A Long Way Gone Final Project

1. A Long Way Gone Final Project By:Monica Smith

2. Major Characters • Ishmael Beah: He is a boy soldier who finds a way to escape the horrors of war and go on to counsel others who are only looking for a way to live in peace. He is the protagonist and main character of the book. • Uncle Tommy: He becomes Ishmael's foster parent after he comes out of the Sierra Leone Armed Forces. He cares for Ishmael and helps him forget the horrific events in the war. • Alhaji: He becomes one of Ishmael's closest friends. He helped Ishmael get though the war. These two characters can easily relate to one another because they both are in similar situations with their family/friends. • Esther: A nurse at the rehabilitation center where Ishmael is located. Ishmael develops a close relationship with her. She shows that there are still good people that can help you get out of the situation you are in. • The Lieutenant: He is the father figure for Ishmael when he goes into battle. He encouraged and motivated the child soldiers to fight against the rebels.

3. Summary • This true story involves the life of Ishmael Beah who lives a fairly happy life in Sierra Leone until civil war breaks out. Then, like other civilians, he is forced to run for his life, becoming separated from his family and later losing them to murder by the rebels. He later finds a way to be rehabilitated and regain his childhood. He once again learns how to love.

4. 2 Examples Of Foreshadowing • Ishmael is only ten years old at the beginning, and his imagination doesn’t have the capacity to understand what refugee children have witnessed. This foreshadows his own haunted and desolate look after war invades his life • As Ishmael looks around Laura’s home in the East Village, he doesn’t know or can even imagine that someday it is going to be his home.

5. 2 Examples Of Flashback • One example of a flashback is in Chapter 8 while he is wandering around the forest, "I thought about when Junior and I had visited Kabati and would take walks with our grandfather on paths around the coffee farms by the village. He would point out medical leaves and trees whose barks were important medicines. During each visit, Grandfather always gave us a special medicine that was supposed to enhance the brain's capacity to absorb and retain knowledge“ • New York City, 1998 My high school friends have begun to suspect I haven’t told them the full story of my life. “Why did you leave Sierra Leone?” “Because there is a war.” “Did you witness some of the fighting?” “Everyone in the country did.” “You mean you saw people running around with guns and shooting each other?” “Yes, all the time.” “Cool.” I smile a little. “You should tell us about it sometime.” “Yes, sometime.”

6. 3 Important Quotes • “This is one of the consequences of the civil war. People stop trusting each other, and every stranger becomes an enemy.” • “It was not easy being a soldier, but we just had to do it. I have been rehabilitated now, so don’t be afraid of me. I am not a soldier anymore; I am a child. We are all brothers and sisters. What I have learned from my experiences is that revenge is not good. I joined the army to avenge the deaths of my family and to survive, but I’ve come to learn that if I am going to take revenge, in that process I will kill another person whose family will want revenge; then revenge and revenge and revenge will never come to an end . . .” • “When I was young, my father used to say, ‘If you are alive, there is hope for a better day and something good to happen. If there is nothing good left in the destiny of a person, he or she will die.’ I thought about these words during my journey, and they kept me moving even when I didn’t know where I was going. Those words became the vehicle that drove my spirit forward and made it stay alive.”

7. 3 Examples Of Similes • When Beah describes the sound of gunshots from enemy forces he says, "several gunshots, which sounded like the thunder striking the tin roofed houses" • When Ishmael witness's a rebel soldier kill and old man, he writes "The rebel pulled the trigger, and like lightning, I saw the spark of fire that came from the muzzle.“ • “On the ground I felt as if my eyes were growing too big for their sockets.”

8. 3 Examples Of Personification • When Beah says, "The trees danced in the wind“ • A common phrase that Ishmael's grandma used to tell him is "we must strive to be like the moon” • "When I was a child, my grandmother told me that the sky speaks to those who look and listen to it. She said, "In the sky there are always answers and explanations for everything: every pain, every suffering, joy, and confusion." That night I wanted the sky to talk to me."

9. Theme • “War Is Hell” The first and most important theme is War is Hell. Although this is an overworked phrase, it fits this narrative perfectly. The horrors and tragedy that Ishmael relates to the reader are almost unbelievable. The atrocities committed against innocent civilians give new meaning to the idea of war as well. • “There is always Hope” The second theme is: There is always Hope. In spite of all the terrible events in Ishmael’s life, he finds a way to overcome everything and find love again and meaning to his existence again. Also, with the work he begins at the UN, we can hope that other children will not be subjected in the future to the tragedy he had to endure. • “When Everything Else is Gone, There is Always Love” A final theme tells us when everything else disappears, there is always love. Ishmael learns this the hard way. He has a kind of family unit with the soldiers that actually carries over into the love and friendship between him and Alhaji. Then, there is the love of Uncle Tommy and his family and their willingness to make Ishmael a son and a brother. Finally, there is the love of people like Esther and Laura who accept him unconditionally and welcome him into their homes when he most needed help and love.

10. Brief Research • Although there are no exact figures, hundreds of thousands of children under the age of 18 serve in government forces or armed rebel groups. Some are as young as eight years old. • Since 2001, the participation of child soldiers has been reported in 21 on-going or recent armed conflicts in almost every region of the world. • Children are uniquely vulnerable to military recruitment because of their emotional and physical immaturity. They are easily manipulated and can be drawn into violence that they are too young to resist or understand. • Child soldiers still used in more than 25 countries around the world. The following countries have reported use of child soldiers since 2011: Afghanistan, Colombia, India, Iraq, Israel, Libya, Mali, Pakistan, Thailand, Sudan, Syria, Yemen, and more.

11. What is being done? • Groups like Amnesty International and the UN are working to end the use of child soldiers in wars. • The UN is campaigning to tighten up laws on selling guns to stop them reaching battlefields where child soldiers are fighting.