Peter W. Singer Essays

The Struggles During Wartime The sierra Leone child soldier survivor Ishmael Beah. He had to deal with the separation of his family at twelve-years old, exposure to guns, violence and starvation,but, the worst of all was when he had to become a killer. One of the many struggles Beah had to deal with when he was a little kid was the exposure to gun and violence. In the book review the author said, “Given rudimentary training, Beah seems then to have gone on a two-year mind-bending killing spree…”(Boyd

The biography, A Long Way Gone, Memoirs of a boy Soldier, by Ishmael Beah, tells the story of a thirteen year old boy who spends his childhood being compelled to fight in the civil war in Sierra Leone. Ishmael Beah tries to avoid fighting for the rebels by running from town to town with his friends as the rebels advanced. Finally, his luck runs out and Ishmael Baeh is forced to serve in the civil war for the rebels. The story goes on to describe his horrific childhood as a soldier in Sierra Leone

Murderer. When you think about this word, the first thing that pops into your mind wouldn’t be a child, but for many around the world, this is the case. Over 300,000 children fight in wars around the world, slaughtering person after person without mercy. Ishmael Beah’s a long way gone is about the author’s first-hand experience of the 10 – year civil war in Sierra Leone, in which he was turned into one of these brutal, savage killers and then later rehabilitated. In the beginning of the book, young

The Effects On Child Soldiers In the book, A Long Way Gone, it said, “‘Bullet wounds,’ I casually replied” (Beah 154). In the book, Beah is so mentally changed that getting shot is not even a big deal to him anymore. Most child soldiers just like him have been desensitized to these kinds of problems. Using children in war can cause them a countless amount of mental and physical pain as Beah describes in his book A Long Way Gone. It causes the children to have countless problems being reintroduced

“Each time, Salva would think of his family and his village, and he was somehow able to keep his wounded feet moving forward, one painful step at a time” (Linda Sue Park p.41) A personal journey is what a character goes through to change or improve themselves. The character Salva from A Long Walk to Water was a young boy that lived in the dinka tribe in Sudan. When he was at school he had heard gunshots and had to leave the country without any knowledge of where his family is. A personal journey

“The saddest sight these days is the imagine of hundreds of children kidnapped and lured into being child soldiers from the age of eight”(Roger Moore).”A Long Way Gone”was written by Ishmael Beah and published in 2007. As horrible and terrifying the experience was for Ishmael Beah starting in Sierra Leone from a young age,he still had enough courage to publish his own memoir.As a kid Ishmael was a happy child that loved music and dance.While performing rap music with his friends away from home his

Have you ever mentioned the subject of child soldiers in a standard conversation? Most likely not. Child soldiers are not an everyday discussion topic, but recently they have grown more and more popular. While in the past, “children were not particularly effective as front-line fighters since most of the lethal hardware was too heavy and cumbersome for them to manipulate” (unicef.org), weapons have become lighter, and younger infantries have followed suit. While childhoods usually don’t consist of

What is it about African wars that is so disturbing? Ishmael Beah’s memoir “A Long Way Gone” can help you come to an understanding of what it means to be human living under those type conditions. Beah’s childhood was gone. His experiences in the war stripped him of his humanity. When Beah was at the conferences far away from war, he felt like his life finally had meaning again. Beah’s “A Long Way Gone” tells an important story of unwilling boy soldier, Ishmael Beah during a civil war in Sierra Leone

Reflection over A Long Way Gone A Long Way Gone is a memoir written by Ismael Beah. It describes Ismael’s time as a child soldier during the Civil War in Sierra Leone. This book explains in detail the obstacles Beah had encountered during this time. A Long Way Gone is filled with violence, tragedy, drugs, war and survival. It is a refreshing take on learning about the Civil War in Sierra Leone. This books holds firsthand information over the events that occurred. It provides evidence of the unwillingly

Hunter Davis Mr.Werley English lll 9 March 2023 Unusual Normalites Ishmael Beah reflects on his experience as a former child soldier in Sierra Leone and his societal challenges after the war. Ishmael describes the difficulty of readjusting to normal life and the struggle to find a sense of belonging and purpose in the world. Beah begins by describing the unreal experience of returning to his village after the war. He says, "Everything seemed so normal, yet it was all real." (8)Beah had spent years

The characters from Lord of the Flies, Jack and Ralph, and Ishmael Beah of A Long Way Gone act on contrasting views of their responsibility in society. The manner in which they utilize advancements in technology -for the enhancement or destruction of society- reflect on their perceived role in it. William Golding and Ishmael Beah express through these characters that whether people hold on to or set aside the core values of humanity is the determining factor of their contribution to society. Humanity

The book A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, the main character Ismael Beah tells a story of his first hand account of Sierra Leone’s civil war. Ismael Beah was a boy soldier who went from village to village with his brother and some friends in search of food and shelter. Beah was eventually brainwashed into thinking that what the group was doing would make up for his own family’s death. While his is fighting for the government he is heavily drugged to the point that he believes that what

In Linda Sue Park’s novel A Long Walk to Water, demonstrates one of many true stories of many a Lost Boy. Salva an eleven year old had to flee from his village all alone because his village was attacked due to the Second Sudanese War that began in 1983. When Salva was at school and his village was being attacked,he was told not to go home, but into the bush,that's where his whole journey began. Salva had to show confidence, determination,and perseverance in order to survive in a difficult environment

Many young children under aged have been taken in by the government. They are being held captive tell they are drugged enough and brainwashed to go out and kill or to be killed. They are forced to train to kill under the influence of drugs and they are hardly aware of what they or doing. Child soldiers should be given amnesty because of the absents of their minds and them not being able to process what they are doing. These children are often seen as targets because they are under aged and not able

The 6-year war in Sierra Leone captured 10,000 to 14,000 child soldiers and left them displaced after the war with no family and no childhood left. A long way gone by Ishmael Beah gives us a unique perspective of what child soldiers have to go through and what they have survived. Resourcefulness was one of the various skills that Ishmael used to survive well being part of the Sierra Leone war. Ishmael's resourcefulness helped him in many ways to survive well in war. The first piece of evidence

A Long Way Home is a story told from a boy soldier named Ishmael. Ishmael is put in isolation as the war in his homeland, Sierra Leone quickly ravages through the country. His journey sets him deeper and deeper into the destruction and violence of the war. Ishmael struggles with internal and external battles that would set the tone for him keeping his hope and sanity. Ishmael’s story is one filled with bloodshed, tragedy, and lost of innocence as the story progresses. Ishmael struggles constantly

Authors use symbols in literary to show you gateways into themes. Some are easily noticed but some are much more complex. In his literary work, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, Ishmael Beah uses symbols to underscore his central theme of oppression and freedom. The symbols used in this literary work to show the theme of freedom are the moon and the cassette tape Ishmael had from his childhood rap group. The symbol used to represent the theme of oppression is Ishmael’s dreams or nightmares

The first time Ishmael was ever touched by war was at age 12. At 13, he was picked by the Government Army and brought to a vicious and brutal world. He woke up everyday with fear of dying. He tried his best to look the toughest and satisfy the rebels by fulfilling their demands. Ishmael took a dose of drugs daily to keep him energized and to keep him awake. There are hundreds of young boys like Ishmael, recruited and refined to exceed the leaders’ commands. Nice normal boys are modified and turned

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

Most children at the age of ten are kicking soccer balls, shooting nerf guns, or watching movies with their families. For child soldiers this is not the case. Many child soldiers are physically and mentally tortured, shooting AK-47’s, and forced to kill their families, or watch them be beaten. These atrocities take place in Afghanistan, Colombia, India, Iraq, Israel, Libya, Mali, Pakistan, Thailand, Sudan, Syria, Yemen, and in many other countries. It is estimated that more than 200,000 child soldiers