A Long Way Gone

A Long Way Gone, a book written by Ishmael Beah, is a memoir of his own struggle to survive during the civil war in Sierra Leone. A Long Way Gone was the first book Beah publish back in 2007, and has just recently published Radiance of Tomorrow in 2014. The True story of A Long Way Gone describes the life that Ishmael Beah was forced to face without the help of his family. The Title is appropriate because while facing all these challenges Beah changed drastically compared to the sweet child that he was at the start of the book. Beah becomes a long way gone from his younger days and becomes evil and vicious as the war comes to an end. I found A Long Way Gone to be a very interesting and intriguing read, due to the fact that once you started

reading it was very hard to put it down. The Book uses a various of of literary devices and ideas such as Themes, Perspectives, Strong Plot, and Narrative to convey Ishmael Beah's Strong message.
A Long Way Gone is a True war story of a young boy named Ishmael Baeh The Book has a great plot and keeps you interested the whole time you read. The book starts off calm and becomes more and more wild as you read. While out with his friends, his village in Sierra Leone is destroyed by rebels, and his family is separated from him in the chaos. Beah, his brother, and his friends travel by themselves to stay away from the war. The times become hard and they begin to steal and destroy to get what they need to survive in the harsh conditions. He soon has no choice but to become apart of the army to avenge his family's slaughter. Baeh carried out acts of savagery, such as killing armless men and even children his own age. He learned to have no fear of killing, and went about it as a daily routine. All the boys were forced to use drugs so that they had the courage to fight in battle fiercely and to never give up. Baeh`s Lieutenant turned his company into the UNICEF where they would help him recover from the mass drug abuse. At first Beah just wants to return to the war, until he learns that he is not the only that made it out of Sierra Leone. He falls in love with a nurse, and then is exposed to the freedom and safety of the united states. After his recovery Beah Goes to the UN to tell his story of the harsh and terrible life he was forced to live.There he meets his foster mother Laura Sims who is falls in love with him the second he tells his story. He sees that many other children don't have to face the troubles he faced in the United States, and decided he wanted to share his story to everyone in the future.
They say not to judge a book by it's cover, but if you do for this book you'll most likely get what you were hoping to read about. The Cover conveys a Young african male at a young age caring an RPG and Ak-47. The boy is extremely depressed and looks like he can barely keep going, but he trudges down the dirt road in hope of salvation. The title also gives you an idea how how far this boy has really gone to make it at such a young age. Both the Title and Cover do a good job of presenting the reader with the Hard and difficult task that Beah and his friends face. The read will think he/she will be ready, but nothing can get them ready for the sad and horrid scenes behind the true story, A Long Way Gone.
Beah does a great job of expressing the main theme of the story.

He wants readers to understand that he had to do whatever it took so that he could survive till the next day. In the beginning, Beah is a young caring child who just wants to be a rapper, but that part of baeh wouldn't have made it through the war. As the boys become more in need of food they become less caring of the people around them, and care only for survival of their own. As the story continues it becomes clear that the only things that beah wants are to find or avenge his family. He knows he must survive to find them so he joins the army, where he starts to change drastically due to drug abuse. Beah begins to kill anyone in his sight, he states “ I no longer feel pity for the people I kill”. Beah feels this way because if he does not complete his tasks of killing he will be outed from the army leaving him alone to the rebels. The power of drugs, hatred, and the losses he faced made Beah believe the only purpose in life was to survive, That became his goal, to survive. Surviving became his ultimate goal in the war, leaving him to crush any obstacle that got in his way. Beah Became obsessed with war, and living through causing him to do anything necessary to live to see the

end.
The Story of Ishmael Beah is an eye opening read to most readers. His story shows the reader that life outside of the United States is much different than what we believe it to be. When I first started reading I wouldn't have believed that this was a true story, but when you find out it is you begin to think of the things you take for granted in your life. In our lives sometimes we get mad, upset, broken, stressed by things like sporting events or to much homework. The children of a long way gone wish they could go to school or play Futbal instead of fighting in a war that they don't even know what is about. These types of things are what make Ishmael story so eye opening . This book isn't for everyone, not everyone can stomach the graphic scenes and picture the terrible conditions that children are forced to live in Sierra Leone. Wars like this happen all over 3rd world countries, and I believe that this is the main point Ishmael wanted to get across to his readers. Beah is a small exception to the kids who make it out of the war, many are tortured, killed, overdose on drugs, or died of starvation.Some never get to have happiness again and live with memories of war for eternity. I loved A Long Way Gone, because it had a positive impact on me as a person. A Long Way Gone has taught me to not take things for granted, and to always look at the positives in life instead of worrying about the little things that go wrong.
Ishmael Beah Strongly present his book due to the narration of the book. The understanding of stories differs greatly depending on the Narration of the book. Beah is the story teller in A Long Way Gone, and if it were written any other way the theme would not be as powerful as it is. Beah telling the story helps the reader understand everything from his point of view. This helps the reader understand why Beah did the cruel and unmanly thing to survive. It also presents to us the terrible condition and life that he was forced told live. Without the Narrative of Beah Ishmael the impact of the book wouldn't have been as great on me. The Narrative of Beah helps the readers fully understand the deep emotions, and Hardships Beah faced on his journey of salvation and freedom.
In Conclusion A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah was my favorite read of all time. I could only recommend this book to a mature audience who is ready to see the horrors of the people in Sierra Leone. This eye opening story will change the way you see your life, and show you that life isn't always as bad as you think. The Story great use of literary terms and ideas helped show me that I can be the difference maker in my life. The use of strong themes , narration, illustrations and a strong plot have showed me that life will always bring bad things my way, but it is my job to find the light at the end of the tunnel.