A Long Way Gone Themes
First-world children spend summer days playing with friends or vacationing with their families. But only an ocean away, children as young as ten are forced to kill each other as brainwashed soldiers in morally reprehensible political conflicts. “A Long Way Gone” is Ishmael Beah’s account of his life as a child soldier in the ongoing Somali Civil War. In it, he uses simple language and graphic details to provoke strong emotions in the reader, and hopefully move them to action. His story is one fraught with pain, trauma, death and, eventually, hope for a world without child combatants. It is best to make the last sentence of the intro the THESIS
Many autobiographical works focus on the author’s difficult childhood. Overcoming adversity early …show more content…
It begins with Ishmael’s life before the war, and ends with his journey to New York City. This allows us (avoid personal pronouns) to see how much of an impact the Somalian civil war has had on the author’s life. Pre-war Ishmael is a carefree adolescent who likes rap music and soccer: “We loaded our backpacks with notebooks of lyrics we were working on and stuffed our pockets with cassettes of rap albums.” (Beah, 7) After an extremely traumatic experience however, Ishmael’s priorities shift from music and friends to simple survival: “I became worried a bit but I was relieved to have made it out of my country alive.” (Beah, 213) Specific stories (usually a detailed account of a battle) are often revealed in the form of flashbacks. These prevent the reader from gaining false sense of security during Ishmael’s time of rehabilitation and remind them of what the author has been through.
Throughout Ishmael’s book, smatterings of unexpected violence or death shock readers away from their first-world preconceptions (nice use of diction here) of life as a child. Gone are the days when children were simply innocent young to be taken care of. In many countries they are now considered resources to be used and discarded. Hopefully this stark awakening will encourage readers to appreciate the children in their lives and to work towards a world where youth can learn and develop in
Many autobiographical works focus on the author’s difficult childhood. Overcoming adversity early …show more content…
It begins with Ishmael’s life before the war, and ends with his journey to New York City. This allows us (avoid personal pronouns) to see how much of an impact the Somalian civil war has had on the author’s life. Pre-war Ishmael is a carefree adolescent who likes rap music and soccer: “We loaded our backpacks with notebooks of lyrics we were working on and stuffed our pockets with cassettes of rap albums.” (Beah, 7) After an extremely traumatic experience however, Ishmael’s priorities shift from music and friends to simple survival: “I became worried a bit but I was relieved to have made it out of my country alive.” (Beah, 213) Specific stories (usually a detailed account of a battle) are often revealed in the form of flashbacks. These prevent the reader from gaining false sense of security during Ishmael’s time of rehabilitation and remind them of what the author has been through.
Throughout Ishmael’s book, smatterings of unexpected violence or death shock readers away from their first-world preconceptions (nice use of diction here) of life as a child. Gone are the days when children were simply innocent young to be taken care of. In many countries they are now considered resources to be used and discarded. Hopefully this stark awakening will encourage readers to appreciate the children in their lives and to work towards a world where youth can learn and develop in