Ishmael Beah's Book 'A Long Way Gone'

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Unit 3 Reflection Paper In this unit I learned about the significant impact that genocide had on Rwanda and Sierra Leone. Knowing that Africa has been so greatly affected by genocide gave me a greater understanding of the subject than I had previously known. In Ishmael Beah’s book “A Long Way Gone”, I read about what he had experienced from living in Sierra Leone and facing a mass genocide. According to his recount of events, Beah lost his family from genocide while he was away performing with his rap group. Eventually he was captured by the army and was brainwashed into thinking that anyone he kills would potentially avenge his family’s death. To tell someone who is just twelve years old or younger that killing others will make up for…show more content…
In fact, we discussed what impact being driven off your land had on Native Americans. Moreover, we learned was that there is always something that occurs to pressure people into moving off their land. The Native Americans were driven off because settlers simply wanted to take possession of the land and did not care that they had to displace the Natives in order to do so. Ultimately, the people of Sierra Leone were treated much the same way, by way of death as well as having to evacuate their homes because of the blood diamonds. “The war in Sierra Leone was fueled by blood diamonds to buy weapons so that the RUF (Revolutionary United Front) could overthrow the government and attempt to better the country.” (Duncan, 2012). The RUF in Sierra Leone is comparable to the settlers driving Native Americans off their land, due to the not only someone wanting more space but the desire for power as…show more content…
Prior to this unit, I knew that genocide was a killing of a large number of people, but did not know that it was used as a method to gain power over a government and take control of certain areas. The genocide that occurred in Sierra Leone and Rwanda make me think of the holocaust. Adolph Hitler was once crazed enough to say he would eventually rule the world and these actions in Africa represent the same concept, though requiring less global power. Hitler killed millions of innocent people and was known to be a part of the largest genocide in the world, so I question why someone with less power would decide to try and take over regions of a country and not expect some form of consequence? Sadly, the devastation that continues in both Sierra Leone and Rwanda will never be brought to a halt because of corrupt governments. Moreover, my opinion has greatly changed regarding what the government means to society, not only in Africa but throughout the entire world. The governments in both Sierra Leone and Rwanda are to blame for not building a better society with valuable resources and particularly for its method of taking over all control of cash flow for the purpose of growing wealth for themselves instead of their
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