Violence and Its Repercussions in 'A Long Way Gone'

Violence is never the answer, this really shows throughout A Long Way Gone. In the story A Long Way Gone, violence is a main aspect that makes the story all come together. The title of this novel is called A Long Way Gone, it was written by Ishmael Beah, This story is about Ishmael Beah being taken to war at a young age, when he is in the war he meets many people, some of them including, Talloi, Gibrilla, Kaloko, and Khalilou. Throughout A Long Way Gone the boys are given lots of drugs and guns, and have been given strict command to kill the rebels. He joined the UNICEF program and was able to find his uncle whom he lived with and was able to escape drugs and the war. The three effects that violence has made on Ishmael are, revenge is an ongoing cycle, violence can cost people their lives, violence can turn a whole-hearted person into a cold bitter soul. In A Long Way Gone, revenge has been proven to be a big part in this story and has shown to be very unsatisfying.

Violence is an ongoing cycle and this has been proven throughout this story. In this story and the many violent acts that have happened, the cycle seems to continue happening, the boys will kill someone, then another person’s family will go after them and so on. An example of this in the story is when Ishmael is presenting his speech to the UN about what happens when people are separated from their families, Ishmael said, “I

joined the army to avenge the deaths of my family and to survive, but I've come to learn that if I am going to take revenge, in that process I will kill another person whose family will want revenge; then revenge and revenge and revenge will never come to an end…" (199) This quote signifies how Ishmael after time realized that killing the people he did, only caused more people to want to kill, and get revenge which made it just a huge cycle. Another example of how violence is an ongoing cycle is something that Ishmael says, “One of the unsettling things about my journey, mentally, physically, and emotionally, was that I wasn't sure when or where it was going to end. I didn't know what I was going to do with my life. I felt that I was starting over and over again. ( 69). By this quote Ishmael feels that there is no place for him to call "home" anymore. He fears that such a place may never exist in his future. He must start "over and over again" with each new day, keep moving forward to get away from the rebels. He knows physically and emotionally that killing is wrong and he does not know where it is going to end. This brings up a new topic, consequences that violence can have.
There is always a consequence to violence and that consequence may be death. An example of this in the story is when, Ishmael remembered something that saidu said after they had survived another attack, saidu said, “How many more times do we have to come to terms with death before we find safety?" he asked. He waited a few minutes, but the three of us didn't say anything. He continued: "Every time people come at us with the intention of killing us, I close my eyes and wait for death. Even though I am still alive, I feel like each time I accept death, part of me dies. Very soon I will completely die and all that will be left is my empty body walking with you. It will be quieter than I am.” (70) saidu says this because he knows that violence has made him a weak person, and he starts to expect death even when he is alive, as he said. He thinks that the boys are accepting death because they just expect it. He says that a part of him dies when he accepts death, so this is his consequence for violence. Another example of how violence has consequences is when Ishmael had a nightmare that was unlike the ones he normally has, in his nightmare he said, “each time a person was stabbed, I felt it worse; I saw the blood dripping from the same part of my body as that part of the victim” (164) This quote shows that Ishmael is getting consequences from the war, in this case his consequence would be terrible nightmares. It was the first time he had dreamed of my family since he started running away from the war. Violence has definitely changed Ishmael.
Ishmael's life changed due to the war. Ishmael started as a very innocent and gentle boy and then turned into a murderous, gruesome boy. An example of this is when Ishmael joins the army, he carries a rap cassette with him until he joins the government army. Although he has no tape player with him, it stays in his pocket, a reminder of his boyhood and playfulness. More than once he and his friends are mistaken for rebels, and the cassette saves him. The villagers see when they play the music that they are only dealing with innocent boys. When Beah joins the army, the cassette is burned by the soldiers, and with it goes his childhood. Ishmael believes that this was the end of his childhood innocence. “Some people tried to hurt us to protect themselves, their family and communities...This was one of the consequences of civil war. People stopped trusting each other, and every stranger became an enemy. Even people who knew you became extremely careful about how they related or spoke to you.” ( 37) This quote shows how the war has not only affected Ishmael personally, but has also affected the relationships in his life. After the war people were not able to trust each other anymore. Another example of how Ishmael has changed during the war is when Ishmael said, “Things changed rapidly in a matter of seconds and no one had any control over anything. We had yet to learn these things and implement survival tactics, which was what it came down to. “(29) Ishmael acknowledges that the rebel’s violence has forced him and others to resort to, “survival tactics”. He is saying that nobody has control during the war and how things happen. Ishmael is not ready to change the capricious situation that he has become a part of.
Throughout A Long Way Gone Ishmael along with his friends have been through very many violent acts, some with consequences, and others with remorse.

When someone kills another person’s family they will get recrimination on that person, with this comes great consequence which can result in long-term suffering or even death. Overall violence and the war have impacted Ishmael’s life and have served a permanent spot with Ishmael, and he may never return to the sweet innocent boy he once was. There is no life to be found in violence. Every act of violence brings us closer to

death.