Ishmael Character List
Character List
Ismael Beah: Ishmael is the main character, and the narrator of the story. He is a young boy that became a child solider in the Sierra Leone, in an attempt to fight against the RUF, the rebel soldiers believed to be responsible for the death of his family. He goes on an exceptionally long physical, and emotional journey as a solider, until ultimately UNICEF arrives, and removes him from the situation. At the rehabilitation center, after nearly a year, Beah becomes capable of emotions and behaving properly towards others. Junior, and Beah’s other immediate family: Ishmael’s family is the main reason he even dared to venture back to his village, and they are a part of the reason why he joined the SLAF as a solider. The Lieutenant: …show more content…
During Ishmael’s time in the SLAF, I feel as though the Lieutenant become somewhat of a father figure for Beah, especially considering they shared the bond over Shakespeare, something Beah did with his father. He aides in the training of Beah during the war, and makes sure Beah is taken care of when he is injured. When UNICEF comes, the Lieutenant decided to hand over Beah, which partially breaks the bond between them due to feelings of betrayal and anger. Esther: Esther is a majorly important character in the book, due to the fact that she greatly aided in the rehabilitation of Ishmael. At first their relationship began with her nursing him, and his wounds, but after Esther presented Beah with a cassette tape, Beah begins to have breakthroughs, and in some ways she helps bring Beah back to the person he was before the war. Her unconditional love towards Beah, and her persistence with him greatly helped Beah. Uncle Tommy: Tommy is Beah’s father’s brother.
He is crucial to the story in ways similar to Esther but also in his own. In some ways, Tommy provides a healthy connection to Beah’s past which aides to his rehabilitation, and he also provides Ishmael with unconditional love and support. The main part that Tommy played, was when we learned that Ishmael was able to leave the center, and Tommy gave him a place to stay. This is important because we find that most soldiers that don’t find family to live with end up returning back to the war. Mohamed: Mohamed is very important in the fact that he becomes someone Ishmael can relate to throughout the entire process he endures, and although it cannot be known whether or not their physical journey was the same, once at the rehab center, he aides in Ishmael emotional journey, and becomes someone like a brother to him.
Laura Simms: Laura is possibly one of the most important characters in this story. She and Ishmael develop a very strong bond from the start, and eventually she becomes the one to “save” Ishmael when the war reaches Freetown. After Ishmael manages to escape from Sierra Leone, when he returns to America, Laura becomes his foster mother. Through her story telling, she helps Ishmael, and the other child at the UN tell their stories, and shows Ishmael that she is someone that does genuinely care about the welfare of these
people.
Summary of Events
This story begins with Beah talking to his friends in New York, and them asking about his time in the Sierra Leone. He then tells us about his life before the war, and talks about his trip with his friends as a performing rap group, and how the war hit his village. He then begins to tell the reader about the struggle to survive he begin to face with his brother, and friends, and how they began to commit crimes just to survive. Eventually, Beah is captured by the SLAF and he becomes a solider for the army. He talks about what is was like to blackout all of his emotions and simply kill, and how he used the murders to take vengeance on the RUF for killing his family. He also talks about being addicted to drugs, smoking, and “brown brown” and how they were able to commit the acts he did, without feeling whatsoever, or to combat his numbing migraines. At one point the UNICEF comes, and the Lieutenant in charge of their army turns over Beah and his friend, where they are taken back to a rehabilitation center. At the center, Beah receives unconditional love, and support from his nurse, and case worker and finds Ishmael a “new family”. He is then invited to New York, to tell his story, where he meets his future foster mother Laura Simms. Upon Ishmaels return to Freetown, the government is overthrown by the RUF, and sadly, Ismael’s uncle dies. The book ends with Ishmael fleeing to Guinea, where he is eventually able to make his way back to the United States.
Major Themes and Motifs
Theme: Loss of Innocence- The story is laced with very subtle hints of this theme, up until the obvious moment when it occurs. He talks about children that were fleeing from the war with their families, clinging to their parents and how they were after of simple noises, and babies being killed. Beah’s at first manages to maintain the person he is, but after his first killing he loses his innocence.
Theme/Motif: The Importance of Family- The greatest effect that family had on Beah, was the he fought to avenge the family he lost. Throughout the story, Beah shows a great amount of distrust for most people, but those he eventually deems trustworthy are known as his family.
Motif: Comparing and Contrasting- Throughout most of the book, you will often notice Ishmael comparing and contrasting the situations between being a solider, and his life before/after, and how different they were. I think this is used to give the reader a more drastic perspective of how greatly his life changed when he went through the ordeal.
Theme/Motif: Flashbacks or Memories- I believe that Beah associated positive memories with emotions, and so when he felt the need to stop showing emotion, he basically shut down his availability to good memories, which I think in the long run affected him when he would use his memories to get though tough situations, due to the fact he could no longer “find them” when he needed them. When Beah began his life as a solider, he refused to think about his past life, as he felt it would only make his current situation worse. Once he was at the rehab center, he used his memories and flashbacks to get himself back to the person he was beforehand.
Motif: Nature- Even in Beah’s darkest times, he still makes many comments about nature, and uses them to tell stories, especially those involving his childhood, or grandparents.
Discussion of Ishmael’s Journey
The Physical Journey: The beginning of the book has a map of Ishmael’s journey, which illustrates the journey from “start to finish.” The key suggests the coastal boarder of Sierra Leone is about 200 miles across, and based off the starting point is can be assumed that he traveled at least 300-400 miles mostly on foot.
The Emotional Journey: Beah starts out the story as a seemingly happy young boy that enjoys time with his family and friends and is very aware of nature. Once he begins to be affected by the war, he becomes fearful, and very bent towards survival. Although he shuts down on the outside, while Beah is with his friends before joining the SLAF he feels emotions, such as pain, and fear, and happiness, but he shuts down often. The complete “emotional breakdown” happens when Beah commits his first act of murder. By becoming emotionally void he is able to commit the acts of terror without traumatizing himself too much, or so he thinks. He becomes distant from emotions that don’t involve those associated with drugs, or killing, and is filled with terror from his nightmares when he is able to sleep. Once at the UNICEF rehabilitation center, he goes through what may be the greatest emotional breakthrough of the story. He leaves to manage his anger, and pain in ways that help him live a normal somewhat happy life, and to where he can help others. He also begins to love people, and trust others again.
Reader Reflections
When I first began to read this book, I immediately found the descriptive language, along with brutal honesty used by Beah very captivating. I think the fact that he was so honest, helped him tell his story, and really helped the reader to envision the circumstances he was put in, and the emotions of them. I was actually rather sad most of the time while reading this book, due to the fact that a lot of the acts he related were coldblooded, but I enjoyed reading the parts that involved Esther, or that involved his childhood before the war. I found this story relatable, in the fact that in the beginning, Beah didn’t really believe what was going on until it started to affect him, which is something people in our culture are guilty of, but I couldn’t relate to the acts of wrong, the lack of emotion, or the suffering Beah felt such as starvation, murder, and the general acts of evil he experienced.
I feel like this is actually a really good story for people to read, despite the seemingly inadvertent violent nature, due to the fact that it puts the reader in a situation to better understand things that are happening in this world, and it gives them a genuine perspective, that is unaltered by the government or media, which allows the people to see that this is real, and that there really are people experiencing this horror every day of their lives, which as I said before, is something that our culture, and Beahs alike, tend(ed) to ignore.
I do think that I enjoyed reading the book, and there would be hours where I would pick up the book and not put it down, because it was just really interesting to some part of me. With that being said, I think that this is a good book, that has strong points that greatly outweigh what I viewed to be negatives, and I would enjoy reading this book for a third or fourth time if I wanted to.
Ismael Beah: Ishmael is the main character, and the narrator of the story. He is a young boy that became a child solider in the Sierra Leone, in an attempt to fight against the RUF, the rebel soldiers believed to be responsible for the death of his family. He goes on an exceptionally long physical, and emotional journey as a solider, until ultimately UNICEF arrives, and removes him from the situation. At the rehabilitation center, after nearly a year, Beah becomes capable of emotions and behaving properly towards others. Junior, and Beah’s other immediate family: Ishmael’s family is the main reason he even dared to venture back to his village, and they are a part of the reason why he joined the SLAF as a solider. The Lieutenant: …show more content…
During Ishmael’s time in the SLAF, I feel as though the Lieutenant become somewhat of a father figure for Beah, especially considering they shared the bond over Shakespeare, something Beah did with his father. He aides in the training of Beah during the war, and makes sure Beah is taken care of when he is injured. When UNICEF comes, the Lieutenant decided to hand over Beah, which partially breaks the bond between them due to feelings of betrayal and anger. Esther: Esther is a majorly important character in the book, due to the fact that she greatly aided in the rehabilitation of Ishmael. At first their relationship began with her nursing him, and his wounds, but after Esther presented Beah with a cassette tape, Beah begins to have breakthroughs, and in some ways she helps bring Beah back to the person he was before the war. Her unconditional love towards Beah, and her persistence with him greatly helped Beah. Uncle Tommy: Tommy is Beah’s father’s brother.
He is crucial to the story in ways similar to Esther but also in his own. In some ways, Tommy provides a healthy connection to Beah’s past which aides to his rehabilitation, and he also provides Ishmael with unconditional love and support. The main part that Tommy played, was when we learned that Ishmael was able to leave the center, and Tommy gave him a place to stay. This is important because we find that most soldiers that don’t find family to live with end up returning back to the war. Mohamed: Mohamed is very important in the fact that he becomes someone Ishmael can relate to throughout the entire process he endures, and although it cannot be known whether or not their physical journey was the same, once at the rehab center, he aides in Ishmael emotional journey, and becomes someone like a brother to him.
Laura Simms: Laura is possibly one of the most important characters in this story. She and Ishmael develop a very strong bond from the start, and eventually she becomes the one to “save” Ishmael when the war reaches Freetown. After Ishmael manages to escape from Sierra Leone, when he returns to America, Laura becomes his foster mother. Through her story telling, she helps Ishmael, and the other child at the UN tell their stories, and shows Ishmael that she is someone that does genuinely care about the welfare of these
people.
Summary of Events
This story begins with Beah talking to his friends in New York, and them asking about his time in the Sierra Leone. He then tells us about his life before the war, and talks about his trip with his friends as a performing rap group, and how the war hit his village. He then begins to tell the reader about the struggle to survive he begin to face with his brother, and friends, and how they began to commit crimes just to survive. Eventually, Beah is captured by the SLAF and he becomes a solider for the army. He talks about what is was like to blackout all of his emotions and simply kill, and how he used the murders to take vengeance on the RUF for killing his family. He also talks about being addicted to drugs, smoking, and “brown brown” and how they were able to commit the acts he did, without feeling whatsoever, or to combat his numbing migraines. At one point the UNICEF comes, and the Lieutenant in charge of their army turns over Beah and his friend, where they are taken back to a rehabilitation center. At the center, Beah receives unconditional love, and support from his nurse, and case worker and finds Ishmael a “new family”. He is then invited to New York, to tell his story, where he meets his future foster mother Laura Simms. Upon Ishmaels return to Freetown, the government is overthrown by the RUF, and sadly, Ismael’s uncle dies. The book ends with Ishmael fleeing to Guinea, where he is eventually able to make his way back to the United States.
Major Themes and Motifs
Theme: Loss of Innocence- The story is laced with very subtle hints of this theme, up until the obvious moment when it occurs. He talks about children that were fleeing from the war with their families, clinging to their parents and how they were after of simple noises, and babies being killed. Beah’s at first manages to maintain the person he is, but after his first killing he loses his innocence.
Theme/Motif: The Importance of Family- The greatest effect that family had on Beah, was the he fought to avenge the family he lost. Throughout the story, Beah shows a great amount of distrust for most people, but those he eventually deems trustworthy are known as his family.
Motif: Comparing and Contrasting- Throughout most of the book, you will often notice Ishmael comparing and contrasting the situations between being a solider, and his life before/after, and how different they were. I think this is used to give the reader a more drastic perspective of how greatly his life changed when he went through the ordeal.
Theme/Motif: Flashbacks or Memories- I believe that Beah associated positive memories with emotions, and so when he felt the need to stop showing emotion, he basically shut down his availability to good memories, which I think in the long run affected him when he would use his memories to get though tough situations, due to the fact he could no longer “find them” when he needed them. When Beah began his life as a solider, he refused to think about his past life, as he felt it would only make his current situation worse. Once he was at the rehab center, he used his memories and flashbacks to get himself back to the person he was beforehand.
Motif: Nature- Even in Beah’s darkest times, he still makes many comments about nature, and uses them to tell stories, especially those involving his childhood, or grandparents.
Discussion of Ishmael’s Journey
The Physical Journey: The beginning of the book has a map of Ishmael’s journey, which illustrates the journey from “start to finish.” The key suggests the coastal boarder of Sierra Leone is about 200 miles across, and based off the starting point is can be assumed that he traveled at least 300-400 miles mostly on foot.
The Emotional Journey: Beah starts out the story as a seemingly happy young boy that enjoys time with his family and friends and is very aware of nature. Once he begins to be affected by the war, he becomes fearful, and very bent towards survival. Although he shuts down on the outside, while Beah is with his friends before joining the SLAF he feels emotions, such as pain, and fear, and happiness, but he shuts down often. The complete “emotional breakdown” happens when Beah commits his first act of murder. By becoming emotionally void he is able to commit the acts of terror without traumatizing himself too much, or so he thinks. He becomes distant from emotions that don’t involve those associated with drugs, or killing, and is filled with terror from his nightmares when he is able to sleep. Once at the UNICEF rehabilitation center, he goes through what may be the greatest emotional breakthrough of the story. He leaves to manage his anger, and pain in ways that help him live a normal somewhat happy life, and to where he can help others. He also begins to love people, and trust others again.
Reader Reflections
When I first began to read this book, I immediately found the descriptive language, along with brutal honesty used by Beah very captivating. I think the fact that he was so honest, helped him tell his story, and really helped the reader to envision the circumstances he was put in, and the emotions of them. I was actually rather sad most of the time while reading this book, due to the fact that a lot of the acts he related were coldblooded, but I enjoyed reading the parts that involved Esther, or that involved his childhood before the war. I found this story relatable, in the fact that in the beginning, Beah didn’t really believe what was going on until it started to affect him, which is something people in our culture are guilty of, but I couldn’t relate to the acts of wrong, the lack of emotion, or the suffering Beah felt such as starvation, murder, and the general acts of evil he experienced.
I feel like this is actually a really good story for people to read, despite the seemingly inadvertent violent nature, due to the fact that it puts the reader in a situation to better understand things that are happening in this world, and it gives them a genuine perspective, that is unaltered by the government or media, which allows the people to see that this is real, and that there really are people experiencing this horror every day of their lives, which as I said before, is something that our culture, and Beahs alike, tend(ed) to ignore.
I do think that I enjoyed reading the book, and there would be hours where I would pick up the book and not put it down, because it was just really interesting to some part of me. With that being said, I think that this is a good book, that has strong points that greatly outweigh what I viewed to be negatives, and I would enjoy reading this book for a third or fourth time if I wanted to.