A Long Way Gone Analysis

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“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…” A young boy, Ishmael Beah, who was forced to become a child soldier in Sierra Leone at age thirteen, said this. The novel, A Long Way Gone: Memories of A Boy Solider focuses on Ishmael Beah’s journey from an innocent twelve year old to fighting as a child soldier, on drugs and brainwashed, to eventually being rescued by UNICEF and put into a rehabilitation center. The revolutionary war in Sierra Leone was fought between rebels who wanted to overthrow the corrupt government and the government itself.…show more content…
The RUF set out to tear families apart, by invading small towns and villages. Their methods were terrible as they “…cut off the hands of some people’s family members and made them watch, burned entire villages along with their inhabitants, forced sons to have intercourse with their mothers, hacked newly born babies in half because they cried too much, cut open pregnant women’s stomachs, took the babies out, and killed them…” The RUF did not need to hurt innocent civilians to fight the government and receive their independence; their methods were utterly heinous. In one rebel attack on Mattru Jong, Ishmael and Junior (his brother) were captured as they were trying to subtly sneak away. When the rebels caught them, Ishmael and Junior were ordered to kill one another to demonstrate their loyalty to the rebel party (as they RUF wanted to recruit strong adolescent boys). Fortunately, the rebels heard gunshots in the village nearby which interrupted them and the boys were able to escape. The rebels consistently used torture and extreme violence to gain followers, fighters and child
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