

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Here, as Beah is coming off withdraws from his drug addiction, and is receiving help from Esther, memories of the violent war begins creeping back into his mind. He begins to realize how awful the things he had done to survive were and he cannot sleep without having nightmares of them. This internal conflict is still very much relevant today. Especially those who deal with post traumatic stress, mostly from being in a war of some sort or a troubled childhood. Furthermore, as Beah is sharing his war stories with Esther, she explains to him the acts he committed were not his fault, and Beah thinks, “Even though I had heard that phrase from every staff member – and frankly I had always hated it – I began that day to believe it.

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