A Long Way Gone: Beginning

The war book that I have been reading is called "A Long Way Gone" by Ishmael Beah. It is a memoir that Ishmael wrote about his experience in having to become a child soldier when he was only 15 years old. In the first chapter, he talks about how his journey began when he was 10 years old, right before the civil war comes to his village. Ishmael, Junior, Talloi, and Mohamed have a rap group together that they formed when Ishmael was eight years old. In January of 1993, they all leave their village of Mogbwemo to take a trip to the town of Mattru Jong. Right after they leave, the Rebels attack their village. Ishmael doesn't know if his family or anyone from his town his dead or alive. "The rebels had attacked the mining areas...this town will be next, according to the teachers" (9). Ishmael and his group wanted to go back to their own village to see if everyone was okay but once they realized that the Rebels were coming for the village that they were in at that time, they knew they just had to keep it moving and couldn't turn back.

In this chapter, comparison and contrast are used to show what Ishmael's concept of the war was before the rebels had attacked. It makes more of an emphasis on how ignorant Ishmael and his friends were to how traumatizing the war really was because they did not realize the effects of war until it hit them right in the face. His flashbacks that he has of his peaceful life before the war show the beginning of him starting to lose his innocence as a young child. Also, the rap music that him and his friends are into, represents Ishmael's way into the modern world. Rap becomes a way for the group to be able to express themselves through the lyrics that they write themselves. Ishmael carries a cassette tape with their raps on it around with him all the time which symbolizes him holding onto what he has left of his childhood and his innocence.

Q: How would you feel if you knew you would literally have to run to save your life? Do you think you'd be able to process what was going on at such a young age?