Beast Of No Nation Analysis

Rachel Davis
20th & 21st Century Lit.
Major Analysis Paper
November 22nd 2016
Beast of No Nation Character and Language Analysis
In Uzodinma Iweala’s novel Beasts of No Nation, Agu’s diction instantly sticks out. Although it is foreign at first, Agu’s narration soon becomes quite easy to interpret. The voice and language usage Iweala has written for Agu, is somewhat unrealistically advanced for such a young boy. While Iweala has done an excellent job of showing readers the emotions child soldier Agu would feel, he has forced Agu to think and make revelations that feel false. Iweala therefore included the diction as a necessary method to make Agu’s character seem more realistic because without it, the book would become too unbelievable for
From page one, Agu utilizes descriptive prose and similes flawlessly: “I am feeling itch like insect is crawling on my skin… feeling my body crunched up like one small mouse in the corner when the light is coming on. (1)” This sort of comparison is too advanced for most seven-year-old boys, especially considering the high-stress nature of the situations Agu recalls. While it’s normal to use some metaphors correctly, the frequency with which Agu perfectly describes his emotions with universally understood analogies could cause the reader to deem his intelligence unbelievable and inauthentic. Metaphorical devices aside, the incredible detail Agu uses to describe his experiences, especially those from the past, seem doubtful. For example, when Agu thinks back to the few days leading up to the start of the war, he details the scenes very carefully. He remembers laying down and having trouble falling asleep because “everywhere was itching too much like ant is biting me. (67).” While it’s understandable to vividly remember some specific aspects of a tragic or life-changing event, this scene is just one example of many in which Agu recalls an irrelevant detail, and can come up with a relatable way to describe the feeling. Even when Agu is killing a man, he’s able to hear “the bird flapping their wing…and the mosquito buzzing in his ear. (21)” Agu is literally killing a man for
Therefore, Agu’s grammatical errors make it more believable when he describes and thinks about his life just like a full-grown man would. The diction Agu speaks with somewhat effectively conceal the advanced way he thinks and acts. Without Agu’s struggles with English, readers might be hesitant to believe his level of maturity. The New York Times wrote in their review of “Beasts of No Nation” that despite the heinous acts the child soldiers commit, the novel does not allow you to forget that they are still children. Agu and other child soldiers like him are put in a situation that gives them no alternative to acting and fighting like adults, and the language used by them is really the main characteristic that separates them from the grown men they are fighting with and