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Trauma In A Long Way Gone

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ALWG Research Essay In A Long Way Gone the main character Ishmael is forced to be recruited as a child soldier. He was drugged up and put through traumatic events. This leads to him being rehabilitated, and now sharing his story. Ishmael is explaining his past to try and abolish child soldiers. He was drug addicted, and experienced multiple violations of human rights. Ishmael, like other soldiers, experiences hallucinations and the nightmares still can haunt him. Being a child soldier leaves a huge scar on a person. During the war when they ran out of soldiers, child soldiers were often put into the field as a last resort. Children are exposed to many violent and disturbing scenes. Children are put into dangerous situations that can effect …show more content…

There was a study run on 141 former child soldiers both boys and girls. All the kids experienced some sort of scarring event. The results of the test concluded that “... 55 percent of the former child soldiers had levels of PTSD that warranted mental health interventions, compared to 20 percent of the other children. “ (“Emory study of former child soldiers yields new data to guide mental health interventions). Generally kids that do not experience any violence have less mental health issues. Child soldiers are put through more trauma therefore they have a higher percent of kids with mental health issues. All child soldiers go through something shocking, so they have a higher risk of PTSD depending on the severity of the event. To finish off child soldiers should be abolished, for it causes more PTSD in …show more content…

In the memoir, A Long Way Gone Ishmael Beah’s friend, Saidu, was talking about his life at home. He conveyed that the child soldiers stormed into his house raped his sisters, and took all their belongings. Ishmael illustrates that “After the rebels had raped the sisters over and over, they bundled the family’s property and made the father and mother carry it.” (Beah 80). Usually people do not get sexually harassed often. The rebels took over their property and evicted the family. The child soldiers also unwillingly sexually assaulted the sisters. While being screamed at to stop, the rebels just disregarded the yelling parents. No one should get violated the way the family was. In summary child soldiers must be abolished, for it is

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In the memoir, A Long Way Gone written by Ishmael Beah, Ishmael faced the tragic start of war in his home place, Mattru Jong, Sierra Leone on January of 1993. At just the age of twelve his village had been wrecked by rebels who had been going to other villages as well. It was just a normal happy day before everything had occurred. When the news spread, Ishmael, his brother, Junior, and friend, Talliou were at a rap performance. They left in search for money and any family, but everything was gone.

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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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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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472 Words | 2 Pages

A Long Way Gone is the accurate adventure of Ishmael Beah, who becomes a soldier during a horrifying war in Sierra Leone. When Ishmael was twelve years old, his village got attacked while he was out with his friends for a rap music competition. After the village got attacked, he lost contact with his brother, mother and father; but one of his brother stayed with for a while finding food and shelter. Ishmael goal was to survive throughout the war, so he turned himself into a totally new person.

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469 Words | 2 Pages

Ishmael changes for the bad and for the good throughout this entire memoir because of the war in Sierra Leone. The beginning of the novel is set in Ishmael’s village. He is innocent and is unaware of the true pain of war. For example, Ishmael did things

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800 Words | 4 Pages

Rough Times In A long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah tells a lifetime story of Ishmael and how he grew up in life. Ishmael Beah was a very young boy that had a very good amount of heart and had no fear. Ishmael Beah became a soldier at the age of twelve during the Civil War in Sierra Leone. One day Ishmael and a couple of his friends went out to perform in there rap group, during the time his village was under attack.

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1413 Words | 6 Pages

First of all, child soldiers go to extremes for such little things like having to ask for thing to be given to them. In the book by Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone, an actual child soldier who is now rehabilitated shared his experiences through the war in Sierra Leone. It says, “We placed a bucket over the cook’s head and pushed him around the kitchen until he burned his hand on a hot boiling pot and agreed to put more milk in our tea,” (Beah, 2007). This demonstrates how dangerous they can be to innocent people, even those that are trying to help. They hurt those no matter what, for their own desires and sometimes they just do this for their own entertainment.

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635 Words | 3 Pages

”(Beah,239). The child soldiers “ undressed the prisoners and tied them”(120) up, which led to Ishmael feeling guilty and hopeless in the future. Ishmael started “smoking marijuana

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743 Words | 3 Pages

Kali Griffin Ms D’Ambrosia English 9H II 15 March 2024 Ishmael’s Recovery Hope is possible in any situation because hope is not a fact, rather it is a positive outlook to encourage you to keep moving forward. A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah is an inspiring yet eye-opening memoir about Ishamael’s experience as a child refugee. Although Ishmael has been through things that no normal child has been through, there is still hope for him to live an ordinary, happy life. Despite the fact that war comes with horror and tragedy, with the right help, Ishmael can recover and move past it. After Ishmael gets settled in with his new family, he is offered to do a speech at an event about child refugees.

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537 Words | 3 Pages

Children can be greatly affected by war or fighting of any type. When children are caught in the middle of war, they can experience a lot of trauma from what they witness. In war, they are exposed to death, violence, and conflict. This devastation can affect the rest of their lives. War can also lead to children becoming orphaned.

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1303 Words | 6 Pages

These children often struggle to reintegrate into society and face challenges in forming healthy relationships. The long-term physical and psychological consequences faced by child soldiers introduce a range of issues, including the development of PTSD, depression, physical injuries and the lasting impact on overall well-being. The Toll of War: Physical Consequences Faced by Child

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1498 Words | 6 Pages

“Every time I stopped shooting to change magazines and saw my two young lifeless friends, I angrily pointed my gun into the swamp and killed more people” (Beah, 119). The death of Ishmael’s friends provided an even bigger reason to despise the rebels, for his friends were almost his new family. Ishmael had gone deeper down the path into hatred and began to have no mercy, for he imagined his victims as the murderers of his friends and family. All in all, Ishmael’s desire to avenge the deaths of his friends and family was a big part in him becoming a child

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764 Words | 4 Pages

Child soldiers need to be banned from making children's mental health worse and unstable. Children are faced with life threatening situations everyday, but not like these situations. Child soldiers are faced with life or death situations every day. Former children can be put into wars and battles without knowing ahead of time. These children can suffer from abuse and other cruelties from serving.

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1255 Words | 6 Pages

A Long Way Gone is a nonfiction story that follows the life of Ishmael Beah during the Sierra Leone Civil War. Growing up, Ishmael lived in the small village with his father and brother. On his way to a talent show in Mattru Jong with his brother and family friend, they came under attack by a rebel group, forcing them to run for their lives. The young group of boys go through many ordeals in which they end up splitting up and both his brother (as well as his entire family), and friend are killed. Ishmael continues in search of a village supposedly free from fighting; during his travels he meets up with a group of young boys also fleeing the war, he would soon know these boys as his comrades.

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791 Words | 4 Pages

Snatched from their families, with guns pointed at their heads, they are forced to kill. Beaten and drugged, they lose all moral values. They are brainwashed into believing that killing is required to survive. These people are children, innocent victims, who need rescue. First of all, child soldiers are treated very poorly - like machines - to perform one task: kill.

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