In a long way gone memoirs of a boy soldier by Ishmael Beah the main character’s conflict was mainly man vs. society. The society creating the horrors of the world around him through the war. There remain many different themes portrayed in the book but the ones that stood out to me included no matter how bad things get one can still find hope. Also one can find beauty if one just looks for it and the loss of innocence when it comes to treating people the way one may believe they deserved. To start with, Ishmael’s journey came with a lot of tragedy and conflict; no matter how hard his journey became to bear he continued to find beauty in normal things. In the book Ishmael said “Even though our journey was difficult every once in a while we were able to do something that was normal and made us happy for a brief moment.”(Page 70) In all the chaos going on around him not everything contained bad some things where still plain and simple. This also can show people that to be normal is to be happy and not having to worry about serving day to day. Another quote by Ishmael he says “my eyes …show more content…
widened, a smile forming on my face. Even in the middle of the madness there remained that true and natural beauty, and it took my mind away from my current situation as I marveled at this sight” (page 59). In the time of war and wickedness one might assume that it turns everything to corruption, but from this one moment Ishmael witnessed that natural beauty can still prevail. For example, forest fires can cause destruction but after everything is all said and done plants begin to grow and animals come back and what is left is simply pure and beautiful. Furthermore another theme in a long Way Gone is that if one gets caught up in the view and conflict of society it can cause one to lose their innocence. “They have lost everything that makes them human. They do not even deserve to live that is why we must kill every single one of them” (page 108). In this quote it says how the lieutenant felt when he tried to get recruits for new soldiers. The rebels’ corruption of people may only cause destruction, but in the process of hunting them all down and giving them “Justice” then the one preforming the action becomes the monster. “I got anger… they reminded me of the ruins where I had lost my family so I shot as many as I could, but I didn’t feel and better” (page 122). In this moment Ishmael becomes the monster and he no longer contained innocence because he taken human life. If he had not been caught up in a town with the army he would have never felt the need to kill. Last but not least, in the mist of all the horrors in the world no matter what one can still find hope.
Ishmael said” when I was very little, my father used to say “If you are alive there is hope for a better day and something good to happen. If there is nothing good left in the destiny of a person he or she will die.” (Page 54) Ishmael knowing this could see that he was still alive so therefore hope existed and could be found. Without hope of something life has no purpose and nothing good can happen. Later on, in the story Ishmael said “they had run so far away from war only to be caught back in it. There is nowhere to go from here.” (page 207) as one might see in this quote the narrator gave up hope indicated by the phrase ”there is nowhere to go from here” the hope now gone in this part causes one not to have purpose and giving up makes hope even more
necessary. In conclusion, Ishmael Beah in a long way gone memoirs of a boy soldier illustrated that in the horror of war caused by society one may still find beauty in small things that of which may give them hope. Along Ishmael’s journey he lost his family and became a boy soldier and though all of this he survived by knowing that being alive means that there is more hope to his journey.
War. Author Michael Shaara does an excellent job of showing the bravery and valor of
In the book Soldier's Heart By Gary Paulsen the main theme is how war changes a person.
Throughout the book the audience has seen Ishmael go through adventure and sorrow. In the novel Ishmael is forced to go to war at age thirteen, but what keeps him going were his grandmother's wise words. His grandmother was the one who told him powerful lessons that he could use in real life. These lesson that Ishmael is keeping him grounded is not only from his grandmother but also from his friends. Lessons that were seen by the readers are “wild pigs”, “Bra Spider”, and the story about the moon.
...ircumstances as he did, believe that revenge is not good and it keeps on going if no one stops the process. Overall, Ishmael eventually learned that revenge does not solve anything and seeking revenge just results in a longer war sustained by the counterproductive concept of vengeance. Additionally, Ishmael learned that by constantly thinking about his culpability, he was just bringing more harm to himself and in the process was unable to create any progress in his own life. Ishmael eventually realized that merely reflecting on his actions did not do anything and to fix and prevent the problems he faced, he would have to take initiative to reach out to the people who could help. By utilizing the idea of forgiveness, Ishmael learned that he could let go of the huge mountain of stress that was bringing him down and prevented him from overcoming the effects of the war.
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.
A prominent theme in A Long Way Gone is about the loss of innocence from the involvement in the war. A Long Way Gone is the memoir of a young boy, Ishmael Beah, wanders in Sierra Leone who struggles for survival. Hoping to survive, he ended up raiding villages from the rebels and killing everyone. One theme in A long Way Gone is that war give innocent people the lust for revenge, destroys childhood and war became part of their daily life.
Ishmael kills people without it being a big problem or deal. He was forced and threatened. If not then he would be killed. First, he was terrified to see people being killed. In the book, Ishmael quotes “My hand began trembling uncontrollably…” This shows that Ishmael is being aware of his surroundings and of himself. This is important because it shows how Ishmael feels before he and his
Ishmael also survives another dreadful event when he goes through the war. While trying to find refuge from the war, Ishmael and his friends ironically end up joining the army, to fight against the rebels. Over the course of his time in the war, Ishmael would be exposed to unparalleled violence day in and day out. During these times Ishmael says “Sometimes we were asked to leave for war in the middle of a movie. We would come back hours later after killing many people and continue the movie as if we had just returned from intermission. We were always either at the front lines, watching a movie, or doing drugs. There was no time to be alone or to think” (p. 124). This quote perfectly sums up the danger that Ishmael experienced during the war. Most of this danger however, was not the fact that he was likely to be injured or killed. Granted, he was on the front lines numerous days a week and snuck behind enemy lines frequently, both tasks which could have resulted in an injury, or worse, death, but the real dangers he faced during these times were dehumanization he faced constantly. Everyday, he either went out into the
“Hope is defined as the action of wishing or desiring that something will occur.” Hope helps people move forward in life to see what’s coming next for them. For example, “I had no right to let myself die. What would he do without me? I was his sole support” (Wiesel, “Night”.) This quote explains the effects of hope in a pitiful situation. Eliezer Wiesel and his father were torn apart, mentally and physically from everything they
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...
We must adapt our way of living to make sure we continue to strive and no longer hinder our own existence. Ishmael highlights that people should learn from each other, and learning from your peers is an important part of learning and life. If we didn’t learn from each other, the world would never thrive or be able to adapt to the changes that the modern day brings. The moral responsibilities of humans that the text highlights are essential to living a good life. The responsibilities that are discussed are important in the teaching of religious education.
“The Trusty” is a work of fiction, written by Ron Rash, that tells the story of a man and a woman who try to escape their lives. In this short story, Sinkler is depicted as a scandalous but also as a distressed character. Many painted events lead to the illustration of a peculiar setting in which Sinkler is experiencing some abnormal instances. Sinkler is not dead, and his characterization has lead the audience to believe his flawed mental state is the reason why.
His perspective in life has changed he does not understand how people can act and live so freely and foolishly anymore, he stays up at night and is affected from the loss of his arm, he can not move on and start a relationship. Coming back from his time in the marines Ishmael started to see life differently, Guterson writes, “People appeared enormously foolish to. He understood that they were only animated cavities full of jelly and strings and liquids. He had seen the insides of jaggedly ripped-open dead people. He knew, for instance, what brains looked like spilling out of somebody's head. In the context of this, much of what went on in normal life seemed wholly and disturbingly ridiculous. (Gutereson 35).” With Ishmael's PTSD he has continuous flashbacks that stop him from moving on in life and changing his morbid perspective and outlook on it. From continuously feeling like people do not understand life or the way they could go on like nothing when others can not. Ishmael’s change and outlook on life something clearly seen in many veterans, but while others tried to continue with their life Ishmael did not know how to, Guterson states, “ I can't really understand… but you - you went numb, Ishmael. And you’ve stayed numb all these
The Struggles in life is something everyone is faced with whether it is physical, emotional mental or personal struggles. These struggles are capable of shaping an individual’s personality and outlook on life. Timothy Findley’s novel The Wars, shows that struggles lead to the character’s ultimate inner struggles, outer struggles and self-discovery. War exists in a person’s physical and psychological aspects. In The Wars, Robert Ross goes to war and fights a personal and physical battle.
The “Hope” is optimism. Freedom from hope is freedom to your soul. You can no longer hurt yourself by living. It is hard to believe that being hopeless leads to living, but living is an imprisonment. We try to be the best we can be but does life limit us?