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War and post traumatic stress disorder
Essays on war and trauma
Soldiers experiencing war trauma essay
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This psychological memoir is written from the eyes of Ishmael Beah and it describes his life through the war and through his recovery. War is one of the most horrific things that could ever happen to anyone. Unwilling young boy soldiers to innocent mothers and children are all affected. In most instances the media or government does not show the horrific parts of war, instead they focus on the good things that happen to make the people happy and not cause political issues. In his book A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah dispels the romanticism around war through the loss of childhood innocence, the long road of emotional recovery and the mental and physical affects of war. It is hard to remain innocent during a time of war. Ishmael was an He was chased and shot at by the RUF. As a young boy he had to endure seeing people gunned down in front of him and murdered in the most gruesome ways as illustrated by the author when he said, “I had seen heads cut off by machetes, smashed by cement bricks, and rivers filled with so much blood that the water ceased flowing.” (Beah 49) After many months of cheating death and experiencing the loss of friends and family Beah was mentally and physically drained of everything he had. War can cause Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, social withdrawal, nightmares, flashbacks, and symptoms of depression. As a grown man war can be physiologically devastating, but as a young child who knows nothing of the ways of the world this could easily cause them to want to commit suicide and struggle with what is right and wrong. Ishmael was a normal 12 year old boy in a small village in Sierra Leone when his life took a dramatic turn and he was forced into a war. War has very serious side effects for all involved and definitely affected the way Ishmael views the world today. He endured and saw stuff that most people will never see in a lifetime let alone as a young child. Ishmael was shaped between the forced use of drugs, the long road to recovery and the loss of innocence of his
From many dark to happy times that were never ending. Ishmael Beah examines his life with different tones that enhanced the effect of the story through many intriguing events. From happy occasions to horrendous times of war, with the rebel attack on his home village, to losing his family and being forced to fight the rebels as an army soldier. Beah started out with suspenseful and terrifying tones when he was separated from family and friends when the war started and had to survive on his own. Then the tone changed to dark, life-threatening, and dismal when he reluctantly was in the army killing rebels and given drugs to cope and continue killing. In conclusion, the tone was pleased, satisfied, and peaceful when he was rehabilitated out of the army and went to New York City where he was adopted and could be a kid
As a child, Ishmael Beah seemed like he was playful, curious, and adventurous. He had a family that loved him, and he had friends that supported him. Before the war, Ishmael had a childhood that was similar to most of the children in the United States. Unfortunately, the love and support Ishmael grew accustom to quickly vanished. His childhood and his innocence abruptly ended when he was forced to grow up due to the Sierra Leone Civil War. In 1991, Ishmael thought about survival rather than trivial things. Where was he going to go? What was he going to eat? Was he going to make it out of the war alive? The former questions were the thoughts that occupied Ishmaels mind. Despite his efforts, Ishmael became an unwilling participant in the war. At the age of thirteen, he became a
Beah, Ishmael. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007. Print.
Ishmael starts his journey with a will to escape and survive the civil war of Sierra Leone in order to reunite with his mom, dad, and younger siblings, who fled their home when his village was attacked by rebels. Having only his older brother, who he escaped with, and a few friends by his side Ishmael is scared, but hopeful. When the brothers are captured by rebels, Ishmael’s belief in survival is small, as indicated by his fallible survival tactics when he “could hear the gunshots coming closer…[and] began to crawl farther into the bushes” (Beah 35). Ishmael wants to survive, but has little faith that he can. He is attempting to survive by hiding wherever he can- even where the rebels can easily find him. After escaping, Ishmael runs into a villager from his home tells him news on the whereabouts of his family. His optimism is high when the villager, Gasemu, tells Ishmael, “Your parents and brothers wil...
During the war, people struggle to differentiate their enemies from friends causing people to act on fear. Survival is paramount and trusting someone can lead to the deaths of an entire village. Beah wrote,”Many times during our journey were surrounded by muscular men with machetes who almost killed us before realizing we were children just running away from war.” (Page 72, Chapter 8). War causes people to be on edge and trust is no longer a connection but a reason that could end a person's life. The major theme in “A Long Way Gone” is survival and acting based on an emotional concept can cost atrocities.
...rough many difficult trials and tribulations that resulted in his loss of innocence after he became a part of the child army in Sierra Leone. Those experiences caused for him, like the other members of the child army, to change physically because of his drug addiction, psychologically because of his repressed memories, and emotionally, from the desensitization to warfare and death that was a part of his training. This caused for Ishmael to transform from a young innocent boy to a killing machine exploited by his military officials. Ishmael was able to convey his loss of innocence in his memoir through the use of dialogue, first-person narration, and by telling of memories he had through flashbacks. The loss of innocence tied into the title of the memoir because emotionally, physically, and psychologically, he was a long way gone from the boy he was before the army.
Ishmael’s search for revenge ended when he was taken out of the front lines of the war by
This is at core a pitiful story which encompasses of ruthlessness and miseries endured by Ishmael Beah. All the trials in this story are chronologically prescribed and heart sobbing, in which a person who reads can in time weep while interpreting.
Children exposed to violence within their communities are left with emotions of hopelessness, insecurity, and doubt. Historical events such as the war on terrorism, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the tragic events of September 11th have had a detrimental effect on the entire nation, including the children. Although every child is not directly affected by the effects of war, it somehow has an emotional effect on all. The involvement of a nation in war affects every individual differently, whether it is out of fear, anger, doubt, hope, or love. In the short novel A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, he narrates the story by telling his own involvement in the Civil War in Sierra Leone as a young boy and the many issues he faces while living in horror.
First, Ishmael arrived at the village Yele which then became a symbol of hope and innocence. In this passage, Ishmael’s inner nature was battling society because he did not want to go to war, however the army wanted to brainwash him into thinking it was the right thing to do. Further, characterization of his thoughts reveals how innocent and child-like he still was because when he first saw the injured people on their way to Yele he felt “nauseated”(Beah 100) and had to look away, this indicates that he disliked war and violence. This also indicates that Ishmael would never have joined the army without its influence.Then Ishmael looked away the soldier said that he would get used to it. This interaction with the soldier makes Ishmael seem more child-like because the soldier’s acted superior and more experienced. In addition, he was still a child upon arriving in Yele, where he could finally feel safe. In Yele there was always “lively chattering and laughter” (Beah 101). It was a place where “girls played clapping games”(Beah 102), the boys “played soccer”(Beah 102). Thanks to this village Ishmael had regained some of his childhood. But then the army took it away again. The lieutenant got up in front of all the civilians and told them to fight. He said that they had a choice but he was lying, the rebels had surrounded the village, if they left they would have no food, and no protection, they would be wal...
In Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis and in Ishmael Beah’s A Long Way Gone, both authors commentate on the romanticism of violence that is often associated with war. Because of this, the authors are able to dispel misconceptions surrounding war. Furthermore, the memoirs allow the authors reflect upon their own experiences of war during their childhoods, as well as examine how cultural shifts perpetuated by both war and the increased influence of western culture that took place within their cultures shaped who they became. Through their memoirs, the authors portray the reality of war and violence through cultural experiences.
In Ishmael Beah’s A Long Way Gone, it tells the story of a young boy who has experienced what no child should have lived or experienced, the life of a child soldier. He has dealt with many emotions such as anger and sadness that many of us have gone through whether or not it is the same circumstance. We, as humans, have the same ability to feel emotions. Ishmael and I have many things in common but we also have many differences that makes us so far apart. Our tradition, culture, and morals separates us from one another but the emotions and experiences that we both have, helps us connect to Ishmael in a way that other people may not have.
...ys, they are seized by soldiers and taken to a village engrossed by the military fighting back at the rebels. The fellow children soldiers became Ishmael’s only family at the time, and each of them were supplemented with a white pill, “The corporal said it will boost your energy” says a young soldier. (116) Little did Ishmael and the others know that the tablet was an illicit drug given to them to fight their fatigue and anxiety for a short term to better them in combat with the rebels. Beah unknowingly alters into a blood-craving animal, who kills with numbness and no emotion. “I was not afraid of these lifeless bodies. I despised them and kicked them to flip them.” (119) Ishmael now relies and is addicted to drugs to get through his day-to-day life, including smoking marijuana, and constantly snorting “brown brown” (121) which is a mixture of gunpowder and cocaine.
War is cruel. The Vietnam War, which lasted for 21 years from 1954 to 1975, was a horrific and tragic event in human history. The Second World War was as frightening and tragic even though it lasted for only 6 years from 1939 to 1945 comparing with the longer-lasting war in Vietnam. During both wars, thousands of millions of soldiers and civilians had been killed. Especially during the Second World War, numerous innocent people were sent into concentration camps, or some places as internment camps for no specific reasons told. Some of these people came out sound after the war, but others were never heard of again. After both wars, people that were alive experienced not only the physical damages, but also the psychic trauma by seeing the deaths and injuries of family members, friends or even just strangers. In the short story “A Marker on the Side of the Boat” by Bao Ninh about the Vietnam War, and the documentary film Barbed Wire and Mandolins directed by Nicola Zavaglia with a background of the Second World War, they both explore and convey the trauma of war. However, the short story “A Marker on the Side of the Boat” is more effective in conveying the trauma of war than the film Barbed Wire and Mandolins because of its well-developed plot with well-illustrated details, and its ability to raise emotional responses from its readers.
...ermore, the conflict provoked a high risk of be prolonged psychologically in a serious brain disturbance. It has ruined their any chances of getting rid of this trauma by compromising any of them academic future. The many children facing this “massive war traumas show evidence of Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder” (PTSD).