Blog Post 3

A Long Way Gone

Ishmael Beah

Author's Point

December 4, 2015

From chapter 14 and on Ishmael faces disappointment and forgiveness. In chapters 14 to 16 Ishmael uses multiple drugs to get his duties done. From smoking marijuana, to taking white pills, and to sniffing "brown brown", he quickly became addicted to them. He used these drugs as a way to power through killing people. I believe Ishmael uses these drugs to not think about the person he has become and the innocence he has lost. He is disappointed in himself and what he has gotten himself into. From chapters 17 to the end of the book Ishmael grows into the person he was meant to be. He realizes through these chapters that though he went through some hardships in his childhood, he is able to overcome it. 

I think the point Ishmael Beah was trying to make when he read this book is that though he had it pretty rough, he can still get through life with a positive out look and over come his past. If anything, the past has taught him and shaped him to who he is today. When Ishmael goes to his last conference, I look at this conference as the most important one. "and the problem that is affecting us children is the war that forces us to run away from our homes, lose our families, aimlessly roam the forests."
(Chapter 20 page 199). Ishmael further explains what his people had to go through during this time of war. How he wanted to serve in the war as revenge for his family. That was all he use to care about.

By the end of the conference he says "I am not a soldier anymore; I am a child." "but I've come to learn that if I'm 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..." (Chapter 20 page 199). These two sentences right here prove the point he was trying to make clear through out the whole memoir. Ishmael Beah wanted readers to understand that even though he went through so much in his childhood, he was able to talk about it and over come it. Before he joined the war for revenge just to come to the realization that he's killing people's families that will eventually want to take revenge just as he did. I think Ishmael's point was clearly expressed through out the novel, he mad me realize that without his mistakes he would have not learned many valuable lessons along his journey of being a child soldier.

Blog #2

A Long Way Gone

Author: Ishmael Beah

Ishmael Beah is separate from his family and serving with his fellow peers in the war. Struggling to survive and running from rebels was something that Ishmael was beginning to get use to. A good day for him was when he had little money to buy himself some food. Ishmael was learning survival tactics from trial and error. Ishmael began losing important people to him when attacks on the village became more common. This was just the beginning of him getting himself into the war.

Multiple themes are portrayed throughout this novel and the one that continues to catch my attention is loneliness. When Ishmael is examined by the chief, he is cold hearted and looks at the children as if they are off springs of Satan. "I gave him half a smile, which he dismissed by spitting on the ground from the kola nut he chewed. His voice was hoarse." (pg. 66). Ishmael has been separated from his family and force to run and live on his own, sure a long the way he had his friends but he began to lose them when attacks on villages became more common. He was experiencing the feeling of being alone, he had no one but himself. He had no love, the chief showed no sympathy or care towards the children. The feeling of being on his own was prevalent when he had to explain his music and why he rapped with his friends. ", we examined the rope marks on our wrists and laughed about what had happened to avoid crying." (pg. 68). Ishmael and his friends were alone and on their own and the incident with the chief was just proof they were all on their own, they could only protect themselves. The feeling of being alone taught Ishmael how to survive on his own. 

Being alone can cause multiple reactions in a person. For example, sometimes loneliness causes people to just forget the important things in life. Connecting this to the lovely bones, when the main character dies, her family doesn't know how to live a normal day, they don't know what to do with out her. Loneliness portrayed in this novel motivated Ishmael to continue to try to survive and overcome the obstacles he came in contact with.

A Long Way Gone

A Long Way Gone is a novel about a young twelve year old boy named Ishmael Beah who is forced to serve in the Civil War in Sierra Leone. Because his village was attacked, there was mass confusion and violence among the people in his town. He was fighting for survival day by day, looking for food, water and shelter, basically anything that could keep him alive. Being enlisted as a soldier changed Ishmael for the worst, this was only the beginning of the series of unfortunate events that Ishmael encounters.

At just ten years old Ishmael was living a great life and enjoying the life he was given. He and his friends loved to sing and rap. The thought of his village being attacked by refugees never once crossed Ishmael's mind. This novel has a lot of real life connections. When I was reading about Ishmael and how he was only ten years old in the beginning of the book I thought of every other ten year old child, and just imagined a child in America going through what Ishmael had to go through. From just his village being attacked to him unwillingly being forced to join in the Civil War, he was already turning into a different kid. 

The war changed him, war can change any one. Connecting this to American Sniper the main character who served in Iraq was affected when he went home to his family, always thinking people are up to no good. The Civil war for Ishmael turned him into a mean, killing machine. Will Ishmael be able to overcome this? Will he be able to go back to his normal life and continue with the way he was living? Will this war benefit him or destroy him?

A Long Way Gone has had me intrigued from the beginning. The book never fails to have unexpected events occur. Unlike most books, this one is a true story and I find it almost impossible that someone at such a young age could live their life like this. This novel opened up my eyes and I'm excited to see how much more it will continue to teach me. 

The Scorch Trials blog #3

How can someone you've been through so much with just betray you? Will Thomas ever be able to trust Teresa again, any of his gladers? If he is really the leader what does this say about himself? Thomas spends the last few chapters of this novel finding who he is as a person. When Teresa and Aris betray him and put him into a gas chamber, Thomas feels he can trust anyone. Why would Teresa and Aris betray Thomas just as an act? 

After many long, treacherous nights, Group B and the gladers finally make it to Safe Haven. Brenda and George were promise and cure but were not let in to the Safe Haven. Because Thomas now knows he has power within WCKD he uses it to his advantage, saving both Brenda and George, but they were not given the cure. The safe haven wasn't much besides a welcoming stick that said that they have made it. Safe haven was the complete opposite of safe. Instead it was full of dangerous creatures, causing each man or woman to fend and fight for themselves These creatures were easier to defeat than Grievers. When Thomas arrives to the pilot, his world takes a 360. The next time Thomas wakes up hes in a completely different place. The only thing he can recall is having a conversation with Teresa, the last words she whispered to him were "WICKED is good." Flashing back to the first few chapters of this novel, Thomas at first had no idea he was apart of WCKD until Brenda and George were honest with him. Is WCKD good? Is WCKD bad? Thomas seems to be conflicted with whether or not WCKD does the things they do for the good of things.

Something to consider after reading this novel is, how will the next one begin? Will Thomas play a long with WCKD to find out what it really is about? I believe Thomas may want to find out more about WCKD, just like your average kid hes curious as to why this is happening to him. I predict he will be put into another zone but there will be multiple obstacles standing in his way, preventing him from succeeding in the next zone. I also predict Thomas will either end up dying or getting hurt because of WCKD. I feel that Thomas isn't fully valuable to WCKD, they had the chance to kill him when he got shot in the shoulder but instead they saved him. What does that say about WCKD'S character?  The biggest question that is a cliff hanger is  is if Thomas will continue his journey with his Gladers and Teresa or this next book starting a new chapter in his life. I feel that the next novel will be a continuation of the same story but with many changes involved with the character's and how Thomas thinks. Thomas plays a big role in every novel, I would love to see him make a difference in WCKD.

The Scorch Trials

The Scorch Trials by James Dashner is a sequel to the novel Maze Runner. After defeating the maze Thomas and the Gladers wake up and a man they call "Rat Man" sends them into the Scorch. Eventually the group gets split because of the bad weather, little source of food and water, and cranks. Thomas finds out that WCKD is capable of coming down to the Scorch and saving people that get hurt when they're not supposed to. Basically, they control how and when a certain person dies, they are in charge of everything.

Thomas and the Gladers made it out of the maze just to get put into the Scorch. The big question is, how will they overcome the maze? One man who is in charge of WCKD, Rat Man sends them to the Scorch but also gives them information about it. First, describing the cranks. Cranks were people who completely lost ALL of their humanity. Normal people, infected by a virus called "Flare". A crank can be treated with Bliss that was created to sedate a person's senses. Cranks can still be human because of the way the virus affects a person differently. If a brain were to be highly active and stressed the more quickly a person will lose their sanity and humanity. Brenda and Jorge are two cranks who aren't yet too far gone, they help Thomas try and escape in exchange for the cure. Little does Thomas know, he is the leader of WCKD, that's why Jorge and Brenda stick with him.

When Thomas gets shot in the shoulder WCKD comes down to heal his wounds and then they return him to his Gladers. WCKD didn't want Thomas to die from a rusty bullet, there wouldn't a proper way to bury him if he were to die from a bullet. If Thomas wouldn't have gotten injured he could have been able to receive what Teresa was trying to tell him. If i could predict what will happen after the Gladers come across Group B is that Teresa, the leader of Group B will help Thomas. Teresa and Thomas could work together and find a way to save each other from completely losing their humanity and get back to the way they were when they knew each other and cared about each other. I believe that Thomas, Teresa, the Gladers, and group B work together then they can be the Scorch. Thomas will then be able to find himself and figure out what WCKD is hiding from him.

The only way Thomas will be able t find himself is if he lives to beat out the Scorch. Thomas is a dynamic character who changes throughout the book. From beginning to now I know that Thomas the boy that was determined to prove WCKD wrong and beat them, is slowly just tearing away from humanity. When he mentions it might be easier to die instead of live, it shows he is starting to change his mind about if he can overcome the Scorch or not. The only way Thomas can figure out how to beat WCKD and the Scorch is to find himself.

This book continued to intrigue by every chapter. There’s never been a dull moment throughout the novel. I am interested in seeing where how Thomas will deal with WCKD. I’m excited to see how the rest of the story will play out. The way that this story has caught my attention, I can tell it will continue to surprise me through every obstacle Thomas faces.