Western Culture and Child Soldiers

763 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Is culture ruining childhood

After achieving economic dominance following the events of World War II, the United States and its allies in Europe began to spread their influence. Commonly referred to as “the West”, these nations impacted people all over the world through music, propaganda, and relief efforts. The United States, as a free superpower, is morally obligated to promote democracy around the world (Evinger and Montanez-Muhinda). This can easily be observed in the stories of two children, Mariatu Kamara and Ishmael Beah, whose lives are changed by a brutal civil war. Despite playing a large role in both tales, the effects of western world are much more prevalent and impactful in A Long Way Gone than in The Bite of the Mango. In fact, unlike Mariatu, Ishmael is influenced heavily by western culture before the war begins to directly affect him. One of the first things readers learn about him is that he loves rap music, a genre created by the West. He and his friends learn dance moves like the running man, wear baggy clothes, and memorize lyrics in English. Eventually, they even begin to use English phrases such as “peace out”. This kind of influence is not found in The Bite of the Mango. Mariatu has much less exposure to the western world than Ishmael. This is evident through her lack of English skills that surfaces when she tries to communicate with her sponsors. However, there are several similarities between their lives that can be attributed to western influence. For example, both of them learn about snow by watching American Christmas movies. They are both exposed to English, most likely because of its role in the world’s economy. Furthermore, the impoverished state of Sierra Leone is the result of western slave trade and imperialism. Freetown wa... ... middle of paper ... ... for Ishmael’s survival. It has a tremendous influence on him from the start of the story, and even saves his life multiple times. Even though both of them end up with book deals and tours, Ishmael has a much stronger interest in the West. It helps him turn his life around and makes him into the person he is today. Works Cited Beah, Ishmael. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007. Print. Evinger, B. and Rosalind Montanez-Muhinda. "Point: The United States Has An Interest In Promoting Global Democracy." Points Of View: U.S. & World Democracy (2013): 2. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 13 November 2013. Kamara, Mariatu, and Susan McClelland. The Bite of the Mango. Toronto: Annick, 2008. Print. "Sierra Leone." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6Th Edition (2013): 1-3. Academic Search Premier. Web. 11 November 2013.

Show More
Related

  • A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah

    1199 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the author’s life in New York and Oberlin College, he understood that people who have not experienced being in a war do not understand what the chaos of a war does to a human being. And once the western media started sensationalizing the violence in Sierra Leone without any human context, people started relating Sierra Leone to civil war, madness and amputations only as that was all that was spoken about. So he wrote this book out o...

    Read More

  • Emotional Response in A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah

    596 Words  | 2 Pages

    The book is based on actual events and is expressed through a personal point of view. Ishmael wrote a memoir that tells the story of a young boy who is torn from his peaceful life, and then forced into a frightening world of drugs and slavery. In writing about his experiences, he has made the decision to present his experiences in a particular way by missing out details and recounting others. This along with the language used and the order, in which the events are disclosed, all serve to create a particular interpretation and to guide the reader to respond in a particular way.

    Read More

  • Ishmael's Innocence In A Long Way Gone

    983 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah

    1691 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...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.

    Read More

  • Ishmael Beah's Recovery

    786 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Daniel Quinn's Ishmael

    1262 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ishmael was taken from the wild and held captive in a zoo, a circus, and a gazebo. During his time in various types of captivity, Ishmael was able to develop a sense of self and a better understanding of the world around him. Ishmael states that the narrator and those who share the same culture are “captives of a civilizational system that more or less compels you to go on destroying the world in order live” (Quinn, 15). He goes to explain that releasing humanity from captivity is crucial for survival, but humans are unable to see the bars of the cage. Using the cage as a metaphor, Quinn is referring to human culture and how they do not see the harm it’s causing. As the novel progresses, it elaborates on how culture came about and why certain people inherit certain cultures. Ishmael refers to a story as the explanation of the relationship between humans, the world and the gods. He defines to enact is to live as if the story is a reality. Ishmael suggest that humans are captives of story, comparing them to the people of Nazi Germany who were held captive by Hitler’s

    Read More

  • Loss of Innocence in A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

    1483 Words  | 3 Pages

    Beah, Ishmael. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007. Print.

    Read More

  • A Long Way Gone Quotes

    1090 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Human Condition In Ishmael's A Long Way Gone

    1293 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the war, there were two prevalent groups. These were the army and the rebels, both of which offered Ishmael a questionable future. As we know, Ishmael ended up joining the army. About his experience in the army, Ishmael says “I had my gun now, and as the corporal always said “This gun is your source of power in these times.It will protect you and provide you all you need, if you know how to use it well.”” (p.124). This type of thinking is in short, self-destructive to Ishmael. It would mean that he would either end up dead during the war, or if he was to survive, it would be very unlikely for him to be rehabilitated because he had been so reliant on his gun during the war. In addition to this, it would leave Ishmael in a precarious state when the war ended if he had not been rehabilitated, since the only thing he knew to do for years was to kill. However, since he was able to be rehabilitated, he was able to conform to society once more. This, unfortunately, could have been prompted once again near the end of the book when history repeats itself when the AFRC took over Sierra Leone. “The entire nation crumbled into a state of lawlessness. I hated what was happening. I couldn’t return to my previous live.”. Once again, war comes knocking on Ishmael’s front door, and this time around Ishmael knows what war is like and what he is going to experience again. Ishmael was

    Read More

  • A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah

    1026 Words  | 3 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Daniel Quinn’s Ishmael - Horrifying

    1394 Words  | 3 Pages

    The first story Ishmael tells is that of the takers. Every story is based on a premise. The taker premise is that the world was made for man. If the world is made for man, then it belongs to him, and man can do what ever he pleases with it. It's our environment, our seas, our solar system, etc. The world is a support system for man. It is only a machine designed to produce and sustain human life.

    Read More

  • John Updike’s A & P, Richard Wright’s The Man Who Was Almost a Man, and James Joyce’s Araby

    1298 Words  | 3 Pages

    Joyce, James. “Araby”. The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. Eds. R.V. Cassill and Richard Bausch. Shorter Sixth Edition. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2000. 427 - 431.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah

    1020 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...oss Laura Simms, a narrator and his forthcoming foster mom, and understands the significance of sharing his practice with the world in expectations of avoiding such terrors from happening to other youngsters and to other parts of the world. (chapter 20).Afterwards Ishmael revenues to Freetown, Sierra Leon, a rebellion by the RUF and the Soldierly outs the non-combatant government, and the warfare Ishmael has been escaping from catches up with him. After his uncle’s passing, Ishmael escapes Sierra Leon for nearby Guinea and finally makes his tactic to his different lifetime in the United States (chapter 21).

    Read More

  • True Meaning of Love Revealed in Snow Falling on Cedars

    1131 Words  | 3 Pages

    David Guterson's novel, Snow Falling on Cedars, is one that covers a number of important aspects in life, including some controversial topics like racism and the Japanese internment during America's involvement in the Second World War. It speaks to this reader on a more immediate and personal level, however, through the playing out of Ishmael and Hatsue's relationship-one which Hatsue seems to be able to walk away from, but which shapes the way Ishmael tries to "live" his life because he cannot let go of the past, or a future that is not, and was not meant to be.

    Read More

  • Ambiguity Of History In Midnight's Children

    870 Words  | 2 Pages

    Inseparably linked to the moment of India’s independence, Saleem Sinai, born at the exact moment of that independence, has to live with the several consequences of this coincidence. Children such as Saleem are called Midnight’s Children and are endowed with unusual gifts and telepathic powers. While following Saleem’s life story, Salman Rushdie gives not only every personal event in the life of Saleem but also a historical overview of an independent India. Therefore history plays an important role in Midnights Children and is worth examining more closely. This essay will specifically focus on the ambiguity of history and in which way this ambiguity comes forward in Salman Rushdie’s novel. As Rushdie says in his essay Imaginary Homelands “reality is built on our prejudices, misconceptions and ignorance as well as on our perceptiveness and knowledge” (25), this suggests that the history in Midnight’s Children is not only a matter of facts but also a matter of personal

    Read More

More about Western Culture and Child Soldiers

Open Document