A Long Way Gone

Journal 1 A topic that is shown throughout A Long Way Gone is the desire to escape the war. Ishmael Beah had the want, the need, and the desire to escape the war that was happening in Sierra Leone. He had to escape those who turned on the country and became rebels. Running away became part of his life for many years until he join the soldiers. There he would fight for his country to escape from the cruelty the rebels were bringing to Sierra Leone. Ishmael was a very brave child to be constantly escaping and running away from guys who were setting villages on fire and carried AK47s and G3s with them. After being put into a rehabilitation center he had to escape those fears and awful thought from the war. He needed to make those thoughts go
The war is what the book is focused around and it shows how a young boy is stuck in the middle of it. The first thing that happens to introduce you to the war is when 3 boys, Ishmael, Junior, and Talloi went to Mattru Jong. There they heard their home town Mogbwemo was attacked by rebels. The boys then started their journey of running away from rebels to find safe places. As him and another group of boys reach a safe town they were forced into the government army. “He (The lieutenant) paused slowly and continued: “Some of you are here because they have killed your parents or families, others because this is a safe place to be. Well, it is not that safe anymore. That is why we need strong men and boys to help us fight these guys, so that we can keep this village safe” (Beah 106). After fighting the horrible war for a couple years Ishmael was sent to a rehabilitation camp for kids his age. After being in the camp for several months he was finally sent to live with his uncle in Freetown. Ishmael thought he was finally away from the war and could have a semi normal life. One morning he woke up with the ringing of guns shooting. He stayed at the house along with his family but knew he would have to leave. The conflict was never resolved in Ishmael’s story but was avoided by him. He left Sierra Leone to live with Laura in New York
Through reading both of these books it can be recognized that Ishmael and Jack have some things in common. Both Ishmael and Jack have triggers that make them become angry. “This from Piggy, and the wails of agreement from the hunters, drove Jack to violence. The bolting look came into his eyes. He took a step and able at last to hit someone, stuck his fist into Piggy’s stomach.” (Golding 71) That shows how Jack had a trigger for violence which led to a fight. The fight between Jack and Piggy would not be nearly as bad as the fight between Ishmael and the rebels. The trigger for Ishmael didn’t lead to physical fighting it led to something worse, death. The lieutenant of Ishmael would remind him of who he was fighting and why. The lieutenant would remind him that the rebels killed his family and that they were also the ones to shoot his foot. “These are the men responsible for the bullet holes in your foot. It’s time to make sure they never shoot at you or your comrades” (Beah 159). Ishmael would be told these things and become angry at the soldiers whom he was fighting. The lieutenant would say these things to get the boys fired up and ready to kill those who hurt and killed their families. How would the lieutenant fire himself up before a battle? Maybe his family was almost killed which made him angry enough to also kill the