The Effect of Wars On Ismael 

Innocence and childhood play a big role in the Sierra Leone army during its civil war. Childhood usually related to happiness and innocence in a conversation. Ishmael was just an innocent child when he begins to forces to do things even grown-up men shouldn't have to do. In the memoir, “A Long Way Gone” by Ismael Beah which he gave a closer view in the war he went to and the effect the war has in his childhood memories, his life activities and his characters. He provides extraordinary and unbelievable experiences as a former soldier boy.

In the memoir, Ishmael also addresses issues such as refugees, child exploitation and populations movements during the wartime periods and each of those issues directly affects Ishmael. At the age of twelve, rebels attack Ishmael village named Mogbwemo in Sierra Leone, while he was out with his brother and some friends. Later, when Ishmael got home his life would change for the worst. During rebels attack, Ishmael loses his family and other people that he care and love. While he was looking for his family and see himself and his friends find themselves constantly running and hiding from Sierra rebels in order to survive. The rebels were looking for young boys to do their dirty works.

Some children that ain't easy to control are being tortured. The rebels kill their family members in front of them and being forced to wash them in order to break their spirit and manipulate them in order to fight for them. ”..children have the resilience to outlive their sufferings if given a chance” (129). He was, has the resilience to heal from the Hell he went through. Ishmael uses his social skills, timely luck, and emotional strength, to find the courage to overcome these adversities and survive in and out of the war. The rebels recruited children to become soldiers from the street, houses they attacks and train them to kill and fight for their own benefit. The rebels use the power of fear to control or manipulate children like Ishmael.

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Furthermore, Ishmael lose his innocence and kindness when he starting to steal and things he had never done before. In the need to survive that thrive him to do stuff that he hasn't normally done before. He has nobody to rely on and because of that, he starting to find his own meal and stuff he needs to survive. Ismael goes through villages begging for food and looking for people who feel his pain.

Next, Ishmael captured by a group of soldiers where he started to feel like family. The soldier takes him in and makes him feel like he has a family again. He need a family and wants to be apart of the soldier family and realize he must kill people to stay apart of the family and in order to stay alive. “Beah's experiences force him to deny his emotional side in order to survive.” When he became a soldier his trainer use drug and emotional manipulations.

Throughout the memoir, Ismael shows a lot of sign of him losing his innocence. “Sometimes I closed my eyes hard to avoid thinking, but the eye of the mind refused of the mind to be closed and continued to plague me with image” (Beah 49). He starting to see his changing in himself and the diminishing of his innocence. He cannot forget the thing he did in the past even he trying hard not to think about it. The quote shows Ismael state of mind and the trauma he going to.

Throughout the memoir, Ishmael Beal has a lot of hope and optimistic because at the beginning of the novel Ishmael Beach believe he will find his family again. Ishmael father gives him a lot of confidence in him and his decisions. Ishmael father once told him “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” (Beah 54). His father believes in him and sure his son has a lot of hope on any situation he's in.

Furthermore, in the novel ‘ A Long Way Gone” begin to lose his hope and optimistic when he recruited by the army to fight against the rebels. The army affects his life and views so, he became too addicted to drugs and excited about killing. The more people Ishmael see dying the less his hope diminished. Throughout “ A Long Way Gone” the presence of hopes enables Ishmael to believe on himself and decisions he makes will lead him to a better future. Gasemu indicated that “ your forehead used to glow naturally when you were a child….But when started your troublesomeness and when angry your forehead glow even more….and have you are, it isn't shining anymore”(page 92).

Ismael's forehead glowed because he was hopeful and dedicated to something. When he was younger his forehead allowed, even more, the angrier he gets. Now, this indicated his forehead glow as a sign of anger because of the hope he has shrinking when he faces the death of his family, the soldier and the fear of him dying. Finally, Beah ends rescue or by UNICEF. After they rescue they were still in soldier mode because they were unable to trust any other children in there. Beah and his friends wouldn't talk to anyone about the things they go through in the war. They were still suffering from the drug their uses.

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