Themes Of A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah

Freedom and Oppression are not things that can be touched or felt, but rather reached. In his literary work, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, Ishmael Beah uses symbols to underscore his central theme of freedom and oppression. He uses the moon, the gun, and the machete as symbols to convey this theme.
First and foremost, the moon is used to convey the theme of freedom and oppression. When the moon is bright and shining, it represents safety and freedom. For example, an old man in Kabati tells Beah: “We must strive to be like the moon” (Beah 16). Beah does not understand this and asks his grandmother. She replies: “Everyone becomes happy and appreciates the moon in their own special way” and “A lot of happy things happen when the moon shines” (Beah 16-17). This tells the reader that when the moon is bright and clear, there is peace and safety; there is freedom and everyone is contend. Everybody is free to do whatever makes them cheerful. When the moon is dulled at night or is not visible, the moon represents oppression. For example, Beah says: “the moon wasn’t in the sky; the air was stiff, as if nature itself was afraid of what was

For example, Beah uses the machete to cut a tree for shelter. Beah says: “I spent restless minutes swinging the cutlass with all my might at trees” (Beah 42). The machete is used to make shelter, which grants the freedom of sleep to Beah. Thus, Beah does not have to worry about things such as weather affect his ability to sleep. On the contrary, the machete also represents oppression. For instance, Beah says: “Sometimes I looked at the blades of the machetes and thought about how much it would hurt to be chopped with one” (Beah 57). This shows the reader that there is also cruelty associated with the machete. The machete can take a person’s life easily, which is barbaric Therefore, the machete also represents both freedom and oppression in this true