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.