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= Basic Overview: =

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“A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier”, Ishmael Beah, published 2008, takes place in Sierra Leone. The book is a nonfiction depicting the story of Ishmael himself and how, at age thirteen, he was forced into the government army in response to a local rebellion. Ishmael undergoes the most horrific and inhumane of circumstances as he struggles to keep hold of his very humanity.======

== = Characters and Conflict: =

As stated before, the book is a nonfiction in which Ishmael retells the tale of how he, at the mere age of thirteen, was recruited into the government army to fight attacking rebels. Ishmael, a gentle-minded boy at heart, struggles to keep a grip on what keeps him human as, at many times throughout the story, he finds himself forced (and soon realizes he is very well capable of) to do unspeakably inhumane things.

= Theme: =

Ishmael Beah perceives, through his own experiences, that all human beings are capable of true evil, but at the same time are very well capable of healing, finding redemption, and achieving overall peace.

= About the Author: =

Ishmael Beah was born in Sierra Leone on November 23, 1980. After being removed from fighting by UNICEF and placed under rehabilitation, he moved to New York City in 1998. The only book Ishmael is known to have written is “A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier”, highly revered among critics as it won the Alex Award of 2008. = =

= = == = Style Analysis: = = = Beah's style is unique indeed; his vocaubulary is not at all extravaggant, yet his recognizable diction is unlike any other author's, "Beah's autobiography is almost unique, as far as I can determine -- perhaps the first time that a child soldier has been able to give literary voice to one of the most distressing phenomena of the late 20th century" (Boyd). Throughout the book Beah constantly recounts the vivid atmosphere of the conflict, describing his senses and perception of the environment through perfectly descriptive imagery, "one side of the sky was completely blue and the other was filled with stagnant clouds. The quiet breeze caused a branch to snap in the forest. The echo sounded like a cry, a wailing" (Beah, 90). In addition to his keen perception of his surroundings, Beah recalls specific emotions and feelings, such include but are not limited to depression, pain, and even the release of his repressed anger, "suddenly as if someone was shooting them inside my brain, all the massacres I had seen since the day I was touched by war began flashing in my head. Every time I stopped shooting to change magazines and saw my two young lifeless friends, I angrily pointed my gun into the swamp and killed more people" (Beah, 119). Beah does not convey his theme through intricate word choice or elegant symbolism, but through the foundations of his very emotions, "it seems almost frivolous to discuss Beah's style, but it would be unfair to him to ignore it. His writing is effective but lacks the beauty of other writer's who have lived through harrowing events. Its language is clumsy at times and some chapters flow without pause for reflection of the significance of events discussed... it is as if he is suggesting that we don't let the tendency superiority... prevent us from seeing him as what he is, an ordinary human being and a writer with strenghts and weaknesses, deserving our our respect" (Iweala). What truely saturates the severe tragedy of the African war, however, is Beah's thorough description of blood, "one unsettling currency in this brilliant account is the ubiquity of blood---graphically depicted" (Umez). Ishmael Beah re-visits violent and gruesome scenarios constantly throughout the novel, and the way he depicts them conveys the tragedy on a much larger scale. It is indeed horrific, nonetheless, as it provides to the reader more of an appreciation to his own healing and recovery from such traumatizing scenes and eve, "a splash of blood hit my face. In my reverie I had opened my mouth a bit, so I tasted some of the blood. As I spat it out and wiped it off my face, I saw the soldier it had come from. Blood poured out of the bullet holes in him like water rushing through newly opened tributaries" (Beah, 118). Ishmael Beah's recalls the events of his past through distinct style, as if every single second was photographed by memory, and his style further reaches out to the reader, allowing them to recall the same events as if they were standing adjacant to him in the jungles of Sierra Leone.

= Review: = = = “A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier”, expertly captures the struggle of a young Nigerian boy as he copes with the radically scarred society around him. The book greatly tests human emotions through many tragically grim events, and is overall an indubitably captivating read. In this explicit memoir, one can insert themselves into the vivid perception of Ishmael Beah, and share with him the conflict that resides in his very soul.

“//Babes in Arms//.” Rev. of //A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier//, by William Boyd. //The New York Times//. //Nytimes.com//. The New York Times company, Web. 17 May. 2012. <[]>.

“//Slaughter of Innocence//.” Rev. of //A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier//, by Uzodinma Iweala. //Theguardian//. //Guardian.co.uk//. Guardian News, 2012. Web. 17 May. 2012. <[]>.

“//It’s Not Your Fault//.” Rev. of //A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier//, by Uche Peter Umez. //Electica//. //Electica.org//. Electica, 2010. Web. 17 May. 2012. <[]