Genocide Paper: a Long Way Gone:
Rodney Montreal
English 10 Per. 4
10/11/10
Mrs. Lesan Genocide Paper: A Long Way Gone Can something be considered genocide if there is no mass killing? In the autobiography “A long way Gone” by Ishmael Beah it did not meet all 8 characteristics of genocide. The characteristics consist of a first stage, middle, and final stage. Ishmael Beah was the protagonist of this autobiography he was the main character that was affected by the invasion of the rebels. Soon after Ishmael’s rigorous journey he finally gets out of what was hell for him and finds his way to a better and more safer community, with the help of UNICEF a nonprofit organization that helps the needy and from there he tells about his marvelous journey. But in this autobiography only 3 of those horrific stages are met. The 3 characteristics that met are: Denial, polarization, and extermination. The autobiography “A long Way Gone” meets the characteristic of denial in the following examples. In the autobiography the rebels who are the main suspects in this book, deny anyone from leaving the war. “They had run so far away from the war, only to be caught back in it. There is nowhere to go from here (Beah 207).” Ishmael is explaining how the people think they have fled the battlefield just to know that they are going to get put back into it. Also another example is when the rebels try and deny any type of communication between prisoners. Another example could be when Ishmael tries to run away but the rebels catch up to him and capture him and train him to be a Boy Soldier. Furthermore, the rebels denied any type of refusing from occurring, it was mandatory to do all the drugs they gave to you because all the drugs would keep you motivated. Denial is nothing compared to Polarazation. The next characteristic that
English 10 Per. 4
10/11/10
Mrs. Lesan Genocide Paper: A Long Way Gone Can something be considered genocide if there is no mass killing? In the autobiography “A long way Gone” by Ishmael Beah it did not meet all 8 characteristics of genocide. The characteristics consist of a first stage, middle, and final stage. Ishmael Beah was the protagonist of this autobiography he was the main character that was affected by the invasion of the rebels. Soon after Ishmael’s rigorous journey he finally gets out of what was hell for him and finds his way to a better and more safer community, with the help of UNICEF a nonprofit organization that helps the needy and from there he tells about his marvelous journey. But in this autobiography only 3 of those horrific stages are met. The 3 characteristics that met are: Denial, polarization, and extermination. The autobiography “A long Way Gone” meets the characteristic of denial in the following examples. In the autobiography the rebels who are the main suspects in this book, deny anyone from leaving the war. “They had run so far away from the war, only to be caught back in it. There is nowhere to go from here (Beah 207).” Ishmael is explaining how the people think they have fled the battlefield just to know that they are going to get put back into it. Also another example is when the rebels try and deny any type of communication between prisoners. Another example could be when Ishmael tries to run away but the rebels catch up to him and capture him and train him to be a Boy Soldier. Furthermore, the rebels denied any type of refusing from occurring, it was mandatory to do all the drugs they gave to you because all the drugs would keep you motivated. Denial is nothing compared to Polarazation. The next characteristic that
Cited: .A Long Way Gone.Beah, Ishmael. A Long Way Gone Memoirs of a boy soldier. New York: Sarah Crichton Books, 2007.