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.
(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.