Character Analysis: A Long Way Gone

A Long Way Gone
The virtue of storytelling is an instrumental, necessary and valuable skill that ensures the comprehension of content. Storytelling, therefore, ensures that the intended message lingers in people’s minds hence ensuring that integration takes place. A good and educative story ensures that the content is consumed in an easier and efficient manner. The art of storytelling is highly demonstrated in A Long Way Gone, and this can be highly illustrated by the various myths and stories incorporated and they play a fundamental of role. The basis for this is that they are instrumental in conveying some life lessons that are vital to ensuring that Ishmael is in a position to survive on his own. This is after the bloody civil war wrecks
To attest to this fact is that an old man could often say, “We must strive to be like the moon” ( (Beah,16). This is a statement that is echoed by his grandmother based on its wise and instrumental nature, and this is the reason she takes her time to explain what it meant. She, therefore, reminded him that it is always prudent to be optimistic in life by looking at the brighter side of things because positivity is vital. The message that was being passed to Ishmael is that it was important for him to relay the best behavior and for him to be good to other people. Additionally, his grandmother acknowledged that when the sun becomes unbearably hot then people react by complaining, and this is the same case when it’s either cold or rains heavily. On the other hand, when the moon shines no one complains because people are happy as everyone has their own special regard. Additionally she expounds this fact by stating that people appreciate the moon in different ways. For example, the children play in the moon’s light by watching their shadows, as well as, people assembling at the square at night so as to dance and give
This is because these stories and the art of telling them provide real life examples of what the consequences of wrong choices can be hence avoiding them becomes important. Violence and hatred among each other can be transcended through stories that show how countries have been destroyed by wars and evidence being the story A Long Way Gone where Sierra Leone crumbled. The idea of overcoming despair can, therefore, be well illustrated through the story based on the many handles that Ishmael had to take so that he could emerge victorious at the end and this is a vital life