Diction In A Long Way Gone

As Ishmael explained all that he had gone through in his journey of being a child soldier to being free, he uses diction in his writing to make the story easier to understand. A lot of times many writers use different types of diction so that the writing has a clearer meaning to the reader. In this memoir, Ishmael was able to use different types of diction for the reader to be able to understand the importance of scenes while in the war.
“I stood there holding my gun and felt special because I was apart of something that took me seriously and I was not running from anyone. I had my gun now, and as the corporal always said, ‘This gun is your source of power in these times. It will protect you and provide you all you need, if you know how to
Two of the tones that were very important to understanding his attitude for a monroty of the memoir were regret and discomfort. For a child to have to go through this experience and later realize all the evil you were forced to do, it leaves a drastic emotion of regret. As Ishmael told the stories he recalled a lot of the events as things he has wished that he had never done. The soldiers that recruited him had told him the same thing over and over again, that since they kicked the bad guys they themselves were not bad. These soldiers had embedded in the minds of these child soldiers that killing all of the rebels and attacking their villages was the only option to avenge the deaths of their families. This army that was built up by “good people” was as bad as the rebel group that they were in charge of ending. Once Ishmael was able to leave the war he had been so accustomed to the life that he had lived as a child soldier, he had grown so uncomfortable in the Benin House he was taken to. Ishmael and the other rescued children had to believe in themselves
This memoir was a reminder to not take what I have in my life for granted. As I read the trials that Ishmael and other children face in other parts of the world it made me sick. I wish I was lying about the sick part, there were times where I had to put the book down and just breathe and try not to cry so hard at what I had just read. I knew of the trials child soldiers faced, when I was in middle school I was very fascinated by the Kony 2012 movement. Sadly, that movement ended up being a scam but it was educational to me at the age of 10 to be aware that kids my age were fighting to survive on the other side of the world. This book was one of those books that you manage to get lost in. Every word that I read had an affect on me. I like to stay aware on current events and what may be happening in the world. After I finished reading this memoir I looked up where child soldiers still exist in the world and was shocked to what I discovered. In South Sudan they begin to recruit children to fight at young ages. These children are robbed of their childhood in many countries. It makes me angry that many of these children don’t have the attention of others. I live my life everyday without the fear of being killed in my sleep by another soldier. While that is the reality of child soldiers. I have already started to recommend this book to anyone who can handle the gruesome details, it’s so important for