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Themes Of A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beal

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A Long Way Gone, written by Ishmael Beal and published on February 13, 2007, is a novel that depicts the account of a child soldier. The novel takes place in the west African Country Sierra Leone, during the time of a merciless Civil War. The novel has many different themes in it such as loss, love, death, pain, destruction, and hope, all of these themes help show the readers the impact that the war had on the country and its people. The novel contains many graphic scenes involving death and blood all to experienced by a child. A Lone Way Gone depicts the inconceivable injustice towards the people of Sierra Leone through the eyes of a child, making the injustices even more momentous to the readers. A Long Way Gone contains many terms and …show more content…

Troops were deployed to defend against the Liberian rebels known as the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL). When Sierra Leone troops came under attack they were ambushed by not only the NPFL but also the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). The RUF was led by the former Sierra Leone army corporal Fonday Sankoh, who collaborated with the NPFL. This attack was the beginning of a devastating 11-year civil war.
The politics of Sierra Leone is one of the many causes for the civil war. Since the independence, the politics in Sierra Leone became corrupt, and marked by political assassination, and mismanagement. The corrupt government is also responsible for the exploitation of Sierra Leones resources, in particularly the diamond resource. The unstable government would later use the diamonds as a source of funding for the civil war, these diamonds would later be known as “blood …show more content…

They are also recognized as spiritual aids amongst members of other denominations of Christianity. The Corporal works of Mercy are considered to be the right way to behave, these works include; feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, visit the imprisoned, shelter the homeless, visit the sick, bury the dead. Many of these corporal works can be applied to A Long Way Gone in many ways. Feed the hungry has a connection to the novel because many people went without food for long periods of time and even resorted to killing others for their food. Sheltering the homeless also applies to the novel, because to the war many people lost their homes, there villages were taken over by rebels or their homes were burned to the ground. Bury the dead also applies because so many peopled died because of the war that it is very difficult to believe that all of the bodies received a proper burial. All of these Corporal works are a result of the Civil War and it is an injustice if they are not

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A Long Way Gone, is a memoir written by Ishmael Beah. Ishmael was born in Sierra Leone and grew up during the civil war in Sierra Leone. In, A Long Way Gone, Ishmael tells the reader his experiences as a boy soldier and his experiences in rehabilitation in order to regain his humanity. The book begins with Ishmael answering questions to his high school friends, in New York, about his time in the war.

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503 Words | 3 Pages

The impact of war can have very harmful effects on people, especially children. In “A Long Way Gone” by Ishmael Beah, he explains the war of Sierra Leone from his point of view. The tragedy of losing his family, becoming a boy soldier, and the effects of war is said throughout the book, making it an interesting story to read. But, while Ishmael explains what he went through, it is hidden that other people were affected by the actions he took. Although Ishmael did play a victimizer, he was also a victim at the same time.

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486 Words | 2 Pages

A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah is the painfully true biography of Ishmael, his elder brother Junior, their friends and their journey to out run a war that is occurring in their hometown, Sierra Leone. The majority of the story takes place in Sierra Leon in between the years of 1993 and 1998. Ishmael’s journey begins the January of 1993 when he is the age of twelve. Individuals have begun to revolt which takes everything a turn for the worse. The rebels have struck the country with fear and caused complete chaos by killing families and destroying what they once called home.

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800 Words | 4 Pages

Within Ishmael Beah’s book A Long Way Gone we see the sierra leone civil war take over and consume a young boy’s life. During Ishmael’s life his settings change rapidly because of the war, this causes him to change with his surroundings. Throughout the book the 3 reoccurring themes has to be family, death and food.

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857 Words | 4 Pages

Death, destruction, famine and starvation. These are only four of the millions of horrible impacts war leaves. People live in fear and are constantly afraid of others that they see wondering if they are reckless civilians or soldiers. A Long Way Gone is the autobiography of Ishmael Beah, a 15 year old boy soldier fighting in the Civil War in Sierra Leone. This war started on March 23, 1991 and went through January 18, 2002.

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632 Words | 3 Pages

A Long Way Gone is an autobiography written by Ishmael Beah, the book details his childhood throughout the Sierra Leon civil war. The book shows how you can turn an innocent child into a killing machine. We see both sides of the warring party do this with them drugging the children, turning them against the enemy with propaganda and threatening them with death. These are the factors that made a quarter of all the soldiers within this war under the age of eighteen.

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1340 Words | 6 Pages

Estefany Ibarra Honors English 4 8 March 2024 Decisions May Cause Risk Risky decisions are a fundamental part of an individual's journey throughout life. Our decisions challenge us in many ways, but often lead us to growth. A Long Way Gone is a narrative book about a boy who writes about his life while he was recruited to the armed forces in 1993. Ishmael Beah wrote about his experiences and the trauma he went through while fighting in the Civil War in Sierra Leone.

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648 Words | 3 Pages

Carson Edwards English I Ms. Thaden 10 February 2023 Family Provides Strength Twelve-year-old soldiers, blinded by cocaine, violence, and war, can only find strength through the love of family. Ishmael Beah, in his book, A Long Way Gone, is struggling through the war but keeps going toward the ultimate goal of seeing his family again, proving how the unfailing love of family will give one the strength to persevere through the hardest times. This book shows the instinctual longing for the family during times of need. Beah remembers a quote from his father during the beginning half of his war journey.

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1110 Words | 5 Pages

Not experiencing war is a luxury many people unfortunately do not get; however, Ishmael Beah, the author of A Long Way Gone, lives and survives the war, though not without heartache. With war there is always fear, death, and hell. Ishmael Beah proves war is hell through the killing of civilians, the distrust, and the after effects of the war. Ishmael proves war is hell through the killing of civilians. Many innocent bystanders of the war are forced out of their homes, made to run for their lives.

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1572 Words | 7 Pages

A Long Way Gone Forest fires engulf tall rows of trees, turning green leaves and the homes of animals into ashes. Although fires leave a destructive trail of darkened groves, they create a chance for new life to develop. Nutrients find their way through the ashes into new soil, a new life begins to flourish, and old wreckages create new homes. Ishmael Beah, the author of ‘A Long Way Gone’, tells his readers his story that one man could never forget; new opportunities and chances for a better life often flourish in the ashes created from past challenges. The book ‘a long way gone’ is based on true events experienced by the author.

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354 Words | 2 Pages

The memoirs of this book try to convey and inform you about real problems in the world and that we need to step in. My honest opinion about A Long Way Gone: memoirs of a boy soldier by Ishmael Beah is that this book was amazing, I loved it because it 's like a testimony I think Ishmael Beah wrote this not just to inform you but to get over his pain from his past but sometimes you can’t get over your past sometimes the scars aren’t just on you body but in your head too. Everyone suffers but not like Ishmael did for years he suffered and he had to kill. In ways I can connect to the suffering but not to the war part this book no matter who you are you might able to connect to this book in some way it tell the truth about life. I think people in the war might like the book, mostly males ages 17-21, privileged societies that can hear what 's really going on in

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498 Words | 2 Pages

Additional Activity 1 In the book, A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, the reader can gather certain information about the story he told. The point of view of his story truly affects the reader’s understanding. Also, Beah included details that defined his experience and changed his life. He also wrote his memoir with an emotion that drove the story.

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672 Words | 3 Pages

The human condition is full of paradoxes and double meanings. We can commit the most shocking and terrible acts, but we can complete the most virtuous and honorable feats. Ishmael Beah describes the appalling and violent behavior he and other children exhibited toward the human life during his time in the Sierra Leonean civil war in his memoir, A Long Way Gone. Beah also details the forgiveness and kindness of complete strangers that helped him become the man that fate meant him to be. Homo sapiens are complex creatures brimming with irony and surprises.

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1772 Words | 8 Pages

The Cold War period following the end of World War II saw tensions between superpowers the United States of America (USA) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) spread to other countries geographically far-removed from either power. This occurred through proxy wars, in which belligerents sharing their respective ideologies (of either Communism or Capitalism) were supported significantly by these superpowers and their allies. One such Cold War proxy war was the Angolan Civil War (1975-2002 (neither power still involved then, exclude?)), fought (mainly) between two local parties for control of Angola after the country had secured its independence from Portugal in 1974. The groups in question were the communist MPLA, supported by the USSR and Cuba, and the capitalist-sympathising UNITA which was supported by the USA and South Africa. One decisive battle of (occurred during, but not directly MPLA v UNITA,more SADF v

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946 Words | 4 Pages

The major theme in the story A Long Way Gone is that with family and love a person can make it through anything. Overall Ishmael’s story is a very powerful, eye opening read; it informs people on a subject that some know little to nothing about, the civil war in Sierra Leone. Beah uses the theme of family and love, along with the use of symbolism and other literary devices, to inform a larger audience of the issues that he and others had to face while trying to survive in a war zone. A Long Way Gone, an autobiographical memoir, written by Ishmael Beah, takes place in Sierra Leone during the time of their civil war.

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