To be or Not to be?

I believe Ishmael Beah has stayed the same throughout “A long way gone”. In the being of “A long way gone” Beah is a kind and caring gentle boy who love to rap and perform the dance moves him and his friend practice. That’s the reason why I think Beah stayed the same because he care’s for the people who’s close to him. He looked out for his friend and he always remember his family even though it’s really painful too. Care is the reason why I think Beah has stayed the same throughout ALWG.

For an example, when he was in the rehabilitation center and Leslie found his uncle Tommy. You can tell that the army really didn’t change him for good. He still had a heart, he still care for his family even though his uncle was not a part of his life before the war broke out. Beah’s feeling towards his family didn’t change at all.

Another example is, when Beah help Mambu fight the rebel boys. I know it may seem like Beah change at this point but he didn’t. Beah was protecting a friend or in this case a comrade. Beah showed respect to Mambu just like he did with his old friends.

Beah may have been through a lot over the past 3 Years but he didn’t truly lose himself. He learned how to forgive himself and to regain his humanity. If Beah changed it was for the best. But, I believe Beah stayed the same throughout “A long way gone”.

Isolation & Community

Throughout "A long way gone" Beah's storytelling help me better understand the importance of isolation and community. Isolation is the process of separating somebody or something from others. Community is a group of people who live in the same area or the area in which they live common backgrounds. However, beah experience isolation and community in the most unpleasant way possible.

In chapter 8, beah was by himself in the middle of a thick forest completely isolated. Being by himself made him think a lot about the sadness in his life. I think during beah's isolation he found himself not psychically but mentally. He saw fear and loneliness as his weakness and discover that he needs friends and family to be his balance. Beah's storytelling help me better understand isolation by showing separating yourself from your weakness you can truly discover yourself.

Next in chapter 9, beah and his companions were hiding in a hut from a near by village. But they were caught by the tribe and treated like criminals even though they were just kids. In this community they didn't accepted outsiders who were not a part of the village. Beah's storytelling help me better understand community by giving important details on how protective communities can be with people they don't know.

"We must strive to be like the moon"

Based on chapter 2, Ishmael Beah is striving to be like the moon. Even thought Ishmael has painful memories of him killing armed group for ammunition and food to survive. Yes, he did wrong things in his past but that's just it, it's the past. Striving to be like the moon means be happy do good things with your life. As a kid Ishmael did not have a chance to live a happy life so his new life started when he came to new york city and wrote his book "A LONG WAY GONE". By writing this book Ishmael is the moon.