Ishmael uses a variety of literary devices while sharing his story. Review chapters 6-16 and choose one chapter to examine two literary devices used by the author. Consider this as a way to discuss how Ishmael Beah tells his story.
You need:
- A captivating opening sentence
- A thesis statement which makes a claim regarding how Ishmael uses your chosen literary elements to affect the story. (Hint! Literary devices may: build suspense, create mood, develop characters, contrast ideas, demonstrate an emotion (be specific), exhibits conflict, etc.)
- Body paragraph(s) containing:
- Topic sentence(s) supporting a claim made in the thesis
- Evidence (paraphrase, summary, quote) with citations
- Analysis (full explanation regarding how your evidence supports your thesis claim)
- Relevance (why is this relevant/warranted?)
- Concluding statement which leaves your reader feeling satisfied and more knowledgeable. Make a lasting impression.
- Spelling, punctuation, grammar, and proper citations do count!
Maxey, Samantha 4A
ReplyDeleteIshmael Beah was a Boy Soldier in the 1990’s when he was little more than 13 years old. His book, “A Long Way Gone,” tells the adventures he has during the war, along with how he got out and the losses he had to face. He used many techniques of writing in this book, including foreshadowing, symbolism, and many more. In chapter 10, there are an increased number of these types of writing that need to be thought through to get the whole picture of what he is trying to say.
Foreshadowing is a difficult process without giving the whole future away, but Ishmael manages to achieve it. An example of foreshadowing comes from chapter ten, when the boys are resting in the night and Saidu breaks his barrier of silence. “Every time people come at us with the intention of killing us, I close my eyes and wait for death. Even though I am still alive, I feel like each time I accept death, a part of me dies. Very soon I will completely die and all that will be left if my empty body walking with,” (Beah 70). It was only days later that he had left Ishmael is his companions in a village they were staying in for a short while. Saidu saying that he knew he was dying, was a foreshadow of him eventually dying because his body couldn’t handle anymore than it has already consumed. Another foreshadowing event was when a crow had fallen out of the sky, injured but not dead (Beah 81). Musa one of the boys, had said they shouldn’t eat this bird because the bird could be a sign of a curse or bad luck to fall upon them. Later in the book when Saidu had died, they thought it was the crow they had eaten that killed him.
We all know that symbols always mean something important to a writer or anyone in general. Ishmael uses quite a few symbols from the very beginning, including the moon. The moon is what represents his journey and his passage to the past with his family. He believes that the sky is telling a story with its stars, however, it now seems that the sky was telling a story as the stars fell and the moon his behind the clouds (Beah 80). He was the moon avoiding the end of the story, like how he was a boy evading the rebels and the possible end of the war. Another example was the spider. Ishmael first mentions it when it takes a journey into his memories of his Grandmother when she knew of his tricks and had called him carseloi, which meant spider (Beah 71). Later on in the chapter, Musa had decided to tell a story about Bra Spider, how a man in a village wanted to go to all the feasts, and hatched a plan by tying a rope to him and all the villages and told the chiefs to pull the ropes when the feast has started. It was then that all the feasts started at the same time and Bra Spider was pulled tight and up, caught like a spider in his trick (Beah 74). Ishmael sees himself as the spider, evading the rebels like a spider would avoid its enemy.
These are just some of the ways of writing that Ishmael uses in “A Long Way Gone.” The way that he writes his story makes you want to think really deep into what he’s trying to give out, to get you to think than just read. He brings out the same details in a different way each time to get his readers to see a connection between chapters and symbols. It’s something that most writers strive for when they’re working on a book or any type of literary device, and Ishmael was able to accomplish it with an amazing book that captivates readers with not only the story but how he tells it.
An all too common misconception in today’s society is that child soldiers are a thing of the past and that there is no way that something like this could happen in an era that romanticizes war as being a fun way to compete with your friends while sitting in front of your TV in the comfort of your own home. The brutal truth is that this is still a recurring atrocity for quite a few children around the globe, and has been since the early days of the Greek and Roman Empires (Spartan Family, History Wiz). In the biography, A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah tells his personal story through a compilation of literary devices such as flash backs and symbolism to enhance and provide a closer insight to the memories of his past.
ReplyDeleteDuring the process of reading this book I came across a very interesting set of objects that I didn’t quite understand until the later parts of this novel, the Cassettes. It’s hard to be clear if Ishmael used these in his story for this purpose or not but it came across as a very creative and sad form of imagery. These cassettes represented the part of him that continued to hold on to the life he used to have. He carried these with him throughout his early life after leaving home, and kept them on him until a time where he had lost all hope and was recruited into the Sierra Leone army. As soon as they were gone it represented a piece of him dying or giving up on his previous life and hope for something better. “I took off my old pants, which contained the rap cassettes. As I was putting on my new army shorts, a soldier took my old pants and threw them into a blazing fire that had been set to burn our old belongings” (Beah 110). Ishmael had just lost the last material possession that had linked him back to a simpler life he had once lived, and was left with nothing but his dissipating memories.
With nothing but his thoughts, Ishmael continues to hold on to the memories of his family and friends, which can be shown through his writing with the use of flashbacks that pinpoint relevant pieces of his life that he longs to be able to relive. One flashback that really stuck out was when Ishmael was watching children playing soccer and remembers many of his league matches where his parents watched, supported, and smiled at him with pride in their eyes. “The soccer games reminded me of the league matches I used to play in when my family first moved to the mining town of Mogbwemo. In particular, I remembered a final match that my team, which consisted of Junior and some friends, won” (Beah 102). At this point in the story Ishmael has not yet been forced to be a soldier, has nothing to strive or hope for and continues to look for comfort in his memories of the past. This situation separates Ishmael from many of his companions, as he is, instead of blocking out the world and becoming numb, actually searching the recesses of his mind for all the positive things that he can remember.
Coming from unimaginable circumstances and against all odds, Ishmael Beah has risen from the all too literal “Bottom of the Barrel” and become a better person who has learned to appreciate all aspects of life and everything it has to give. Along with this self-advancement, Ishmael has accomplished something that many would never think possible, a torn man has defied all odds to not only coup with but share his horrific story through a composition of extraordinary thought, literary devices, and structurally sound work, in hopes that others will realize just how seriously this matter should be taken.
Excellent post Brandon.
DeleteIn his autobiography, A Long way Gone, Ishmael Beah recounts all of the horrific events that he was forced to struggle through because of a civil war taking place in the country he lives in, Sierra Leone.
ReplyDeleteThroughout his book, Ishmael Beah is able to thoroughly describe his experiences to the reader in ways one would not expect, despite all of the unbelievable trials he has been put through, by using specific imagery to describe many scenes required to grasp what has truly happened, as well as by changing the mood of his writing.
In many places in A Long way Gone, the use of imagery is used to help the reader more fully grasp the events taking place, which is especially prevalent in chapter 11. “We picked up a mortar and banged the door open, but it was too late. Only two people came out, a woman and a young child. They were on fire, and ran up and down the village… The woman fell and stopped moving. The child gave a loud screech and sat next to a tree. He stopped moving.” (94,10-15). The description made by Ishmael is very well done, because even though it may not be the most descriptive, it paints a vivid picture in one’s head of what has happened. The biggest piece of imagery, though, would be simply where it states that the small child let out a shriek, as that alone shows how much pain he was in during his final moments. Another instance that demonstrates a remarkable usage of imagery is when Ishmael views many dead people who are stated to still be bleeding from how many times they have been shot, and that there was so much blood that “A stream of it had begun running along the ground, making its way under each body, as if joining them together.”(94, 19-29). This describes how horrific the sight was, and again, paints an extremely detailed picture inside one’s head. The passage also describes a very real image of death, and how it is not always as graceful as many have come to believe, so it may be shocking to one who is not aware of a death such as the ones described. As seen clearly, the imagery used by Ishmael can, and does, accomplish the task of creating an understandable picture for the reader to understand.
By changing the mood, Ishmael is able to show more clearly how everything is taking place. In chapter 11, there are two very opposite moods that are presented. The first of these is a mood that would strike the reader that everything is alright, or solved. As shown by this brief passage, “The last hours of the night were long. By the time the rain stopped, it was light… ‘We look like soaked chickens’ Musa said, laughing as we emerged from under the trees.” (90, 27-29), Ishmael is able to turn, what could have been a potentially dreary situation into a light and happy one by turning the whole experience into a joke. In doing this, it can be inferred that Ishmael and his friends are not in any immediate danger. The quote; “Alhaji asked me to contain the blood by placing my hand on Gasemu’s side. I did, but his blood continued to slip through my fingers. He looked at me, his eyes sadly beginning to sink deeper into their sockets.” (98, 16-19), shows the contrasting mood. The change of wording, such as using the word “sadly” and “sink” are used to exaggerate the mood, so one can easily understand that this is a depressing or desperate time. The quote, by also using imagery, is able to fully bring in the reader, as the mood is clearly established. The mood is used by Ishmael many times to pull in the reader, and not only to describe to them, but to connect with them.
By using imagery and changes in the mood, Ishmael is able to pull in his audience, and not only tell his story to them, but to almost bring them to the events. Ishmaels story is one that should be shared to all, as what he has experienced is very thought provoking and can make one truly grateful for all they have by living in such a safe land by comparison. His story in explained very well, and because of his excellent usage of imagery, mood, and many other literary devices, he is able to share his story in a way that everyone can understand.
Very well written Nate!
DeleteLevi Rott
ReplyDeleteMrs. Corolewski
Honors English (4A)
20 November 2013
As if charmed into walking into his own demise, Ishmael Beah had fallen into the very mindset that he was trying to circumvent from the very beginning of his survival expedition. Along his journey, Ishmael has tried only to survive and avoid the conflicts of the war, yet when it comes to the point of being given only a single choice, he sees it as being demanded on him, and in time, completely obviates the memories of his scared past. In chapter eight of Ishmael’s book “A Long Way Gone,” Ishmael’s thoughts have foreshadowed his unfortunate destiny of becoming a child soldier and presents how much of a different person he was before his transformation as a fighter.
Part eight of Ishmael’s life change displays Ishmael venturing as a lonely survivor, reflecting on his perspective on the unavoidable battle in his home country, as well as the concern of the friendly and savage citizens that he has crossed paths with. He thinks primarily on the massacres and brutal torture he witnesses from village to village and thinks to himself, “Sometimes I closed my eyes hard to avoid thinking, but the eye of my mind refused to be closed and continued to plague me with images. My body twitched with fear, and I became dizzy”(Beah 49). However, after the process of being drugged and told that killing provides closure, he sees death as a way to relieve himself from the depressions of his life. Also during Ishmael’s encounter with the old man who would not tell him his name, he said to him, “My children, this country has lost its good heart. People don’t trust each other anymore. Years ago, you would have been heartily welcomed to this village. I hope that you boys can find safety before this untrustworthiness and fear cause someone to harm you” (Beah 56). I personally view this as being foreshadowing. It may seem that he is saying that he would not want anyone to harm the boys physically, but considering the fact that he said ‘harm’ instead of a word like ‘hurt’, it could very well mean the damage of there character or their conscience, which does become corrupted later on in the plot of the story.
When all odds are against are against him, Ishmael is brought to the conclusion of enlisting to avoid running away from potential destruction. The thoughts of Ishmael and wisdom that is given to him have been viewed as having the same premise of survival. Yet could they possible be demonstrating not mainly survival but moral fiber? When Ishmael tried to run away from taking part in the war, he ironically became a higher ranking officer in the military, which not only change his view on the world, but by his actions and responsibilities.
Levi, I love how you "pull" your reader in in your opening sentence. :)
DeleteOliver Dahl 4B
ReplyDeleteNov. 20th, 2013
In "A Long Way Gone" by Ishmael Beah, two main uses of literary devices can be identified. Due to the fact that the story is based on actual events, very few other literary devices can be legitimately applied to the story. This aside, there are a few instances where Ishmael does use a few literary devices, like portraying emotion, and exhibiting conflict.
These were actual events--literary devices weren't used by the time that passed over Ishmael as the story we are now reading occurred in real time. There are no such things as "symbols" in this book--they were just objects, actual objects that Ishmael is writing about. Any meaning we assign them is just that--assigned by us! the readers, not intentionally by Ishmael.
The first literary device identified in "A Long Way Gone" is portraying emotion. This is an essential part of the book, woven in between the story, and laced in to make the story what it is now. The most powerful piece of emotion written about thus far in the book is the text following the burning of the village and the house where Ishmael's family was staying. (95). The description of Ishmael's emotions is powerful and devastating, even to the reader. Another example would be that of page 86, where Ishmael writes of his feelings after Saidu died. The genuine, plain sadness that he feels is contagious. While readers may not have felt the emotions that Ishmael feels, they can imagine the sadness alongside him.
The second literary device would be the exhibition of conflict. This part of the story merges into the field of being reader-assigned. Ishmael didn't write the conflict into the story to make it more exciting, or to move the story along. It actually happened, so it is not a very real literary device. The conflict on page 60, where Ishmael and his friends have to run on the hot sand is one example on conflict, a more passive sort, in comparison to the other conflict exuded in the book. Running on the hot sand is almost inflicted on themselves, but it is also the fault of the villagers who took their shoes. This dramatically opposes the other kind of conflict in the book. The other kind of conflict, of the more physical and violent sort, largely outnumbers the more "gentle" conflict in the book. Like that on page 135, when Ishmael, some of his friends and the new patrol fight against the rebel boy soldiers, a more violent conflict becomes apparent.
While many of the common literary techniques used in books don't apply to "A Long Way Gone," those of writing emotion and conflict are apparent and commonly used, while being an essential part of the story.
Excellent!
DeleteKolton Gammie 4B
ReplyDeleteThe moon to Ishmael is a light during a dark time and a reminder of the consistencies of home. In A Long Way Gone (Ishmael Beah) many things like this are not noticeable at a first glance, through the use of symbolism and flashbacks we can find their true meaning. The use of these literary devices gives us and understanding of Ishmael’s thoughts and feelings and all together provide him with a reason to continue and give him faith.
In the story the moon is recognized by Ishmael as a sign of hope and as so helps him to continue through his journey. In the story his grandmother helps him understand the meaning of the phrase “Strive to be like the moon.” Soon after (or possibly not until the war breaks out) does the moon’s real meanings become evident to Ishmael. During his attempt to flee from the rebels he sees the moon as a reminder of the habitual things he did when in a peaceful environment. When war takes over his land he is forced to flee his home and leave everything including his way of life behind. Every time night falls he sees the moon. Rising every night and setting every morning. So at the end of the day he knows he will get to see the bright shining moon.
At the same time however, he sees the moon as a symbol of hope. During the depressing nights where he is left with only his thoughts, he can see a light in the dark, the moon. It was his grandmother who told him (via flashback) that everyone should strive to be like the moon because “No one grumbles when the moon shines” (Beah 16). It’s these types of thoughts that bring Ishmael true comfort. He is allowed to be reminded of these times when he was together with his family much more easily when he is under the moons light. It fills him with faith when he is remembers easier times. Past happiness provides hope for a similar future.
The moon provides Ishmael with a strong sense of faith and happiness that is incredibly important especially in a time where he is surrounded by only war. Happiness that comes from reliving his past. So in both a literal and a figurative sense the moon shines a light in the dark for those who need it most.
Kolton, I would have liked to see you develop your discussion of foreshadowing.
DeleteThe death of a friend is something that is hard to accept, and when Ishmael lost his friend, Saidu, with whom he had travelled a great distance with, the effects on him were substantial.
ReplyDeleteOne night during their travels, Saidu fainted. He was unresponsive and the group feared the worst, so they all began to cry, all except for Ishmael. Instead he looked away, “staring into the night as if searching for something” (Beah 82). And even though the group thought he was dead, they still didn’t leave Saidu for a while because they were in a shocked state. They were unable to accept the possible death of their friend. Then, the next time Saidu was unresponsive, the boys were able to tell themselves that he had fainted again, not even considering the possibility that he had dead. A man from the village found them and told Kanei, the oldest of the group, that Saidu was not going to wake up. The realization was almost instantaneous, and they all admitted to themselves what they had already known but did not want to acknowledge.
As Saidu was being buried, one of the village men asked them if they were his family. The boys had to say no, but felt bad about it, because, in a way, Saidu had become their family. They had travelled and survived together, protecting each other in the face of the destruction that had taken away their real families. And despite the peace of mind that came with the burial of their dear friend, the loss had impacted the boys like they had just lost another family member. As they left the village, the effects of the loss began to take effect. Wariness, fear and uncertainty overtook the boys as they continued onward without their companion, and the possibility of the loss of yet another friend seemed to loom over them. Death had come closer yet.
As Ishmael and his friends travelled with Saidu, they developed a bond that was forged on trust and support. They became close, like family, as they survived together on their journey, but, all too suddenly, Saidu’s journey had to end, and his friends had to continue without him. And while the boys would always know where their friend rested, it could only grant them so much peace, peace that couldn’t outweigh the sadness that comes with loss.
Amber, please re-read the prompt.
DeleteThe greatest authors, those that can have a truly significant impact on the world via their work, are masters at drawing readers into the world of their literature. Their knowledge of literary skills and their subsequent usage of them paints a picture in the mind of the reader. In just his first published book, Ishmael Beah has managed to do just that. In his autobiography A Long Way Gone, Ishmael’s usage of inner monologue and flashbacks compel the reader to continue reading, and dive deeper into the twisted, nightmare-like childhood Ishmael himself experienced.
ReplyDeleteInner monologue, as used in A Long Way Gone, is a poignant tool that connects the reader to those depicted in the book, encouraging continued reading. Ishmael’s monologues are often windows into the pain he experiences and thoughts shooting through his brain in times of deep uncertainty and confusion, as seen in chapter 16: “My hands had begun to shake uncontrollably and my migraines had returned with a vengeance. It was as if a blacksmith had an anvil in my head. I would hear and feel the hammering of metal in my head, and these unbearable sharp sounds made my veins and muscles sour.” (Beah 140). Ishmael himself experienced this, but through his work, so too can his readers. They naturally draw connections between Ishmael’s experience and their own. A few sentences can create empathy, even when the individuals are thousands of miles apart, and have never met. Several pages later, readers see into the subconscious of Ishmael, as he shares a particularly vivid dream (Beah 149). Nightmares are a phenomenon that impact the entire human race, meaning any reader can understand Ishmael’s panic and fear. By describing inner thoughts, experiences, and fears that are inherently human, and experienced by most everyone, Ishmael leaves a lasting impact and thirst for more on the often emotionally unprepared reader.
Not only does Ishmael show the reader his experiences in the present, but he also gives them glimpses into past via flashbacks. A flashback presents the reader with tantalizing peeks into the unseen past of the individual we have become so emotionally invested in. Ishmael presents these in a logical and emotionally tactful way that adds to the flow of the story. For example, memories of a battle fought in intense rain are presented after Ishmael has been soaked by rain at the soccer fields (Beah 149). This transition has a clear link between the present and the flashback, making the reason for the flashback crystal clear for the reader. It also serves the function of showing us the mental instability of Ishmael. A common weather occurrence mentally transports Ishmael back to a bloodied battlefield, leaving him physically and mentally incapable. In another instance, the simple mention of the word “lieutenant” triggers a vivid memory of a battle that hold significance to Ismael, as it is the root of both his and Alhaji’s nicknames (Beah 142). This flashback shows the reader that Ishmael is still fond of his squad members and his accomplishments as a member of the army. Flashbacks serve a “don’t tell, show” function, by giving readers an in-depth look into sections of Ishmael’s memory that prove relevant to current plot events, and further develop Ishmael in the eyes of the reader. The combined usage of theses literary techniques leave the reader feeling as if they experienced every step with Ishmael, making the issues he addresses via his work all the more impactful. Ishmael conveys so much in so few pages by using skills that make his literature a magnet to his readers.
Bravo Parker! Very well written.
DeleteMary Dorofeyev 4A
ReplyDeleteThe tragedies and horrors Ishmael faced had given him less hope of survival, but the hope that hadn’t died reinforced him to stay stronger and move on.
Saidu full of dreams hadn’t let hope and survival take over, thinking of life as a burden made death “victory.” Saidu had tasted and heard of death allowing it to take over, and knowing it had come for him. Saidu had tasted death by eating the crow, which later he saw ghosts in the night before fainting. Saidus mistakes taught Ishmael to hope for the best and to take over the darkness distinguishing that light will come and guide the way towards life and dreams. The darkness brings flashbacks of memories that were once happiness and joyful are now uncomforting and painful. Walking with Saidu made Ishmael’s peregrination seem almost impossible. Facing death was a “dream” for Saidu, which had terrified Ishmael with the uncomforted stories and words Saidu had said. The crow had come to take Saidu with it. Ishmael thinking he’ll be next had only made him try harder. (Beah Chapter 10). “Maybe it was the bird that we ate.” (Beah 82). Ishmael and his friends had blamed the bird for Saidus death. Saidu had to eat most of the crow to faint while sleeping. After Saidu vomited he had told them about the ghosts he saw. “Those were the ghosts I saw. I know it. I must have fainted when they started speaking.” (Beah 83). The ghosts had come to “warn” Saidu that he was to die next. The crow could have been cursed and who ate it would die. The crow landed right in front of Ishmael and his group unable to fly. (Beah 81). It’s unusual; it was the sign of Saidus death. Having Saidu die made Ishmael and the other boys furious. Ishmael seeing himself as the moon “……hid behind clouds to avoid what was happening.” (Beah 80). It’s like the moon felt the tragedy and needed a cover to prevent itself from what would happen next. The moon, clouds, and crow are really important because they symbolize the character and what is and what had already happened to them.
The crow and the moon were signs of life and death. Ishmael represents the moon, which never dies and knowing the moon is still there, his dreams and the life he once wished of would come and reward him. Saidu on the other hand was hopeless, had given up and asked for death, thinking of survival a dream.
Ishmael and his “gang” are telling their stories of how they met up and what had happened to their families. The stories of how they escaped were terrifying but the way the rebels treated Saidus sisters made Ishmael disgusted to hear the way it had happened. Ishmael figured why Saidu hated life and the way it is. In the night, the boys fall asleep, but Ishmael can’t. He remembers growing up and the ceremonies they had. (Beah 75). Those memories seem joyful and merry but it wasn’t for Ishmael. Ishmael was scared to get to happy about the memories because worse was heading their way. Having Ishmael think of the war made his hope build stronger, unlike Saidu scared to think about the war which killed him. Seeing deaths and experiencing killing made Ishmael’s life sophisticated. The way Ishmaels life’s been and the tragedy’s he’s had to face made him stronger, and it had got him to know what war really is and how it’s not as simple a shooting a gun. For a 15 year old to experienced what Ishmael had to go through would make it hard for many, because they don’t have the courage Ishmael has to be able to come face to face with death and be able it withdrawal it.
Good job with analysis Mary, however you need a thesis statement, even when writing on a blog. :)
DeleteEveryone has their own way of grieving with different issues in their life, and everyone has their own personal thought process. When someone loses a friend or a person that is very close to them they have to find their own way of dealing with it. In the book A Long Way Gone Ishmael Beah explains what happened to him during a war. Ishmael tells of his personal experiences with various types of literary devices, and really lets the reader connect with what he had seen and
ReplyDeleteOne of the big literary devices he uses is conflict. He uses conflict within himself, against him and others and conflict that does not directly include him. “We had been walking in silence through the night until we…We continued on without saying a word to each other” (Beah 89). Ishmael and his friends have just lost their friend and they had to grieve with this lose. With Ishmael using conflict the reader really gets a true felling of being right there next to him. Ishmael often talks about the conflict he has inside of his own mind and the conflict that stops him from doing certain things. Without this conflict we would not get to tell what Ishmael truly experiences.
Ishmael also uses personification to make what he sees really come to life. The personification Ishmael uses makes the little details really come to life. “The path had ended… Its tears saved us from the red bullets” (Beah 97-98). Ishmael is running from rebels after they have just found out that the village they thought had their families did not have their families. The sky saves him and his friends from the torment of the rebels. Ishmael tells this part of his journey with personification so that he can make sure the reader really knows how important the sky was at that specific time. This device makes the little details that the readers would not otherwise notice really pop right out of the page.
With the use of these literary devices Ishmael really shows what he is going through and what he has to deal with.
Amanda, this is a good start. I would have liked to see you go more in-depth.
DeleteStripped of that which was important, Ishmael Beah finds a way to have it again before it is given away, leaving him to brave the chaos within himself unarmed in order to find happiness again.
ReplyDeleteThe setting Ishmael had grown so comfortable with was given away voluntarily, and he did not have a participation in it whatsoever. In his altered mind, his "squad was [his] family, [his] gun was [his] provider and protector...” (Beah 126) The idea of what was important and significant was distorted so much that the safety and love he thought he had was just cruelty and horrors he'd grown accustomed to. Being forced to mature so quickly and grow so fast meant that he shot into a warped perception of what it meant to be a man, and due to this what he craved and used to have as a child was accommodated for. The mood of making a false hope in a hopeless state was one of the manners by which Ishmael survived. The boys chat on happy nights about how good their drugs were, and how favorable their living was in general (Beah 128), forcing themselves to pretend it was good or that this was where they wanted to be all along. The tone of the chapter is happy, but with a malevolent or destructive tone to it, demonstrating the force with which they exalted themselves into falsities and also how hard it is on them later.
In the change of setting, conflicts internal and external are revealed, forcing Ishmael to battle himself with no way to run anymore. Finding himself on his way to the rehabilitation center, Ishmael is upset, mainly confused but had accustomed himself to becoming angry in the face of confusion, and this is obvious through his considering on how he will hijack the truck to return to Bauya (Beah 130). Once at the rehabilitation center, Ishmael searches for drugs and violence, an indicator of how his body and mind had formed to crave the Lieutenant he replaced as a father figure, and the manners by which those controlling the boys would manipulate them. Unable to adjust so quickly, they itched for harming others, and proceeded to attack the boys that had fought on the opposite side of the war (Beah 134). The conflict within themselves is quelled by the conflict between opposing sides, fighting away that which is happening internally as an attempt to pretend it isn't happening. They feel like what they had was normal, and was for a cause that gave them reason and importance. The feeling of significance and being wanted was something that as children they craved and another thing that had taken away.
Throughout the changes Ishmael undergoes, he feels the effects of replacing his family with something contorted finally impact him. The conflicts he experiences are him fighting with himself to let go of the pain he'd been keeping stowed under the false pretenses they weren't there anymore, and feeling like he was a mature man now. Releasing his inner angers and grinding him down to sadness, Ishmael was forced to push past the war memories and recall the ones that made him happy. A true sort of happy.
Great analysis Sara...however, you need a thesis statement to point the reader to what you will be writing about.
DeleteNick B.
ReplyDeleteP.2B
11/20/13
Most people today think that slavery and abduction aren’t relevant in modern society. Ishmael’s book, A Long Way Gone, proves to them that this nothing but an outright fabrication of reality. As would any developed society would go about saying, “When we see something tragic on the television at dinner, we’re going to do nothing but say something along the lines of ‘how awful!’ and then go back to eating our meal” – anonymous. Desensitized minds and different social architectures; how blinded are we from seeing what really happens during a war effort? From not only praising it as something that has ascended our capabilities of speech and appraisal or is it being selective as how we portray it? Why am I using questions when I’m not supposed to?
In chapter 12, Ishmael gets abducted into the local military, and in order to rid him of emotion and consciousness from the brutal slaughters he witnesses, will witness, and may end up causing himself, they have him and other boys wired on drugs whenever possible. Drugs ranging from simple Marijuana to their own creation called “brown-brown”, a mixture of cocaine and gun powder. Strains of pot made specifically to not produce a sense of euphoria, or even sleepiness; it causes them insomnia. In order to pass the time, Ishmael stays up late and sometimes into the next day watching 80’s action films, such as Rambo – First Blood Part 2. This is by no means a militia that serves for the people, but only for themselves, running with an excuse of “We do it to ensure the safety of the people and the country.” a complete fallacy to their actions. Their methods of gathering new supplies are for more barbaric than the rebels: raiding camps for drug materials, food, ammunition and gasoline. All be it rebel camps, the militias form of raiding is via torture and kidnapping. If children are present in the village, they will be abducted and used their own methods of strategic placement.
“I’d like to have some bazookas of my own, like the ones Commando (Rambo 2/First blood part 3). That would be beautiful” (P122.) By the end of the chapter, Ishmael himself is so oblivious to what he is really doing, seeing as how he thinks it’s okay now and the fact that it is the cold reality for him. Not to mention the brainwashing the camp leader instills. He can be heard saying talking about how he and a fellow child soldier wished they were like Rambo, “Sometime I am going to take on a whole village by myself, just like Rambo,’ Alhaji told me.” (P122.) While slightly taken out of context, this shows that Ishmael and his new friend no longer have any sense of remorse or innocence. The drugs and violence have made both of them fierce and numb. Killing to them was as easy as drinking water, in complete contrast to how only Ishmael felt just days ago.
Excellent introduction Nick, however, you forgot a thesis statement. Great analysis.
DeleteAs a child you’re always told “You’re too young” but is that always the case?
ReplyDeleteIn the book “A Long Way Gone” by Ishmael Beah, Ishmael was forced to grow up at a very early age. He was never questioned because of age. Because of age not making a difference that left him running for his life. No child should have to run village to village to save their lives. In Ishmael’s case though, that’s exactly what he had to do. Throughout his journey, like it would be for any child Ishmael’s age, it was hard. He had his own little group that he traveled with where each boy had their own story (Beah 79). Saidu, one of his traveling members, seemed to be the most broken. Saidu ended up “leaving” the boys and this took a huge toll on all of them. Before Saidu had died though, a bird fell out of the sky and Saidu wanted to eat it (Beah 81). No one felt very good about it. In a way, the bird seemed as if it was a warning sign or a symbol of someone’s death. Almost as if Saidu insisted on eating it because he wanted to die. Like he was “accepting” death. The bird also came out of nowhere, similar to how Saidu’s death was. This situation not only was very hard for Ishmael but changed him and made him grow up once again.
A part where Ishmael also has to grow up is in chapter 13 when he gets to be part of the fight. Ishmael had no idea what he got himself into and just believed that it was the only place he had left. So, when he got to his first real fight he was terrified (Beah 118). He even saw that Musa, one of his traveling members, had died. But, as he became more involved and trained more he thought cruel things and did cruel things. He killed without acting. “I had lost my family. So when the lieutenant gave orders, I shot as many as I could, but I didn’t feel better.” (Beah 112) .He was no longer the Ishmael he used to be. He killed but never felt better and would continue to not feel better. This is where Ishmael grows up in a huge way and becomes a child soldier but acts very much as a grown up.
Even though Ishmael went through all of these terrible things that will most likely haunt him forever, he found hope and strived to live on. He lost a good majority of his childhood and killed people without any emotion. He had to grow up way to fast and see horrible things that no child should have to witness. All of these experiences lead him to an army where he thought he’d be safe but only made him see worse and do worse things. No one can ever begin to understand the pain and forced growing up Ishmael went through.
Jade, what literary devices are you analyzing? Where is your thesis?
DeleteTerace Bennett
ReplyDelete1A
English 10
Ishmael Beah wrote a story about his experience in the war in Africa. The book he wrote is called “A Long Way Gone.” This story is both interesting and inspirational. Within the story there are many literal devices used while Ishmael wrote his memoir, two of these are to demonstrate an emotion and to build suspense.
Ishmael demonstrated emotion in multiple chapters, such as in chapter 11; when Ishmael tells the story on how he was almost reunited with his family but right before he got to the village his parents were killed by the rebels (95). Ishmael chose very appropriate adjectives to describe his fury and shock towards what he just witnessed. When the reader reads over that paragraph on page 95, you can feel his emotion and hurt to an extent but can never really grasp what Ishmael really felt. This is very important to Ishmael and how his personality will from now on be changed.
Ishmael also wrote about many intense events that happened to his on his journey across Sierra Leon. Ishmael built the suspense up so high in chapter 6 at the very end when he states that that was the last memory he had with his older brother Junior in the picture (43). Then immediately in chapter 7 Ishmael talked about how the attacked happened and exactly how he was separated from his family (44). Throughout the rest of the book Ishmael always brings up short little flashbacks about his family and you can really feel how much he misses them. But while reading the passage you also feel a sense of joy from the memory because they are happy memories.
While many other literary elements were used in “A Long Way Gone,” demonstrating an emotion and building suspense are two that stick out. These literary devices are an essential to the book and making this memoir worth reading.
Excellent analysis--weak opening sentence.
DeleteThe true horrors of war, and their effects, are something an average person will never be able to imagine or comprehend. In A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah uses the many literary devices to paint the dark picture of life on the battlefield, versus life on the run, and life after he escapes. He uses devices, such as flashbacks and for symbolism, heavily in order to show how becoming a soldier has changed his ideals and thought processes forever.
ReplyDeleteThe use of flashbacks to demonstrate Ishmael’s life changes is shown nowhere more clearly than in Chapter 16. In this chapter Beah used flashbacks to demonstrate his life before being touched by war, life as a boy soldier, and his life now. One night during his stay in rehab, Ishmael falls asleep and begins to dream of his time as a soldier. Ishmael’s dreams are his flashbacks to before becoming an uncontrolled drugged soldier and slowly becoming himself before he experienced war. Ishmael even goes so far as to say, “The war memories had formed a barrier that I had to break in order to think about any moment of my life before the war (Beah 149). This shows that Ishmael is using his flashbacks, or dreams, to understand how his life as a soldier has changed him. The flashbacks coupled with the scenes of present day do well to show that Ishmael’s mentality and approach to life are now changed forever.
Beah uses symbolism in Chapter 16 in order to demonstrate what his life and feelings were like while being used as a slave to the Army’s cause. While dreaming one night Ishmael speaks of “the faceless gunman,” who ties Ishmael up and slits his throat, while Ishmael is unable to stop him (Beah 149). The gunman could be considered a symbol for the army or even the war in Sierra Leone, because both are somewhat “faceless” entities that symbolically kill Ishmael several times while he is helpless to stop it. During Ishmael’s time as pawn in the army, he is helpless to stop the war or the killing, and can only do what is asked, while pieces of his sanity and morals fall away. As a result of this there are memories and actions that will haunt Ishmael forever.
With the use of symbolism and flashbacks, Beah conveys a message in Chapter 16 of A Long Way Gone: war and the actions it causes change a person forever and can alter ones entire understanding of the world around them. When reading this book, the devices allow someone who has never been touched by war, to empathize with someone who has.
Very well written Jasmine. Excellent opening statement. :)
DeleteAshleigh Galloway
ReplyDeleteCorolewski
Honors English 1B
20 November 2013
Within A Long Way Gone, Ishmael is constantly using literary devices to try and explain, describe or show emotion within the text. Chapter 10, however, is not only to show emotions, explain or describe, but also to show how Ishmael learns and gets through the day. Ishmael shows readers how he often used old stories to relate himself to, and how he learned from them along with common superstitions, memories and axioms to survive and escape his everyday struggles.
Ever since the war began, Ishmael tried to run further and further away from it but had so many things that only pulled him down. From forcing himself to feel numb, watching his friends die…it was all a bit too much for Ishmael to handle on his own, so luckily, he didn’t have to. Ishmael had other friends, true, but he still felt the burden and guilt when Saidu died and Ishmael uses a great sense of imagery to show exactly how he and his other friends felt at this time (Beah 85). The imagery is one literary device that can easily distract emotions from a reader, especially in this situation. The thought about how sad these children are and the descriptions of how they found out Saidu died is enough to pull tears from fellow readers given the right context which, sure enough, Ishmael provides. Another literary device Ishmael uses is a metaphor which most people would use to show as a visual, but Ishmael instead uses it to tell of his and his friends’ emotions. Ishmael compares his and his friends’ lives to a book, and that each day was a page but they were always afraid of what the next page would bring (Beah 88). This could bring out some emotions such as sympathy for the boys, but in this scenario, it is more so an informing device. The metaphor was used to show just how afraid Ishmael felt and how he wanted to end the surprises but had no control over anything. Ishmael knew that the reader (as in time) would still turn the page but he just had to stay through it.
Ishmael has learned to guide himself from the stories he’s heard, old memories, and axioms people have told him because it’s all he has left to hold onto. The story of Bra-Spider was an amplification to show just how hungry Ishmael and his friends were, as well as how they felt trapped (Beah 75). The average person may be able to relate to some extent, whether its feeling caught in the middle of a (or many) situation(s) or maybe just feel as though they are starving. Said person most likely won’t feel these emotions or pains quite as strongly as Ishmael but they could at least relate a little and therefore understand. A reader could also relate to how Ishmael kept thinking back to his time spent with his family and how his grandmother told him to “’…strive to be like the moon’” (Beah 16). Ishmael holds onto this motto and lives by it which can be seen throughout the book. A good example being when Ishmael explains how the clouds tried to cover the moon but the moon shone through anyways when really, he was saying that his innocence and purity and everything else that remained good kept shining even when things made him turn the wrong way. This metaphor is extremely important to the story, considering that at the time, Ishmael was trying very hard to keep something good from his childhood, something that he thought could never be taken from him (Beah 69-70).
Through all the bad times, Ishmael knew he had to keep a hold of those good memories and lessons from stories to live through another day. Ishmael knew just how important his childhood could be and how it kept him sane in the long run and how it kept him going through even the hardest of times.
Captivating opening sentence? Please name the literary devices in your thesis. Good job with analysis. :)
DeleteJake Smiley
ReplyDeleteMrs. Corolewski
Honors English 10/4A
11/19/13
Slavery is gone; it is an evil long since passed. Many people actually believe the previous statement and would argue quite forcibly that it has not existed since the 1800’s. Those people are wrong. Where there are war-torn countries, there is unimaginable pain with the theft of human life and childhood. Ishmael Beah proves in his book A Long Way Gone that slavery is still very prevalent in modern times, and it is flying under the radar. Ishmael brings this sore topic to the light via several ingenious literary devices, such as imagery and similes; these provide an incredible look at the mind of an ex-child soldier.
Over the course of the book, A Long Way Gone, Ishmael provides several very graphic and very detailed similes that further our insight to the horrors of the war. At the beginning of the first battle, Ishmael compares a man’s wounds to that of a tributary, blood gushing out of his body as though it was an endless stream (Beah 118). This kind of writing is painful, for most readers, to imagine and it is difficult to bear the thought of how scarring these types of experiences are to Ishmael. It is heart wrenching that Ishmael experienced daily atrocities for years, but he continued mentally blocking out this repulsive waste of human life. Later, Ishmael describes what taking a life meant to him towards the end of his enslavement, “killing became as easy as drinking water” (Beah 122). The mere fact that a young teenager could compare taking a human life to a daily activity necessary for survival is astounding. Imagine the ability to kill a person is as simple to an enslaved child soldier as drinking water is to those untouched by war.
Through the horrors of war, one might ask what kept Ishmael going. Ishmael often brought up the moon. To Ishmael, the moon represented a light when the night was most dark; it is a constant that gives him hope when times were difficult. Not only does it give him hope, but it lights a path for him, and provides shelter and protection from those who seek him. An old man once said to him that “we must strive to be like the moon” (Beah 16). Ishmael was confused at first, but when his grandmother explained it to him, he realized it meant to be happy and respect others. Ishmael brings this up not only to share part of his culture, but to him it meant be grateful for the things that we take for granted and be joyful for the simple things in life. When the moon disappeared something terrible was about to happen, which meant his hope was slowly dissipating before him and it became murky as if his hope is the moon moving behind a cloud.
The figurative language in this book, add minute details that enthrall the reader, and deepen the understanding of the experiences that Ishmael went through. The similes add detailed descriptions of the chaotic and twisted nature of war. The imagery helps readers understand Ishmael, as well as his thoughts and feelings on a subliminal level. Throughout this shocking book, a multitude of literary devices are used and their meaning adds a level of depth that is rarely seen in autobiographies.
Excellently written--superb opening!
DeleteAndrew Gunderson
ReplyDelete11/20/13
Honors English 10
Corolewski
The only true virtue of being a writer is the ability to catch the attention of the author and hold it, no matter how much they hate the content of the writing, it must entrance them. Without the ability to write in a fluid and lucid fashion, no matter how interesting what you’re writing about, the reader will put the work down and try something else. Ishmael captures the attention of the reader with eloquently used techniques from his arsenal of literary devices. Such uses of literary devices can be seen in chapter 11 with his explicit depiction of foreshadow, and his usage of symbolism.
Ishmael’s description of how he felt before he reached the village is a very precisely chosen one, that puts a “too good to be true” feeling on the situation. As I read the passage on page 92 “I was breathing fast and couldn’t bring out a word. I wanted to drop the hand and run as fast as I could to the village. My eyelids were twitching, and I felt as if the breeze was passing through my brain” the only thing I could think of was how strange it seemed that he would go through such luscious description of how he felt at the time. In other times that he had been happy, he used far less to describe how he felt, yet this time Ishmael made very clear what he had been feeling. This is because Ishmael wanted us to also feel this excitement, to build within ourselves the same hope that he had built within himself. This was very subtle foreshadow however, as I did not see it as that until after I learned of what happened to his family. On just the very next page he “heard gunshots. And dogs barking. And people screaming and crying” Ishmaels entire sense of giddy anticipation for meeting his parents is crushed as he realizes that the village is under attack, which was very easy to predict in my subconscious due to how incredibly rigorously he described how much he anticipated meeting his parents and Junior.
Symbolism plays a very subtle, yet interminably important role in this chapter to depict to we the readers what happens, how it feels to be in the situation he is in. Page 98 his description of the bullets seems to give them a red aura. Red is often used to depict death, carnage, something sinister might be a shade of red. Red is often used to show emotions and feelings on the other end of the spectrum, love, passion, warmth, welcoming. But whenever it is used in symbolism, red is a color with much puissance. In this case the bullets have puissance with symbolizing danger and malice. On the same page Ishmael retells how “The moon disappeared and took the stars with it, making the sky weep” the moon cannot legitimately disappear. Its a giant white rock floating in the sky, in this case the moon was shrouded in cloud cover. Should Ishmael have just said so, it would not have brought forth that the moon, which has been referenced as a guardian in previous chapters seemed to have left him, as if its nimbus of benevolence had been directed away from Ishmael, as bullets fly through the air and Gasemu received his fatal wounds, although the boys did not know it yet.
As Ishmael weaves his web of literature in gossamer thin layers of subtle, yet not completely out of mind he draws us deeper and deeper into his work, the events entice us further and further into the trap. We find that we cannot escape from the entrancing sentences that hold us with our noses to the books. Like a fish on a barbed hook, the only way to go out, is to go deeper into his work.
Good job Andrew! Don't forget your parenthetical citations, otherwise you are plagiarizing. (In the future, you will not earn points if you do not cite!)
DeleteAs human beings we want to be able to empathize and connect with those around us, it is a part of our nature; we want to be assured that we aren’t the only ones who feel or endure the things that we do. Unfortunately, it is harder for some of us to fully grasp the concepts of other’s struggles due to the variety of differences among people’s personalities and experiences. For me, and I assume most others around the globe, have trouble fully grasping Ishmael Beah’s personal ordeals. He had to witness tragedy, create it, and try to heal from it, all during the most crucial growth period in one’s life. In his memoir, A Long Way Gone, he tries to describe his feelings to those of us who don’t have the slightest clue as to what the life of a child soldier consists of, by using various literary devices, particularly similes.
ReplyDeleteBooks that have almost unimaginable concepts become a lot more relatable to it’s readers with the use similes, like in chapter 14. The thought of death and killing to me is intimidating because my experience with it is little to not at all. I’ve never witnessed somebody die, let alone kill a person, unlike Ishmael. When Ishmael won the competition for who could kill a prisoner the fastest he compared the excitement of the other soldiers to that of completing one of life’s greatest accomplishments (Beah 125). I haven’t been taught or wired to kill, but child soldiers know of this concept all too well. I would think that every time these children have to kill or witness their friends and families die, no matter how much they’ve been trained not to feel grief, they still would. It becomes a lot more realistic and easier to understand how desensitized these children are when the author compares the idea of death to drinking water (Beah 122). It brings a whole new meaning to the corruption in other countries. Even though I’ll never be able to entirely fathom these concepts, the similes he uses brings me a little bit closer to being able to comprehend what Ishmael saw and how he felt.
My deepest sympathy goes out to Ishmael, the veterans, and the current child soldiers who are fighting in wars that they don’t even know what they’re fighting for. They’ve been drugged and brainwashed, it makes me appreciate what I have even more than before. The way Beah exhibits these catastrophes through his wide range of well thought out literary devices deduces my ignorance towards life outside of my “bubble” and comfort zone. Although, I can’t necessarily relate to his experiences, I understand them better than ever before.
Great opening, great analysis...where is your analysis of a second literary device?
DeleteMatthew Nunnally
ReplyDeletePeriod 2B
Chapter 12
Fear is spread to the souls of many in times of war, in these horrific events Ishmael recalling by memory as he was a thirteen year old boy experiencing the face of brutality and cruelty to others harming people’s lifestyle. In Ishmael’s writing he expresses many literary elements that express the way he feels of his memories.
Literary elements used in Ishmael’s writing are completely relevant to the things described in chapter twelve. His descriptions of the war involve many intense vocabulary that completely tie into the event taking place in the book. In chapter twelve his descriptions were very detailed and in depth which made the reader think and infer on many of the scenarios such as from the book when he is describing the piles of dead bodies and specific ones that scared him for a long period of time. He uses words such as: charcoal, occupied, suddenly, and socialized. He also expresses the recollections as brutal and intense and a completely accurate and detailed. He also put so much depth into the guns and how heavy and shiny they were as he began training. He even described the people that lived in the village they were staying at with the government military and how the “aura” changed in the village after the rebels attacked the outermost village and people were dying.
Another literary device used in the book “A Long Way Gone” is the use of symbols and how they relate to the events that take place throughout the story. The first and most major symbol of the story are the rap tapes and how they place a significant role to keep him motivated and alive throughout the war. He has to perform his dance and singing to the villages that captured him and threatened to kill him and they were marveled by the dance since it was a very western idea of rap music. It is also ironic that the rap singers are singing and complaining that they have it rough in the slums of America but really the real pain is what Ishmael experienced. A source from the book is: “I ran toward the fire, but the cassettes had already began to melt” (110). Another symbol of chapter four is the AK-47 and how the boys are afraid to take the weapon and to look the corporal or soldiers in the eye because they know what is going to happen but didn’t want to accept the fact that they might die through the fighting. It also sets out as a symbol because the soldiers say that it will become your life and that it will become a part of you once you get used to the weight and components.
In conclusion the literary devices support the point and story that Ishmael Beah is trying to get across. Even with the pain of his memories, he comes up with hope to fight the pain but he will never forget the pain and fear he felt when he was involved in, in his adolescent’s years.
Nice job Matthew. Be sure you specifically name which literary devices you will be anaylzing in your thesis statement. Also, you need to parenthetically cite even when paraphrasing!
DeleteAll around the world are stories, stories of love and hate and pure good and pure evil. However in our society these come to us in movies, fiction, stories that are never real. The population has been desensitized to what is truly happening. True matters of evil are kept in the dark by the masses own ignorance. However in his autobiography, A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah tries to bring a light to some of the hidden evils that plague our world. So far in his story, he has already come very far from his original life, and compared to his masterful art of language there is only one possible way he changed, he progressed. Ishmael uses a number of literary devices in his writing, and two that are rather prominent in his writing style are flashbacks and symbols. Several times throughout his autobiography Ishmael uses symbolism to silently convey an idea or emotion that he is thinking or feeling. Several weeks after Ishmael is taken to the rehabilitation center, he and a few other buys leave the grounds to take a ‘field trip’ to the main city center. Upon their journey they come across the Cotton Tree, the national symbol of Sierra Leone. Upon seeing this tree they are struck by awe and Ahalji exclaims: “’No one will believe us when we tell them this’” (Beah 147). Considering the fact that these boys were soldiers for the Sierra Leone government, it makes sense that an icon of the government would excite them. These boys were brainwashed to fight for the government, it would make a lot of sense for them to also have been brainwashed to hold the government in an iconic view. Ishmael uses this symbol in his story to convey the idea that he is not yet fully healed from his time as a soldier. He is still a government pawn, and he still idolizes the government. However, late in the chapter, another literary device shows his progress.
ReplyDeleteAnother common literary device that Ishmael uses to emanate his story into the reader is flashbacks. Nearing the end of chapter sixteen Ishmael recounts a memory in the form of a dream. He also speaks of how he, and several other boys, would wake up in a soccer field, crouched down in the grass. Due to his reactions to the dreams, it is quite easy to also realize that they are nightmares. They react to them in such a way that they hide in tall grasses as they would during the war when they would hide to shoot the other side. Not only this but the content is also obviously that of nightmares, especially since these boys are no longer hyped up on drugs. These nightmares show progress in Ishmael due to the fact that they are nightmares. His memories of the war are now becoming something frightful to him, he can no longer laugh over places where bullets grazed his skin, instead now he hides in grasses from his memories. He also accounts these memories of war as a block to his happier memories of his life before he was touched by war. Since he sees them as blocking memories that are happier, obviously they aren’t good, they are keeping him from being happy. Also it can be seen as the war completely blocked out his family.
While Ishmael’s story is already terribly impactful, he makes it even more so; he is a wonderful write and makes great use of literary devices, with his use of flashbacks and symbolism. The story of a child soldier is not one often heard; they are kept in the dark and hidden. However with his autobiography, Ishmael Beah brings the story into the spotlight. It is not just him that has experienced such horrors. There are so many other children that also share his story that don’t escape or are ever able to share their story with the world. They are still hidden in the dark.
Excellent!
DeleteJesse Griffin
ReplyDeleteMrs. C
Honors English 10
20 November 2013
(Chapter 10)
Ishmael’s life is full of suspense and symbolic devices pertaining to his future of surviving all of the tough challenges ahead. Ishmael’s daily life is suspenseful because he does not know when and where he is going to die. “One of the unsettling things about my journey, mentally, physically, and emotionally, was that I wasn't sure when or where it was going to end” (Beah 69). The life Ishmael lives is one not fit for children. Ishmael is 14 and he is already discovering the horrors of human nature and the devastations of war. When Ishmael is given the choice to join the military or be exiled from all resources, he is forced to become a Soldier as a child just to stay alive. Ishmael is too young to be part of a military of any kind. The boys should not be used as pawns for the Sierra Leone military just because real men will not join their military. The boys symbolize how the Sierra Leone government is in need of more Soldiers.
The Moon is a symbol of hope for Ishmael through his journey. One night, Ishmael is looking in the sky and he sees the Moon and the Moon to him represents Ishmael’s journey. This is a good symbol for hope to Ishmael because a large cloud can cover the moon, but it will still be shinning (Beah 70). Ishmael’s journey is the moon because challenges lay ahead of Ishmael, but as long as he does not be a coward he will make it through the challenges.
Ishmael is presented numerous amounts of challenges one after the other. The boys find food but a dog eats it so they are forced to survive and find more food before all of the boy’s die of starvation. It is already hard for this group of kids to survive but when there only food is taken away from them by a dog; this gives even more of a challenge to the boys. The group was smart later when they decided to keep one person at watch of the food at all times so that they do not lose their food again. The gang makes very good decisions under pressure. It is amazing how a company of boys can be so resource even when they are given such challenges.
Even at the age of 14, Ishmael survives day-to-day suspense with symbols scattered around his journey in Sierra Leone.
Jesse, you need to add more analysis and do less re-telling. Where is your thesis statement?
DeleteChapter 16
ReplyDeleteIshmael was drowning in an abyss that the people from UNICEF thought they had rescued his from when in reality he felt he was being pushed deeper into the bottomless pit. In chapter sixteen of A Long Way Gone written by Ishmael Beah is an autobiography about his time as a child soldier in Sierra Leone. In this specific chapter Ishmael describes his difficult transition from the front lines to a rehabilitation center. Using rhetoric such as pathos and flashbacks, Ishmael shows a great challenge and struggle in adjusting back to “normal life” as he claims in chapter fifteen.
Throughout A Long Time Ishmael experiences many flashbacks that provide more insight into his time as a child soldier. “Alhaji grabbed the guard’s mouth and sliced his neck with his bayonet. He did the same to a few more guards. By he had made one mistake: he didn’t hide the bodies of those he had successfully killed. I was enjoying his maneuver when one of the guards, upon returning to his post, saw the body of his colleague and began running back to tell the others. I couldn’t let him do that, so I shot him with my G3 and quickly released two RPGs among the gunmen” (Beah 143). This was the “normal life” for these boys day in day out. This flashback occurs while they are at the rehabilitation center as an example of what his life used to be and now it seems so much more “relaxed”. Adjusting from a life of fighting on the front lines, most of the time for to stay alive, to being put into a rehabilitation center to become un-brainwashed has taken its toll. Ishmael went from a life in the army to the center, he was pushed into a polar opposite life and it doesn’t feel like it belongs to him.
Pathos refers to the ability to evoke emotion. This chapter along with this entire book definitely brings forth emotions, especially when Ishmael’s challenging transition comes to play. “It was infuriating to be told what to do by civilians. Their voices, even when they called us for breakfast, enraged me so much that I would punch the wall, my locker, or anything that I was standing next to. A few days earlier, we could have decided whether they would live or die” (Beah 138). Ishmael Beah went from being a junior lieutenant to just another boy. These boys were used to being able to get what they wanted for the most part and now they are being told what to do by people, who to them, have no authority what so ever. In the military there is a hierarchy if you will, a ranking, of who is in charge and in what order and the boys were a part of that hierarchy but not anymore. These boys do not like being ordered around which only adds to the challenge of transitioning between lives. “’We cannot allow a civilian to talk to us like that,’ someone said, and we all shouted in agreement and rushed at Poppay. We unleashed blows on him. One of the boys stabbed his foot and he fell down. He put his hands over his head as we kicked him relentlessly and left him lying on the floor bleeding and unconscious” (Beah 140). This is yet another example of the transition that was harder than it was thought to be. All one man had to do to get all of these kids back into army mode was to tell them that they couldn’t get new mattresses and they unleashed all of their pent up fury on him. The man could not even defend himself because there were more boys than he could have handled on his own. Both of these instances evoke emotion because they help unleash an anger inside of the reader about these boys being, “…dangerous and brainwashed to kill” (Beah 135). The rebels and the army both brainwashed their soldiers and neither side of the boys were coping with any ease. They were fighting each other in the same war but it seems that the army and the rebels were the exact same except for what side of the war they were on.
Superb!
DeleteCaleb Limb
ReplyDeleteMrs. Corolewski
Honors English 10
20 November 2013
The only way Ishmael can become normal again is by remembering what is was like to be a child. He doesn’t make any progress when he thinks about the things he did during the war. In rehabilitation he doesn't make any progress until he is able to remember before the war.
He starts to make way in his treatment when he is introduced to rap tapes. He is able to avoid bad dreams by thinking about rap “I had not slept well for months now, and so far I had been able to avoid my nightmares by busying myself day and night with listening to and writing the lyrics of Bob Marley’s songs” (Beah 164). The rap music is able to console him as it reminds him of his childhood.
Another thing that helps him remember is the moon. He watches the moon and describes memories to Esther. She likes this. They sit there describing shapes like Ishmael did when he was a boy (Beah 166). These memories remind him of what it is like to be normal. The moon was the symbol of hope in his journey and seeing it reminds him of the hope he had.
These memories of his childhood aid in returning Ishmael to a normal state. He is able to remember what it was like before to war and this helps him become more like that after the war. He is finally able to find peace.
Caleb, you do not have a thesis, nor do you prove anything, you merely re-tell.
DeleteAnna Boyd 2A - Chapter 8
ReplyDeleteEvery year we pass the anniversary of the day we will die. Simple words like this can bring the most horrifying thoughts to mind. Every single person on the earth experiences fear. Fear that can drive us to move forward or fear that can force us into backing down. Another thing that goes along with fear is thought. Without thought there would be no fear. Ishmael Beah experiences fear like none you could imagine. In his book he uses many things to help show his reader just how scary his life was and how his thoughts and fears drove him to go on.
Ishmael’s fears are greater than we could ever imagine, in chapter 8 he uses personification to express his fear. “Even the air seemed to want to attack me and break my neck” (49). Ishmael gives human characteristics to an object that is really abundant in order to get his point across. He chose something as simple as air, which is all around you. And the air is not just blowing. It wants to attack him and to break his neck. Another time he uses personification he uses in to help create the setting. “I resisted thinking by listening to the sound of the sound of the forest as songs of birds collided with the shouting of monkeys and the cackle of baboons” (52). When he says that the birds have a song, rather than just that the birds chirp, it has a better impact. Also with the cackling baboons and shouting monkeys. If you close your eyes you can almost hear the noises.
When thinking about fear, your mind wanders to places you never guessed your thoughts could take you. The next literary device that Ishmael uses is flashbacks. Flashbacks make Ishmael’s thoughts more clear. “My grandmother once told me a story …” (53). This quotation tells the reader just how much Ishmael misses his family and his old life. He can’t stop thinking about his family and the way things used to be. “I thought about when Junior and I had visited Kabati and would take walks with grandfather…” (51). Ishmaels fear and loneliness force him to think about his past more seriously. He doesn’t want to keep living life the way it is. He is very lonely and scared of what will happen next.
There are many ways that Ishmael uses to make his fear and thoughts felt by the reader. In order to really grab a reader and hold there attention you must consider how or what you can do in order for them to feel what you do. A good writer can make his readers feel, see, taste touch what we does. Ishmael uses both personification and flashbacks in order for his reader to be in his shoes.
Great post Anna, however you do not have include the literary devices you are analyzing in your thesis.
DeleteMackenzie Willis
ReplyDeleteCorolewski
Honors English 10 4B
20 November 2013
Throughout history, oral traditions have been crucial in countless cultures. Civilizations in the earliest times only had oral traditions to rely on because written communication was not developed yet. In the narrative, “A Long Way Gone”, Ishmael Beah utilizes many literary techniques. In narratives, literary techniques are hard to distinguish, because the stories actually happened and are not altered for dramatic effect. In chapter ten, Ishmael capitalizes on the use of telling traditions and adding human characteristics to nature in order to familiarize the reader with his culture shift.
Ishmael and his friends discuss stories and personal traditions from when they were young boys. The use of the Spider Bra account gives the reader a look into the boys’ pre-War life (74). It is mentioned that some of the boys know the same story, just different versions of it. The main concept of the Spider Bra, the underlined theme in all, is the reason why a spider’s waist is so thin. Ishmael also includes his name-giving ceremony; this ceremony was very important to his culture (76). The importance of the ceremony was that “he had become a member of the community and was now owned and cared for by all” (77). This sense of community can be seen in Spider Bra as well. As mentioned in Ishmael’s narrative, the Spider Bra almost starved to death because the community was so targeted on him getting food. Chapter ten gives the reader a good insight into the importance of traditions in Ishmael’s life.
Along with traditions, a common technique Ishmael uses in chapter ten is personification. Ishmael gave nature elements human characteristics. On page 69, Ishmael described that the “clouds kept trying to cover the moon”. This excerpt paints a picture in the reader’s head giving the clouds human characteristics of intentionally blocking the moon’s light. This same technique is used on page 80 when Ishmael portrays that the stars would tell him stories now. The horrid part about the description is that instead of hearing anecdotes and parables from his grandmother and other family members, Ishmael now has to imagine the stories for himself. With the addition to human traits to the nature in “A Long Way Gone”, the relationship between the reader and Ishmael becomes stronger. The bond is stronger because it enhances the reader’s mental picture of the setting Ishmael is submerged in. Humans can understand things better if they have experienced it themselves; when Ishmael applies common actions humans use on a daily basis to describe nature, it is easier to capture the essence of the object. With that said, personification is a technique that humans can understand most and Ishmael uses it perfectly to help the reader grasp the entirety of his situation.
From giving the reader examples of common traditions to the representation of nature as a human, Ishmael captures the core of his story to better the understanding of his change in culture and lifestyle. Chapter ten helps clarify the importance of traditions and nature in Ishmael Beah’s narrative, “A Long Way Gone”.
Wow! Excellent tie-in to oral storytelling, which is very predominent in Africa. Great analysis. :)
DeleteErik Pedroza
ReplyDeleteMrs. Coreleswski
Honors English (4A)
Booommm!!!! Bababababababa (sounds of gunfire)!!! Imagine being a child when very suddenly your entire world is flipped upside down by the burning and total annihilation of everything you love. This seems impossible in today’s world, right? There are international organizations to stop these kind of things? Guess what? That’s wrong, these organizations cannot stop all the wrong of the world. Unfortunately, this is a reality to some hundreds of thousands of children under the age of 18, serving in foreign governments or rebel groups (Human Rights Watch). Murder, massacres, and rape have all, not just become a reality, but have become daily life for these kids. In the autobiography titled “A Long Way Gone,” the author, Ismael Beah, has at some point encountered these atrocities by man, and has himself become a part of this never ending cycle of abuse. Ismael Beah describes his personal, yet heartfelt story using powerful literary devices such as “Repetition” and “Foreshadowing.”
In this story “A Long Way Gone,” Ismael Beah uses the literary device of “Repetition.” Repetition is very effective psychologically, both on the child soldiers in the story, but also to reader as the words of hatred being repeated over and over again, are not only getting glued to the characters in the story but also to the reader. This method of repetition was used by the lieutenants of the army to get an emotional response out of the children, by fueling their already burning fire of hatred. “Over and over again in our training he would say the same sentence: visualize the enemy and the rebels who killed your parents, your family, and those who are responsible for everything that has happened to you” (Beah 112). This method of repetition by the lieutenants is nothing short of brainwashing and manipulation, for their personal gain on the battlefield. This is not a justified action but was a literary device used to create a personal connection between the reader and the main character of the story.
This was not the only literary device, able to create a personal connection between the reader and the main character. The literary device of “Foreshadowing” is also effectively used in the book, and was most essential because of the fact that whenever used, created a huge sense of dread within the character which would transfer to the reader. Whenever foreshadowing was used one could tell that something terrible was going to happen creating both suspense and dread when reading the story. “But it is not just a day, it is a strange one. I don’t feel too good about it,” Musa said. “Maybe we shouldn’t eat this bird.” (Beah 81). If a line from the text such as this was brought up, the reader would know something terrible would happen. In this case after this foreshadowed event was told, one of their good friends Saidu was killed by illness. Foreshadowing was very effective in the text, by creating a sense of fear and dread within the reader, causing, in my opinion, a close personal connection from the reader to the main character, making this a very effective literary device.
These two literary devices were both brilliantly used in this story, by creating a deep, heart-felt connection with the characters going through this nightmare and by invoking emotions such as dread and sadness. The uses of these devices were effectively used by Ismael Beah and allowed for ultimately his messages and experiences to be forever in the thoughts of his readers mind, so that it could create, his ultimate goal, which was awareness for his cause.
Bravo!
DeleteMadison Baker
ReplyDeleteMrs. Corolewski
English 4A
20 November 2013
Ishmael Beah illustrates a stunning example of personal transformation through grueling experiences during his childhood and teenage years in his autobiography, A Long Way Gone. In chapter eight, literary devices such as motif and figurative language are successfully used to recreate the story accurately in the readers mind, whilst making it more vivid and real.
Several motifs are explored throughout chapter eight, but two of the most evident are running and Ismael's need for social interaction. “Running,” both figuratively and literally, is also a theme which weaves itself through the entire book, but specifically in this chapter. Here Ishmael finds himself running from the rebels to safety, from his thoughts, fear, violence, loneliness, and even dangerous animals. He spends nearly all of his time "running" in some way. Conveying his loneliness and fear of thought, he says, “…I tried to stop myself from thinking, but nothing seemed to work. I decided to just ignore every thought that came to my head, because it brought too much sadness” (Beah 52).The purpose of this is to develop his character by emphasizing his ability to feel, but the overall purpose of this rather broad motif is to show relationships between Ishmael and his surroundings and to make all of Ishmael’s fears very real and obvious to the reader. Without it, the entire story would be less impactful, because Ishmael's fears would be less prevalent, decreasing the sympathy between the reader and Ishmael.
By running from his thoughts, Ishmael tries to escape the grief due to the loss of his family, showing his need for social interaction and love, another motif. He shows this not only by thinking (or avoiding to think) about his family and expressing loneliness, but also by relating a flashback of a story his grandmother shared. Although the story, a myth about a hunter and wild pigs, related to his immediate situation where pigs were chasing him, the fact that it was his grandmother’s story signifies the amount of time he spent thinking about his family, the love he had for her. The same thing occurs a few pages later, when he refers to his grandfather and father (Beah 54). He also depends on a quote from his father to “keep [him] moving when [he] didn’t know where [he] was going” (54). Ishmael frankly stated that while living in the forest, the hardest part was being lonely, even though each day was a struggle for survival (52). This obvious love Ishmael has for people shows his humanity and innocence after all the bloodshed he has seen, giving the reader an emotional tie to him.
Though motifs connect the reader to Ishmael and his story, the use of figurative language intensifies the writing, making his experience more realistic, the violence more gruesome (yet truthful), and the story as a whole more enjoyable. Chapter eight begins with an abundance of imagery to describe the bodies and blood he saw. Ishmael also uses personification when he says “Even the air seemed to want to attack me and break my neck” (Beah 49). Many adjectives and more imagery and personification is used especially at this part of the story, when Ishmael is in the jungle, surrounded by sights, sounds, and tastes. Without all this, it would certainly be very difficult to satisfactorily imagine the situation, it would be dull and boring. Beah definitely uses to words to his advantage, painting a picture in the readers mind and catching their attention, leaving them fully satisfied.
Excellent analysis, Madi! :)
DeleteWrem, Tristan
ReplyDeleteNo matter who you are, where you live, or how old you are, there is one thing that is guaranteed to happen to you. That one thing some people think about constantly, others continue through their day without thinking about it. That single thing that everybody shares is death. The former child soldier, Ishmael Beah, writes about his own near experiences with death in his book “A Long Way Gone”. Ishmael constantly uses symbols and foreshadowing to show how Death tries to reach out to embrace him.
Ishmael does perish in a figurative sense. When he “volunteers” to become a soldier, Ishmael is carrying the last connection to his life before the war, his rap cassettes. Being forced to change into army uniforms, all of his clothes, with the cassettes in them, are thrown into a fire to free him of his past life(Beah 110). Death is trying to break Ishmael by cutting all ties to his past. If Ishmael didn’t accept that he couldn’t return to his past, he would not have made it through the rest of that day. Even is the cassettes hadn’t been burned, the desperate link Ishmael had to his past with them would have led to Death exploiting the weakness a different way.
Death has many symbols to represent it, and Ishmael uses one of more common ones to foreshadow one of his friends passing. After having no food for sustenance, Ishmael and his friends are willing to eat anything. Not dead but unable to fly, a raven falls out of the sky. Even after being warned not to eat it by Musa, the group eats the raven(Beah 81). The forest goes quiet after the raven is eaten foreshadowing something bad is going to happen. Two days after eating the raven Saidu dies. Death reached out not only to Saidu with the raven, but the entire group. It tempted the group with food and they all ate it. Giving the group the choice to risk eating the bird, or risk getting to the next village before before their bodies collapse from starvation, Death showed itself to each person in the group.
Everything meets Death one way or another. The person might be met with a symbol or they ignore signs of foreshadowing, everyone loses their life in the end. “A Long Way Gone” shows many different ways. Ishmael becomes a stronger person each time Death tries to give Ishmael an untimely end.
Great opening Tristan. :)
DeleteI would have liked you to continue your analysis by adding more depth.
***STUDENTS!!!***
ReplyDeleteThere are many other literary devices used by Ishmael to weave his story. We talked often about foreshadowing. If you are posting after my comment, please do NOT discuss foreshadowing. Extend yourself, think of other techniques Ishmael uses.
Thank you!
Sarah Kehr, 2B
ReplyDeleteCrushing darkness, threatening to choke off breath is all around, as far as the eye can see. No way out can be seen, which is why Ishmael Beah uses a variety of literary devices to show the amount of loneliness he feels while trapped in the jungle. Throughout chapter 8, Ishmael uses flashbacks, fables, and many other literary devices to set moods, and to build suspense.
Ishmael becomes trapped in the jungle while running from the rebel soldiers, and he is trapped for 1 month before finding his way out. During his sojourn in the jungle, Ishmael has a flashback to his grandfather teaching him the different medicinal uses of various plants found throughout the area. (Beah 51). Ishmael searches for an herb that will cure the body of a poison, but he cannot find the herb. Ishmael so eloquently sets the mood because it leaves the reader to conclude that Ishmael has made a fatal mistake eating an unknown fruit. A sense of danger, and apprehension fills the reader after Ishmael cannot find the herb. Another example of using flashbacks to set the mood is when Ishmael remembers that his father told him that "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). This is an example of a flashback setting the mood because Ishmael describes this memory as motivation, so the reader is left to feel the same desire for Ishmael to continue on his journey. The reader can be assured that Ishmael has something good left in his future, and that can bring an atmosphere of peace, and tranquility, knowing that Ishmael has more to live for than this mindless chaotic world he is in now. Flashbacks evoke the emotions of the author, and a talented author can make the reader feel those same emotions, which is what Beah does throughout the novel.
Another example of a literary device that Beah uses is building suspense. Whilst in the jungle, Ishmael remembers a fable that his grandmother told him about wild pigs. A notorious hunter who pursued wild pigs had found a magical plant that would turn him from pig to human. One day, the wild pigs saw him doing this, and trampled all of the magical plants. Once the hunter attempted to return to his human form, the wild pigs trampled him, and becoming distrustful of humans ever since. (Beah 53-54). Now that the reader has the knowledge of this fable, they can either feel worried for Ishmael, or amused by the fable. However, the underlying goal of the fable is to build suspense, showing that the wild pigs have no trust in humans, thus can and will trample or gore Ishmael if given the opportunity. Both of these literary devices are used to show potential danger to Ishmael, and how Ishmael must use his wits and common knowledge to conquer these obstacles.
Ultimately, Ishmael must rely on himself throughout the many dangers he faces while traveling. Some of what he faces is biological warfare; who knows what that fruit could have done to him? He also faces natural perils, such as the wild pigs who threatened his life. While his body could have fought the attacks the fruit could have brought on, sometimes it is best to run when you know you are beaten. He must think the situation out carefully, and plan ahead as best he can. Ishmael continues to surprise, shock, and humor us with his praxis of literary devices.
Simply outstanding!
DeleteJessi Vaughn
ReplyDeleteMrs. Corolewski
English 10/1A
November 20, 2013
Along Way Gone memoirs of a Boy Soldier
In, Along Way Gone Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah, his town is taken over by rebels and every town he comes to. Ishmael and his friends are on journey to get away from the rebels. Ishmael and his friends get to a government army camp in a village that the government army is protecting. When Ishmael and his friends are in the camp they go into training for war on the rebels. So much builds up in their journey, emotion builds up and the suspense also does.
Ishmael’s journey has so much emotion when his family and friends die it ends building so much of the emotion. Ishmael loves his friends and family that he would give anything for them. When Ishmael and his family get separated the first time the rebels invaded the village. Ishmael and his friends build emotion. When they go to war they lie down and try not to get shot or even have an RPG land on them or any of their crew. "An RPG had tossed his tiny body off the ground and he had landed on a tree stump. He wiggled his legs as his cry gradually came to an end." (Beah 118) When Ishmael’s friend gets hit by an RPG and gets blown to pieces, he then realizes that this is not a game and that it is real life. Ishmael is so close to his friends and family that when each of them dies he tries not to shed tears but when he does, he cries in secret.
Ishmael and his government army family are going to war with the rebels. They start to pack their backpacks and side packs full of ammo and magazines or clips. They start to walk and as they get closer the Lieutenant had them all get down and look through their scopes to see the targets or the rebels. They held their guns for comfort and to make them feel safer if they had something there to hold like maybe their mother’s once did. “The top of my eyes began to ache and the pain slowly rose up to my head” (Beah 117) Ishmael feels this pain because he has never shot someone before and he is very anxious, but as they wait for the rebels to come out of the swamp, the soldiers gets restless because they are waiting on the rebels and the Lieutenant knows that they are in there, but there was so much stillness that Ishmael couldn’t acquire it anymore. (Beah 117) Ishmael just wants to go home and see his family but he can’t, because they died before they got to the village before the government army got the boys. Finally the motionlessness left them with the shots of the AK 47’s and RPG’s and the commands that rang out. The suspense was killing them, but as soon as the command was given to fire the RPG’s first round, the boys and men got to start to kill the rebels.
These ways of writing that Ishmael uses helps people understand how much emotion a child can have and how fast the suspense builds up in their live. When Ishmael and his friends start this journey many of them die. Ishmael’s emotions to this are showed throughout the book and life in general. The emotions that Ishmael shares with the world from his book are incredibly impacting too many people. The suspense that Ishmael brings is that many people read a book and then think “Oh well that was cool” or even “What did I even read, and why?” not in this autobiography that Ishmael does. They will walk about thinking that it was extremely emotional and very suspenseful.
Jessi, you do a good job pointing out the emotional turmoil. However, you do not have a thesis, nor did you point out two specify literary devices.
DeleteMadison Groom
ReplyDelete2B Honors English
Corolewski
21 November 2013
In this day in age the slightest slip in schedule or deviation from a routine is viewed as a major in convenience, but for the child living in a world torn apart by war and fear of capture there is no such thing as a normal routine. Many of these children, who are in places where the threat of being forced into serving in an army is a daily reality, no longer have any structure to their lives. The only day to day thing that is for certain is if they stay still the rebels might catch them so they must run. Ishmael displays the continuous struggle for life as he is continuously running from the rebels and searching for somewhere where the rebel’s hands can no longer stretch out and hurt him. The use of allegory and personification are used throughout Ishmael’s writing as tools to represent what he was experiencing during that period of time in his life.
Crumbling under the horrors that he has experienced, Ishmael gladly clings to anything that shows a glimmer of stability or routine. Ishmael is able to find a routine in his new life as a soldier for the government army and he quickly takes to it. Finding that there is some comfort in having stability and certainty in his life once again, after running towards survival, he begins to actually live again. This stability that he finds within the government army does not come without a sacrifice of who he was morally however. The leaders of the army manipulate the boys emotions in order to force them lose the moral ideals that they had about the war and their values on other’s lives. “When we conversed with each other, we talked only about the war movies and how impressed we were with the way either the lieutenant, the corporal, or one of us had killed someone” (Beah 124). Ishmael no longer thought of killing people as a devastating or depressing event but something that was almost similar to a sport he and his friends all played with each other.
As his grip on the government army in order to find stability tightens, his hold on his passed memories began to loosen and become something that he no longer felt he needed to lean on in order to help pull him through. This transition over from the feeling of only being identifiable through the remembrance of his family and his new found identity as a child soldier reveals just how much he now feels the leaders of the army and the other members are truly something like family to him. During this transition he finds himself lying in his tent one night when he describes a humming sound that comes from the tree and reminds him of the song he once sang as a child. He listened but then fired his gun in order to make the humming noise stop (Beah 125). Ishmael demonstrates that he no longer wants the reminder of his past life or the memories of it but wants his new life to be a new beginning for him where he is able to find a source of joy and purpose.
Climbing out this pit Ishmael struggles towards any source of normalcy he can find. Holding tight to this source of routine he slowly is able to find a new identity as a warrior who has overcome horrors and is not afraid to fight and live. With this struggle to something that is consistent he makes moral sacrifices that leave him changed and callused as a person. He finds that routine and family are the most important things in his life and so he changes and becomes what his new family and their routine requires of him. Just longing for somewhere in which he can find true happiness and joy away from the shadows that haunt his past life.
Good post Madi. Don't forget to mention the novel's title in your introductory paragraph.
DeleteHunter Klemetson
ReplyDeleteIshmael Beah uses a many different literary devices in A Long Way Gone. In chapter six, Ishael uses imagery to set the mood and foreshadowing to show you a glimpse of what might happen in the future.
Ishmael helps you visualize the atmosphere of chapter six by using imagery. Ishmael described as they slowly “walked on a path through a thick forest. The trees hesitantly swayed with the quiet wind. The sky looked as if it was filled with smoke, endless gray smoke that made the sun dull” (Beah 39). By describing the forest and the weather in this way, Ishmael makes you imagine a sad scene. If he said that they walked through a large forest and the sky filled with puffy clouds, it doesn’t go with the theme of the book. A Long Way Gone isn’t about unicorns and rainbows; it’s about Ishmael’s journey as a child soldier in a war. People can easily imagine that that is what this book is about since he compares the clouds to smoke filling the sky.
At the end of chapter six, Ishmael writes, “It was during that attack in the village of Kamator that my friends and I separated. It was the last time I saw Junior, my older brother” (Beah 43). This example of foreshadowing warns the reader that Junior might die later on in the book. When Ishmael learns what village his family is in, you know that he won’t see them. Foreshadowing leaves you with a feeling of suspense: What is going to happen?
Obviously, Ishmael uses more than just two literary elements in A Long Way Gone. However, imagery and foreshadowing are the two most prevalent, and are used expertly to help you imagine the scenes and keep reading on.
Good job Hunter.
DeleteAmanda Hawks
ReplyDeleteHonor English 2B
Corolewski
21 November 2013
“A coward dies a thousand times before his death.” Author Ishmael Beah once used this Shakespearean quote in his novel A Long Way Gone. In the 1990’s he was travelling through Sierra Leone during the war between rebels and his government. Ishmael used this quote soon after his friend Saidu died, a crisis that would affect him through the extent of the novel. However, this wasn’t the only crisis he went through. Ishmael Beah was able to show the reader his experiences and emotion, through many literary devices such as repetition and flashback.
Ishmael was able to use repetition to convey specific meanings and emotion. In chapter 10, after Saidu’s death he often uses the phrase “he left us” (86). This phrase conveys the emotion of betrayal and abandonment. It implies that Saidu had personally affronted them by dying, as though it were intentional. The repetition of the phrase, reestablishes that emotion. After Saidu’s death, as Ishmael joins the rebel army he uses the same type of repetition to institute a disconnect he has to the events around him. He uses the same sentence starter, over and over again, as in “that evening”, “that afternoon”, and “that night” (112). The constant use of the word “that” shows the reader that Ishmael is feeling disconnected to the events around him.
Ishmael is also able to use flashback to give the reader a more clairvoyant view of the events happening around him. In chapter 2 Ishmael takes a break from the telling of his war stories to instead talk about the effect the war had on him in hindsight. He tells us of the mental troubles that the war has given him, as well as the flashbacks that he often has (17). This view establishes the effects the war had on his character. Ishmael begins to use flashbacks again, as a major literary element, in chapter 16. At one point Ishmael is speaking about a lieutenant, which fires up the thought that he was once a lieutenant as well (142). He transitions into a flashback, about his role as a leader. The event that triggers the flashback, which in this case is the lieutenant, helps the reader identify the emotions behind it. This flashback tells us that speaking of leadership, gives Ishmael flashbacks to when he played the role of a leader. It also allows Ishmael to tell about the things he did, while he is in a state of awarness. During the time these events were happening to him, he was on drugs, taking away from his perception of the situation. If he had told it in sequential order, without an aware conscious behind it, he may have missed critical and poignant details. The flashback gives the reader the consciousness needed to properly understand the experiences Ishmael went through in the war.
From his life in the past compared to his life in the present, as well the constant repetition of specific words or phrases, author Ishmael Beah was able to efficiently tell the reader about the emotions and experiences he went through in Sierra Leone.
Very well-written and insightful.
DeleteMiranda Nelson
ReplyDeletePeriod 2A
When reading a story most people enjoy reading something that has strong literary elements to help move the story along, A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, does this perfectly. When using strong literary devices, Beah is able to captivate your mind and leave you on the edge of your seat and in a state of utter disbelief. With each literary device Beah uses, he can convey a specific mood depending on the theme of the chapter, in chapter eight Beah uses both imagery and metaphors to give the reader a sense of nauseating pity and deep unease for the war.
With each chapter, Beah brings you new horrors of his life, these repulsive images are often best described through imagery that gives you a sickening mood of despair. In chapter eight he describes how he has passed towns filled with “...dead bodies… scattered like leaves after a storm”, heads cut off, smashed in with bricks, and “...rivers filled with so much blood that the water had ceased flowing” (Beah 49). These devastating images are remarkably specific as Beah describes the gore he has seen with such profound accuracy that it is impossible for someone not to be given a sense of death in their heart. Such an impacting start sets the mood of the whole chapter with despair and a sense of pity for someone scarred so young. Possibly the mood of the chapter may have been corrupted if not for the horrific imagery given by Beah.
As someone reads this heartbreaking book, they come to understand how twisted the war in Sierra Leone really is, this understanding gives the reader great unease that is triggered by a simple metaphor. On page 53 of A Long Way Gone, Beah has to hide and run away from wild pigs, which triggers a memory of a story his grandmother told him. It’s about a hunter who used magic to become a pig and then gain the other wild pigs trust, later he would eat a magic plant and to turn back into a human and kill all the pigs. The hunter did this for a while, but one pig saw him transform, so the pigs destroyed all of the magic plants and the next time he tried to pull his trick the pigs tore the hunter to pieces. After that, the pigs would never trust a human again (Beah 53). Though it is not obvious, Beah placed this story here for a reason, it is a metaphor for the rebels and the innocent people they are attacking. The towns people once misplaced the rebels trust, after this the rebels will never trust them again and will always be in a never ending battle between who they think is wrong, and who is innocent. This becomes clear in the latter part of the book but it gives the a deeper understanding of what the rebels think and what is stake and in return also a feeling of uneasiness as the reader comes to understand that this war will not end soon, or easily.
A Long Way Gone, tortures the reader with its unbelievable use of literary devices. Had Beah not used imagery and metaphors, chapter 8’s mood might not had left the reader feeling so loathsome and sick with such a sense of regret but also relief that at least they might be in a safer world. The mood of the book and it’s importance is something that should be shown to the whole world, not only because of the amazing writing, but also because of the important message it brings.
Excellent and very thoughtful.
DeleteAlicia Fong, 2B
ReplyDeleteIn order for an author to write a great and meaningful novel, they would use special writing techniques to create suspense. Literary devices are used to make pieces of writing more entertaining and intriguing for the reader. In the book A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, he tells his story by using many writing techniques to grab the reader’s attention and add more tension to the story. In chapter 8, Ishmael describes the tragic images he saw by using a comparison to another everyday life scenario and a striking short story.
Ishmael uses similes throughout his writing to make a comparison between two unlike things such as “dead bodies on the ground like leaves everywhere after a storm” (Beah 49). He uses this literary device to describe what he saw during the war to something most people haven’t seen before. For example, most people haven’t been to war but everyone has played a game similar to war very much like fighting. No one has really seen what Ishmael has seen unless they were a child soldier or in the army so in order for people to understand Ishmael, he would give examples in the form of a simile. Similes are used often in everyday life and can be used in: songs, movies, shows etc. Many people even use similes while talking to one another to make the conversation more interesting and fun. Therefore, similes make writing more fascinating to read, write, and say.
Personal stories are always fun to listen to no matter what age a person is. Ishmael uses a lot of life experiences and memories in his book and this type of writing is called an anecdote. Ishmael relates his current thoughts, in the book, to memories he’s had with his family when they weren’t yet separated He is motivated by words his father used to say to 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” (54). This saying has Ishmael determined to keep going and to not give up. Ishmael put this quote in his book to inspire the reader by the words of his father.
The most important elements of a book are the creative writing skills. Without these skills, a book wouldn’t be worth reading if there was nothing that engages the reader. Ishmael uses literary devices multiple times in his work. He describes his childhood as happy and fun but after the war struck, he is mentally paralyzed by fear. He explains his rough past in a detailed and descriptive way that pulls the reader to the book. Ishmael shares his captivating story through this incredible book with a very great moral lesson to be learned about life. Life is worth living and it shouldn’t be taken for granted no matter what happens. Be grateful for what you have before it’s gone.
Great analysis, Alicia. Don't forget to name the literary devices you are analyzing in your thesis.
DeleteIn chapter 14 of “A Long Way Gone” there are many changes going on with Ishmael. The thing he once despised has now become part of his everyday life. It has changed him physically and mentally. Some of the thoughts he had before, he doesn’t get them anymore because of what he is doing now, being a child soldier. Ishmael goes and fights and no longer despises what he once thought he’d never be a part of.
ReplyDeleteIshmael does what he thought he’d never do. Ishmael used to be afraid of the soldiers and what they would do to him. Now he is out with them killing people and not even worrying about it. There are examples of how Ishmael has changed, it says “…I grabbed the man’s head and slit his throat in one fluid motion. His Adam’s apple made way for the sharp knife and I turned the bayonet on its zigzag edge as I brought it out” (125). Earlier in the book he had said “Every time people come at us with the intention of killing us, I close my eyes and wit for death. Even though I am still alive, I feel like every time I accept death, part of me dies” (70). That is an important change throughout four chapters. Ishmael changes tremendously in these days from being a child soldier to smoking and taking pills to get energy to fight because fighting is the most important thing.
In the end, it is easy to tell there are things in Ishmael’s life that affect what he does. There are many changes physically throughout but also mentally. In this chapter especially, it is mental changes. He is provided with all the means he needs but his mental state is completely different from before.
You have good points here Hailey, however, what literary devices are you analyzing?
DeleteNathan Anderson
ReplyDeletePer 1B
In the book “A Long Way Gone”, author Ishmael Beah uses literary elements to enhance understanding, as well as add drama to situations. English was not Ishmael's first language due to the fact that he was born in Sierra Leone, but he still manages to effectively use these literary elements. Though he uses many literary elements in his writing, the two most often used as well as the most important are irony and simile.
Irony is used numerous times in this story, though not in the way a lot of people are used to. Most think irony is supposed to be funny, but when it is use in “A Long Way Gone” it is more tragic than anything. “Your forehead use to glow naturally when you were just a child. Your parents and I used to discuss how unusual that was. We thought it was because you were happy all the time. Your mother said you even smiled when you slept... it isn't shining anymore” (pg. 92). This is situational irony because Gasemu remembers that when Ishmael was a kid he seemed to always be happy, but with everything he is going through since the war began, he has been anything but. The last time Ishmael could ever really be happy was before the war hit his town when he would play with his friends and he knew that his family was alright. This form irony really makes a reader sympathize with Ishmael because it is a reminder of the kid of kid he was before he was forced to become a mature faster than anyone should have to. Another example of irony is when Gasemu starts talking about Ishmael's family and says “Your parents and brothers will be happy to see you. They have been talking about you everyday praying for your safety” (pg. 92). This situational irony is even more tragic than the last because later in the chapter the village is destroyed and Ishmael never gets to see his family. Not only is it sad that Ishmael never sees his family, but the situation is almost made worse by Gasemu, telling Ishmael that family was thinking of him. It makes him excited to see them and instils hope in him once again, only for that hope to be destroyed along with the village his family was taking refuge in.
Though irony is used a lot, the literary element of simile is used even more throughout the story. “When I got to the village, it was completely on fire and bullet shells covered the ground like mango leaves in the morning” (pg 93). Ishmael's use use of this simile really makes it easy to picture what he is looking at, there being so many bullets that they cover the ground like leaves. Whether this is an exaggeration (though it probably wasn't) it makes the scene easier to picture in one's mind which in turn makes the book easier to understand. “I was behind Alhaji, who parted the bushes like a diver heading to the surface for air” (pg. 97). This simile makes it very easy to picture how Alhaji was running through the bushes trying to escape. A diver would do the same thing when he is trying to swim up from under water and it is a good connection that a lot of people might not think of. Not only does Ishmael's use of simile make it easier to understand what is going on, but it also makes the story more entertaining to read. Though he is simply recounting the story of his life, he makes it an interesting piece of literature to read because of his descriptions using elements such as similes.
Ishmael Beah is a great writer because of his plethora of writing tools and ability to make his own life story a book that everyone ought to read. His use use of simile and the overall situational irony of his life make this book somber, yet captivating to read.
Great job! Love your vocabulary. :) Check your citations!!!
DeleteEmanuel Montanez
ReplyDeleteMrs. Corolewsi
21 November 2013
Honors English 10
4B
A Long Way Gone Literacy Device Assignment
Imagine being desensitized, having everything taken away from you, and your most prized possession has been just thrown into a blazing fire right in front of you, and finally having one rule for yourself, kill or to be killed. In Chapter 12 Ishmael uses amazing literary devices which are emotion and to create a incredible mood which makes the reader feel like they are in the setting and are in Ishmael's own shoes.
The emotion is so powerful through out the entire book but I feel it is most powerful in Chapter 12, where Ishmael is changing into the government's clothes and one of the soldiers throw his old pants, full of cassettes, into a blazing fire right in front of him (Beah 110). Those rap cassettes were the only and last prized possession Ishmael had for him and his past. Also, it says Ishmael almost started to cry because he realizes that there is no turning back now and his past, physically, is gone from him (Beah 110). Finally as a reader this moment is so powerful on the reader too because, those rap cassettes were not only Ishmael's past and cassettes, they were Ishmael's talent and hobby that him and his friends did but now has permanently burned a mark on Ishmael that he knows he can never go back to those days.
A final literary device used in Ishmael's autobiography composition is mood, another huge factor that is ran through out the whole book. For example, when Ishmael's corporal screams "Is that how you stab someone who had killed your family?" (Beah 112). This shows that high ranked military soldiers want these little boys to be in the mind zone of that everything is the rebels fault and that is why they are where they are in their life so far. To the readers this sounds very inhumane to make little boys to be in a mind set of killing other people so viciously. But later proves that it is slowly working, for example when Ishmael thinks: "I imagined capturing several rebels at once, locking them inside a house, sprinkling gasoline on it, and tossing a match. We watch it burn and i laugh." (Beah 113). Very horrifying for the reader to realize that this terrible method is working on little boys such as Ishmael and his friends and can corrupt even the nicest and innocent little boys into vicious killing soldiers.
In conclusion, no one could set such a strong emotion and such a violent and emotional tone for the reader as Ishmael could. It proves to the reader that if a person is desperate enough for protection and a feeling of happiness it can corrupt a innocent boy such as Ishmael and his friend and turn them into killer soliders and serve their government at any cost.
Well-written Emaunel.
DeleteSteven Welborn
ReplyDeleteMrs. Corolewski
1B Hon Eng 10
11/21/13
In times of war, something as simple as a hug from a loved one is enough to feel better. Ishmael can’t get even that. Ishmael needs love and affection from his family to battle the pain that the RUF and the Government army have caused.
Even though the Government army and the RUF are on different sides of the war, they are both cruel to the people they are obligated to protect. On page 79 and 80, the boys are describing what happened the first time they felt the first touch of the war. In Alaji’s town everyone fled. In Kanei’s town, many people ran to the river, only to either drown or get shot. In Jumah’s and Moriba’s town, their house was shot with an RPG and many were shot. Saidu’s town was attacked and his sisters were raped and his parents beaten. The men who did this were the Rebels. The Rebels were the ones claiming to give more freedom to the citizens of Sierra Leone but they attack cities, killing citizens and taking the children to be slaves. The ones they enslave are drugged and brainwashed into thinking that what they are doing will lead to the benefit of the people. The Government army isn’t much better. They feed their soldiers drugs, the motive to murder or be murdered, and the arms and ammunition to do so. The only difference between the two sides is exactly that, they are on different sides. On page 116, Ishmael describes the first time he and his friends were sent to battle. “A young soldier…shadows on the ground.” (Pg.116) This quote clearly shows the amount of respect that flows through relationship of the soldiers and the army they fight for. With misguided directions, the boys are pushed into fighting and killing, knowing they could die. They are stripped of their morals and only have 3 codes that they live by: listen to the leaders, be fierce, and kill or be killed.¬¬¬¬¬ There is no room to think freely. The drugs, the lies, and the constant violence see to that.
In the madness and the chaos, Ishmael’s innocence is slowly being chipped away and replaced by the hard, cold shell that keeps him numb deadly. Before Ishmael became numb, he longed for his family. Any sense of safety or affection is welcome over the fear and pain of being virtually alone. Even though this is clearly expressed throughout most of the story, it’s clearly stated at the end of chapter 9 in an ironic way. “I rewound the tape…hear my conscience call.” (Pg.67-68). This quote is ironic to the story because in this point in time in the book, Ishmael feels utterly alone and the subtle literary device shows the reader how Ishmael is feeling as well as sticking to the story. Even after being captured and having the chief of the village they were in declare them just regular boys seeking refuge, there is not enough kindness to make the boys feel better. “The chief…to avoid crying.” (Pg.68). The boys are sent away. They had found a place where someone had cared for them after days of running. This goes back to how Ishmael and his friends need the comfort of someone who cares for them, and they can’t find that affection in the war.
Ishmael needs love and affection from his family to battle the pain that the RUF and the Government army have caused. The irony in the end of chapter ten clearly shows a major point that continuously reappears throughout the entire book. The fact that Ishmael can’t find the care that he needs is saddening.
Steven, this is an excellent summary with some analysis. What literary devices were you focusing on?
DeleteIshmael encountered situations that one would not see on an typical day, however these explicit images became more “average” for him. These images became a relentless reoccurrence to Ishmael even though he is safe, and in another country. The fact is that this is what people live through and are experiencing every day, very few comprehend this. This is because of our romanticizing of war; in our generation many teens and adults play very grizzly first person shooter games that romanticizes war. People do not realize then psychological effects of war, it is more then knowing how to shoot, Ishmael is killing children his age. These children had or still have families and friends, the effects of war eternally scar your brain and there is no way to forget these brutal recollections and images.
ReplyDeleteIshmael uses many literary devices, one that stands to me is amplification. Ishmael does not hold back on romanticizing war or his struggle at the rehabilitation center. “She was confused, but continued to gently remove the pieces of glass from my bleeding hand” (Beah 141). This sentence almost makes me flinch and I imagine glass being pulled out of my own hand and how excruciating it would be. If it was phrased “The nurse pulled the glass out of my hand” this is putting more makeup over the truth, like how society is today. Another literary device is symbolism, this is used in many chapters but it really popped out in chapter twelve when the soldier threw Ishmaels belongings into a fire, this included his clothes and his cassettes. I believe Ishmael’s cassettes were very significant in the novel because they represented his old life. They also are very important to him because they save his life many times when the villagers thing they are soldiers.
When the cassettes get thrown into the fire I also believe that it symbolizes Ishmaels old life and his old memories partially. Ishmael obviously still has his reminiscences in his head but I truly believe that memories came with the cassettes and all the moments he shared with his friends and family, through the good and bad.
Ishmael helps our society in very extraordinary ways. He helped me really think about war and what would be like and how difficult it would be. He also makes many first person shooter games sound like a fairytale. It is unbelievable what Ishmael lived and survived through. He helps the world out and let people know what is actually happening in different countries, and what warfare is really like; I believe that Ishmael is a hero.
Aidan, this is a very profound, and thoughtful piece. Bravo!
DeleteShelby Hudson
ReplyDeleteMrs. Corolewski
Honors English 1B
21 November 2013
Ishmael Beah, changing the perception of a soldier, reveals his life in A Long Way Gone which takes place in Sierra Leone during the calamitous war. Ishmael begins telling his story as a child, playing games, dancing, and rapping until the day he becomes separated from his family and, ultimately, his innocence. Having the hardship of staying alive on his own, Ishmael had no choice but to enter the army where he is manipulated to kill out of revenge rather than out of freedom. At one point Ishmael is taken from the war to the rehabilitation center. In Chapter 16 of Beah’s biography A Long Way Gone, Ishmael’s use of repetition and flashback, two types of literary devices, help the reader envision the psychological trauma Ishmael endured as a child soldier.
Beah’s use of flashbacks within Chapter 16 elaborates why Ishmael’s withdrawal from war creates psychological complications from accepting his freedom. In the hospital, Ishmael recalls his times as a Junior Lieutenant carrying out specific tasks and being in charge of a small unit of boys. As a Junior Lieutenant, Ishmael was praised and given a nickname of “Green Snake” by the highest authority for being “deceptive and deadly” (Beah 144). Congratulating Ishmael for being dangerous and sneaky is a form of manipulation the army used to give him a standard to live up to. Beah’s memory, in the form of a flashback, shows how receiving the approval of the Lieutenant had altered Beah’s thinking and his self image. The staff at the rehabilitation center recognizes the damage that Beah’s psyche encountered as a child soldier; however, Ishmael is still unable to accept sympathy and compassion from others. To undo the psychological damage that has been perpetuated against Beah, staff members at the rehabilitation center give him new life standards and skills to practice.
As a narrator, Beah’s use of repetition recreates the psychological damage done to the young child soldier by the Lieutenant and the nurses attempt to undo that damage. The Lieutenant used repetition to manipulate Beah into visualizing the rebels killing his loved ones to build up anger and eagerness to kill without question (Beah 112). Beah, believing that the rebels were responsible for all the trauma in his life, started to imagine killing them and eventually did just that. The nurse at the rehabilitation center used the same method to get Beah to do what she wanted. Instead of trying to make Beah angry the nurse tried to make him accept that none of this was his fault. In the same manner that the Army mangled Beah’s mind by repeating damaging messages, the nurse uses this technique to try to heal Beah. Like the people in his life, Beah uses repetition in his narrative to interpellate the reader. By manipulating the reader with the same brainwashing techniques that were practiced on him, Beah elicits sympathy and compassion from his reader. Thus, the reader forgets Beah’s atrocities and celebrates his recovery.
Beah uses literary devices to affect the reader as he has been affected by war. To experience war was traumatizing for Beah as he became numb to killing people. Beah’s use of repetition through flashbacks creates an environment where the reader through a vicarious experience feels the psychological trauma and manipulation that can change a young child into a killer.
Superbly written Shelby...exceptional vocabulary use! Bravo!
DeleteJolene Fitzwater
ReplyDeleteEnglish 1B
19 November 2013
In America we hear about child soldiers in some far off 'third world country' but it doesn't really affect us. This modern society seems to be more worried about Miley Cyrus's most resent outburst rather than more impending problems in the world. So people are shocked, to say the least, when a book such as A Long Way Gone comes out which frames the life of a boy soldier. The book is shocking enough to read, its hard to imagine how Ishmael Beah- the author- could transcript this memories into such a strong story line. The book uses many literary devises, that help it move forward in such a way, some that were noted more frequently were strong imagery, and symbolism.
Through all of the chapters Ishmael uses frequent imagery. He does this by using strong adjectives such as “As soon as Musa was done, night took over the village. It was as if the sky had quickly rolled over, changing its bright side to dark...” (Beah 75) in this sentence Ishmael uses adjectives such as quickly, rolled, and dark, these describe the night to the reader. This imagery helps to better develop setting and characters. Another good example from chapter 10 would be “During the day the sun refused to rise gradually.” (Beah 80) this shows imagery because it gives the reader a good idea of what is happening on this particular day. Using words like refused, not only personifies the sun, but it also makes it seem aggressive in some ways. Imagery is used in this way throughout the book.
Symbolism is a frequently used device in the book, A Long Way Gone. There are many possible symbols in the book, one that comes up quite frequently is the moon, from the beginning the moon was mentioned very often. Starting in chapter 1, when Ishmael's grandmother explains to him why “We must strive to be like the moon.” (Beah 16) since that quote the moon has shown up very often through the duration of this book. In chapter 10 for example Ishmael says “I looked into the sky and saw how the thick clouds kept tying to cover the moon, yet it would reappear again and again to shine all night long”(Beah 69-70). In many ways the moon is a symbol of hope for Ishmael, another way you can view the moon, is as Ishmael's spirit, where the clouds, or anything negative are trying to dampen and weigh down his spirit, but he continues to prosper and doesn't allow these 'clouds' to take his spirit hostage. Symbolism is used in many more ways, through the book.
The book, A Long Way Gone, uses many literary devises, that help it move forward in such a way, some that were noted more frequently were strong imagery, and symbolism. These literary devises and many more are used in this strong and powerful book that details the life of a boy soldier. Though its hard to believe Ismael's stories because of the intense stature of them its important to read books like this and step back into reality, and find what should really be important in this society.
Excellent analysis Jolene. Very well written. I loved your reference to today's culture (Miley Cyrus)...great tie-in to the reader. Bravo!
DeleteHari G.
ReplyDeleteMrs. C- 4B
21, November, 2013
A Long Way Gone-Using Literary Devices to Tell a Story
When history repeats itself, so do the human failures that are a part of it. Several believe that genocide, poverty, and other egregious situations and conditions have direct solutions that will prevent them from occurring again. We can only begin to rid ourselves of these misconceptions through education of such events that are happening in our global community right now. An ideal example comes from the life of a child soldier. Through his memoirs, compiled under the title A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah brings us a necessary, vivid, yet tragic picture of his life before, during and after his experiences as a child soldier.
A perspective that connects the reader to Beah’s experiences is given, via the use of smaller anecdotes, which provide insights into his personal and social relationships and ideas, and through characterization, which develops the moods and qualities of the human environment around him.
Flashbacks and reminiscent scenes in the memoir give us a clear understanding of how Ishmael’s interactions and thoughts are affected by Ishmael’s experiences. After serving as a child soldier, while undergoing the rehabilitation process supported by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Ishmael has several “war memories” (Beah 145). After starting to heal from the immediate psychological effects of the war, Ishmael finds that he cannot take away the memories imprinted in his mind. It is as if they embody his personality. Ishmael continuously fights with the other children in the facility, and without any justification. The staff choose not to interfere (Beah 139). Identical to many of motives of the rebels and the militia, the children fight without a cause, reason, or goal. The severity of their fights is so great, that even the caretakers are tenuous near them. In addition to this chaos, pandemonium rages within the mind of each boy. “Whenever I turned on the tap water, all I could see was blood gushing out. I would stare at it until it looked like water before drinking or taking a shower…Then there were those instances when we would ambush the staff members, tie them up, and interrogate them about the whereabouts of their squad”(Beah 145). The extent of the repercussions of the war are evident in Ishmael’s account of simple, day-to-day actions that he performed. The pain with which he performs several actions reflect the extremities of his former mindset, and seem to be a necessary part of healing. Many of his memories also serve as examples to the reader, of how Ishmael’s experiences left a mark on his life as a person. “The war memories had formed a barrier that I had to break in order to think about any moment in my life before the war” (Beah 149). Ishmael and the others continue to interact with each other, and against the staff in a combative, almost tactical way, much like they would in rebel and military combat. The drastic change and exposure to extreme situations has changed their perspective on people’s intentions. When Ishmael and the others are presented with a major change in their rehabilitation, an education, they reject it, and instead choose to use the profits from the supplies to suit themselves (Beah 145-148). Under normal circumstances, most will seek out an educational opportunity, but these boys have gotten used to a lifestyle which is full of violence, lack of moral supervision, and other factors that oppose the mindset needed to accept an education. Thus, their intentions are affected. “’It’s not your fault that you cannot sit still in class. You will be able to do so in time” (Beah 148). The children do not yet understand the purpose of what they are going through. The staff accept this fact, and do not blame the children for their reactions of anger and abuse. Through caring for the children, the staff learn how the past has shaped the children as they are now. These stories that Ishmael has to share add to the detail, and magnitude with which his experiences are portrayed. (cont
Hari.G
ReplyDeletePart 2
Ishmael’s descriptions of others in the story elucidate the changing settings and feelings that are associated with them. Due to the nature of his experiences, Ishmael almost always uses implicit descriptions of other people, to reflect back on his environment. The way that they are described indicates the importance, severity, or level of the situation that is associated with them. During rehabilitation, Ishmael notes many instances where he empathized in such ways. “…the younger boys sat by rocks weeping and telling us that the rocks were their dead families” (Beah 145). As all of the boys are children, it is often overlooked that age groups within the children are affected by the war differently. Ishmael’s observations show us that the younger children tended to think of their direct losses more frequently, and connected to the simplicities of the natural environment in which they, too, experienced fighting. Earlier in the rehabilitations procedure, Ishmael targeted the general people in the facility, classifying them as ‘civilians,’ and stating that they were in control of him (Beah 138). This shows the extent to which his war-torn mind could not comprehend the fact that the staff of the facility were trying to restore him to normalcy. This is also a marker of the huge differences between the goals of the staff, and the interpretations of the children, which would continue to reduce to a more normal relationship between the staff and the children. One of the most important recurring points that Ishmael shares in this relationship, is the forgiveness of the staff. Both instances, where the children threw pencils at their teacher, and when they beat the storage man, Poppay, unconscious, they were told “It is not your fault…” (Beah 140, 148). The intrinsic development shown from both the staff and child soldier side of Ishmael’s accounts helps us look forward to, and visualize, positive changes in the human environment. The nurse begins to share a relatively close bond with Ishmael, as is evident from Ishmael’s words. In the beginning, Ishmael rejects the treatment offered by the nurse, by walking away, and expressing his dislike, but Ishmael soon begins to realize, that he is better off with the nurse, and that she is trying to help him through the arduous rehabilitation (Beah 140-142). By characterizing the nurse, and the other factions around him, Ishmael is able to more fully explain the change in standpoint from which he dealt with healing, both physically and mentally.
Ishmael Beah’s story is an excellent example of joint human capability to deal with catastrophes that happen both in individual lives, and in the global community. We, as readers, can more clearly understand the purposes of his story through his use of anecdotes, and the means by which he presents characters. Like Ishmael, we must learn to take a broader view on conflicts, to learn how they can be solved, and strive to be the change that we want to see in the world.
Great introduction and outstanding analysis. However, please work on being more succinct.
DeleteRyker Meyer
ReplyDelete4B
Those of privileged lifestyles, who live through life oblivious to horrors that occur around the world are lucky indeed. The reality is that pain and suffering terrorize humans who are born in unfavorable conditions, namely caused by war, poverty, and other various disasters. Ishmael Beah, author of "A Long Way Gone" is one of the many referenced before, that live in despair inducing situations. In his book he relates his experiences, and uses various literary devices to better convey the scenarios he encountered, so as to enlighten those that enjoy comfortable lives. Specifically the Personification and Internal Conflict displayed in the book, helped to one to visualize physically and mentally the situations that transpired during his travels.
As Ishmael and his friends walked through Sierra Leone, Ishmael applies Personification to the various surroundings to explain the feelings the boys felt in their position during the war. "The quiet breeze caused a branch to snap in the forest. The echo sounded like a cry, a wailing... More branches snapped in the forest and the wailing intensified. The trees looked as if they were in pain. they swayed in all directions and slapped each other with their branches" (Beah, 90) Ishmael and his friends are surrounded by enemies, and are alone lost in a forest. In any situation like this, emotions affect ones mind, and one becomes wary of their setting. When the author describes their surroundings in detail, it displays what the boys would feel during a stressful time. This lets readers obtain a better understanding of the mindset the boys would have, and opens a window to their inner conscience so that we can fully experience their situation.
Readers are able to learn of Ishmael's personal status as he travels, through his use of Internal Conflict. "I was filled up with anger. I hissed and boiled, and my heart felt as if it was going to explode. At the same time, I felt as if something had literally been placed on my head, heavier than I could ever imagine, and my neck was beginning to ache" (Beah 95) Ishmaels depth of detail allows a reader to know his feelings, emotions, senses, and thoughts. This assists with explaining how and why he chooses to make certain decisions throughout the story. Ishmael had just learned that his chance to meet up with his family again had been stolen, and he reacts very strongly to this fact. Without the Internal Conflict being explained from within Ishmael, one would not completely understand and emphasize with Ishmael. However, as the conflict is sourced and defined, inferences can be made for future reference during the book.
The story Ishmael relates is one that is detailed and frightening. But because of Ishmael's brilliant skill with literary devices, humans who do not live in these situations are able to fully understand the experiences and pain that Ishmael and his friends have acquired during their ordeal. This allows others to take action so as to prevent future books being written by other conflicted souls. Ishmael's pain and bravery, along with his skillful writing abilities, delivers a book that holds a message to inspire and encourage others to continue on, because endurance in life leads to brighter paths.
Good job Ryker. Check your citations.
DeleteTull, Sterling 2B
ReplyDeleteImagine a novel or article without the uses of creative and interesting literary devices to spice up the overall impact and comprehension of the source material. How awful it would be to read a comparison of someone’s personality without a fun simile in something like Harry Potter. Not only does the simile give you a rounded and entertaining reading experience, but it also provides a specific view on what the author of a particular piece would like you to imagine or see. Ishmael Beah is a shining example of an author that uses literary devices to express the full emotional impact and significance of an event as each page rolls on, creating a cohesive and extraordinary experience that leaves you breathless.
As the novel, A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah progresses, the subject matter and severity of Ishmael’s excruciating situation reaches a level never before seen, but gets explained as if the happenings were normal every day actions. After reaching the village with the military soldiers, Ishmael is thrown into the very war he’d been running from. He is trained to the point where his boy like mentality and young mannerisms are exchanged for brutal force and desensitized child warrior. He describes how killing became as easy as drinking water (Beah 122), explaining that what he used to fear most, now greets him every day as he carries on with daily activities. This analogy resembles how awful it would be to become a child soldier and how it would be to lose all of your morals. Killing another human being should not be easy like drinking something as simple as water. It is much more effective also that the object compared is water as it’s usually seen as a pure and clean element, truly communicating the undeniable horror at hand and the contrast of polar character actions through impure trials. It’s frankly, a disgusting realization that the children have suffered this.
Personification is an imperative literary device expressed through much of Ishmael’s autobiography as a way to personify the dismay probing his every move. It’s imperative because human nature and humanity in general are a very relatable thing, so when personification is used, the reader is able to connect whatever is being described to people. Ishmael describes his time as a child soldier in graphic detail, recounting everything he can to tell his story. “The flames on the thatched roofs waved us off as they danced with the afternoon breeze, swaying as if in agony” (Beah 123). How powerful the word use and literary device is as the flames of the roofs resemble the terror that a person might feel is they had been set on fire, the total desolation that the agony of their swaying is. This description is important to how Ishmael is seeing things. Even though the action of burning the houses was easy, he relates them to how sad the fire must be that he’s evolved into a heartless monster. Ishmael impacts the reader with much more oomph than the description of the fire could have been.
Ishmael Beah is an exceptionally talented individual with his sway use of words and literary devices. Above examples only merely capture the magic he can conjure within the specialty of these pages. He carries on like a seasoned artist, splattering his canvas with inspiration and love. Without his passion, A Long Way Gone would not have had the same dreadful impact it has on many people around the world. One can only hope that someone will pick up this novel, realize that what they’re about to endure is incredibly provoking, and thank Ishmael for his bravery, kindness, and willingness to share his writing talent and equally important story.
Love the introduction. Great job analyzing chosen literary devices.
DeleteThere is a lot of irony in the fact that Ishmael was doing what he despised most about the Sierra Leone soldiers. Did it ever occur to Ishmael that he was taking parents away from kids that are in similar situations to the one he was in? Throughout the later chapters in Long Way Gone, written by Ishmael Beah, Ishmael is slowly turning into what he strongly despises. This whole time he never once talks about how he could be affecting the lives of other families.
ReplyDeleteIshmael is forced into a fake home, and given a fake sense of happiness. He goes from village to village taking the lives of many, and not being fazed by any of his actions. That however is because he has been desensitized of what is wrong from right. The constant bombardment of drugs into his life is what has caused this. This is the life that he and many other young men were being forced into while living in their home country. A place of which there should be no terror like that. Ishmael was forced into that life for an elongated amount of time. He had no way of getting out of the situation otherwise he would be back in the same shoes he had recently got out of.
Jaeden you did a good job discussing irony, however you did not include citations (you must, otherwise you plagiarize). You also only discussed ONE literary device.
DeleteBridger Howell 2B
ReplyDeletePeople change throughout their lives. They change how they act, what they strive for, and even what they believe in whether or not they notice these changes. These changes can take a long time and be slow and gradual and unnoticed until they are looked back upon years later. They also can be instantaneous and noticed immediately. Throughout chapter 12, Ishmael Beah uses a great deal of character development and flashing back to his happier past.
As I traveled through this book with Ishmael, I noticed how he would often develop throughout the book as he also noticed and took care to show the changes. For instance in this chapter Ishmael’s view changed as he decided to join the Army (Beah 106-109). No longer, was Ishmael a boy who ran away from the war and all of his fears but now that he has grown and lost everything he wants to fight back. He has changed into a boy who has nothing to lose and a desire for vengeance against those who he believed caused him to lose all that was dear to him. Only now, can he let go of his driving force of fear and hope to see his family once more and turn into a boy whose whole driving force is revenge for that which he lost. As the chapter nears an end Ishmael has an abrupt change as he prepares to become a soldier he begins to train with a passion, attacking banana trees with exuberance as if they are the rebels and dream of burning them alive (Beah 112-113). As Ishmael makes this change, he forgets who he once was and becomes the boy whose only goal is to avenge his family and make those he thinks are responsible pay for what they have done. He begins to let his emotions take control and his anger command his every thought and action. This change in his personality and actions is borne witness of by Ishmael as he looks back on his childhood and sees what happened to him and when he changed from a boy to a soldier. In retrospect, Ishmael changed who he was and what his goal in his life became throughout chapter 12 many a time.
Even as Ishmael changed for the worse, he also used his past to help him stay sane and not be overwhelmed with madness and rage. As Ishmael reached the first town of safety since the war found him, he remembered the soccer games of his early childhood, and how his family once was happy and together (Beah 102). This memory was of a lost time when he was happy and carefree and he felt as though he could touch the sky. This flashback helped him to stay grounded and remember who he was and why he continued to live. This also helped him be more willing to change into a child soldier as he remembered what once was and could have been without the war and the rebels. When he first met Lieutenant Jabati, he quoted a speech from Shakespeare’s Julius Caeser and then his mind wandered back to when he would recite to the people of his town cheering up all who were there to listen (Beah 104-105). This flashback also helped him stay grounded but it did more than that, it gave him hope of a time where once again he could talk to those older than him without fear that they were there to kill him as had happened too many times throughout his journey to safety. It also let him see how the Lieutenant was also a person and made him more willing to join the army knowing that he was not as alone as he had previously thought. The return of his memory to when he told the tale of
Julius Caesar to his town also helped Ishmael to reminisce of a better time and how he would love to have that once again. This helped him decide to fight for the army to give this chance to others, that they may not lose this feeling. These returns to his previous life through his mind gave him a chance to stay levelheaded and not fall into the traps of grief.
Although Ishmael’s life changed for the worst, he still did what he felt was best at the time. It was different from a choice he would have made before because, as the choice, he was different from before.
Good job Bridger. Very thorough analysis. Don't forget to mention the title of the novel in your introduction.
DeleteGillian Revier 2B
ReplyDeleteA few great authors have managed to paint in words what cannot be expressed in a thousand pictures. Ishmael Beah, in the autobiography A Long Way Gone, makes that very same jump for glory with an extensive use of literary devices, personification and symbolism focused on here, to illustrate the world he had lived in words uncaptured by any other.
Personification is a device that Ishmael uses liberally throughout the entire work. From the very beginning we see him breathing life into objects. Even the simplest things have a life to them, such as a wind bringing the final temptation of sleep (Beah 70). These small gestures bring a life to the entire story, beyond the wind. They create a deeper connection with the reader, because who hasn’t felt the trees were laughing at you behind your back or the little sounds the house makes are a conspiracy to keep you awake at three in the morning. Sometimes they are used specifically to evoke emotions or for foreshadowing. Ishmael goes to pains to recreate even the most insignificant detail refined and expressed to the world to be understood by all, to create the connection that will allow the reader to feel the way he did. Personification is not a device, simply. It is a creation, an ability to relate the way a young boy would interpret his world especially when things have gone so terribly, horridly wrong, though that is not to say it is the only way to relate.
Symbolism is a widely used literary device, most specifically mentioned in A Long Way Gone with Ishmael’s cassette tapes and the moon. What is often overlooked is the fact that symbols can also be simple triggers. A hammock in the rare, friendly village can be a symbol of peace, of better times and family (Beah 71) or it is simply a hammock. By and by, this self same village is a symbol, a beacon of peace, of normalcy, of love and of friendship in a time so truly ripe with fear and an inability to trust even the youngest child. It may seem trivial, but not to Ishmael. A friendly face not one of his group is a thing to be treasured as a rare thing, like a four leaf clover if you will, it can be felt as a slight symbol of peace and maybe a little bit of luck (read: food).
Ishmael Beah is an intelligent man. He understands that humans do not relate to stark words. They do not connect to words as they do to what they can see. This is exactly why literary devices were ‘created’. To create an entire world within a few hundred pages, one must do exactly what Ishmael does what any true author does and paints with a pen, with symbolism, personification, and so much more.
WOW! Awesome opening. Great analysis as well. Good job!!!
DeleteMichael Byrd
ReplyDeleteMrs. Corolewski
Honors English 10/4B
21 November 2013
A Long Way Gone Literary Device Analysis
In the book, A Long Way Gone, by Ishmael Beah, he uses a variety of literary devices in order to try and paint a picture in your mind of what his experiences were, to demonstrate to people that things, like children being used as soldiers, is still happening today. Ishmael uses the literary devices of symbolism and allusion to show how certain events influence the development of characters and coping mechanisms in Chapter 12.
Ishmael uses symbolism in Chapter 12 to show the importance of certain things in their lives to show how they are developing. A symbol in this chapter is when the soldier first hands Ishmael the AK-47 (Beah 109). This is a symbol of Ishmael’s new life and the life he is going to experience for the next two years. This changes how Ishmael develops because of all of the traumatic experiences he goes through during those years.
He also uses allusions to certain events to help show the change of characters in the book. One specific example of an allusion from Chapter 12 is when Ishmael refers to a time in his life when he would go to the town square and recite lines from Shakespeare (Beah 104). Ishmael is referring back to this memory which shows that he is looking for safety in an old memory and the lieutenant is the connection to that old memory. He is changing because he knows they have been captured and is looking for a way to connect with his old life as a way of coping, something he would not have done if the war had never happened.
Through the uses of allusions and symbolism throughout the book, Ishmael is able to show us with greater depth how certain things change the development of the characters.
Good job Michael, though more in-depth analysis would have been beneficial. STRETCH those writing skills. :)
DeleteHailey Wilcox (ABSENT)
ReplyDeleteMrs. Corolewski
Honors English 10 Per. 4A
20 November 2013
Have you ever taken the time to imagine what it would feel like to live in a time of war, when you fear for your safety at every turn? Well, Ishmael Beah lived this way for part of his childhood, and through his account, we can better form a picture of what being a child soldier is like. He often exhibits conflict within himself in his writing, and he often shows contrasting ideas about isolation and loneliness. He does both of these with his writing in chapter 8.
During his journey, Ishmael often struggles between the needs of his body to survive and the effects that the exposure to war is having on his mind. He desperately needs to consider what to do next in order to survive, such as finding food and shelter, but whenever he starts to think, his mind is plagued by terrible thoughts. He begins to fear both his surroundings and himself. “I felt as if somebody was after me. Often, my shadow would scare me and cause me to run for miles…Sometimes I closed my eyes hard to avoid thinking, but the eye of my mind refused to be closed and continued to plague me with images. My body twitched with fear, and I became dizzy” (49). This shows an example of a struggle of man versus himself. Ishmael becomes his own worst enemy. He winds up needing to fight himself mentally to keep the terrifying images and thoughts from resurfacing.
Loneliness is constantly on Ishmael’s mind in this chapter. Although he realizes that isolation is keeping him safe, the loneliness is becoming too much for him to bear. This reflects a very common human desire for companionship. It makes us feel more safe and secure. “The most difficult part of being in the forest was the loneliness. It became unbearable each day…The more I resisted thinking, the longer the days became, and I felt as if my head was becoming heavier each passing day. I became restless and was afraid to sleep for fear that my suppressed thoughts would appear in my dreams” (52). The loneliness doesn’t help him with his internal struggle either, for it causes him to return to his thoughts often. He continues to reflect on memories of his family. The loneliness eventually becomes insufferable, and Ishmael joins a group of other boys his age. As Ishmael gives us these insights into his thoughts and feelings, he gives us a very full picture of the effects of living through war and being a child soldier. This makes for a very informative book that should allow us to better understand that there are still child soldiers in the world, and we need to do something to stop child soldiering because it is not right.
Excellent analysis Hailey. Don't forget to mention the title of the novel in your introductory paragraph.
DeleteAddie White
ReplyDeleteThe problem, when telling a true personal story, is that the author is limited to the truth. This can restrict writers because it takes away many of the liberties authors of fiction enjoy. However in A Long Way Gone, an autobiography by Ismael Beah, Beah still manages to use many literary devices throughout the book to enhance his readers’ idea of his life as a child in an unfamiliar war.
Because Beah is confined to the actual events that took place, he frequently uses flashbacks to show parts of his story. In Chapter 7, When Ishmael is alone after his brother is separated from Ishmael in a rebel attack, Beah thinks back to a time when his family was happy and united after just moving to their home village. He jumps back to reality with the line “I pressed my fingers on my eyelids to hold back my tears and wished that I could have my family back together again” (45). Beah uses these flashbacks to show a contrast from his older life to his new reality.
Rather than telling you what he sees in this new reality, Beah paints a picture using personification and similes to show you his settings and feelings. Instead of just writing what he saw or heard Beah adds, “not even a lizard dared to crawl through the village” (46), when talking about the eerie silence of a nearby town. Or later when discussing his hunger he describes the coconuts hanging from a tree as teasing and daring him (47). He ties his own emotions onto these objects to build an image of not only his surrounding, but the feelings he attaches to them. Similarly, Beah uses similes to give his readers a better sense of his world. As Ismael leaves behind the last familiar face he knows to set off on his own he says, “As soon as I left the hiding area and was on the path, I felt as if I was being wrapped in a blanket of sorrow” (46). In the bleak reality that Ishmael lived in, the use of these literary tools helps the reader to understand the mood of Beah’s circumstances.
Using flashbacks, similes, and personification Beah tells his story in a way readers can understand. Though he is confined to the truth, Beah still is able to use these literary devices to better show his surroundings and emotions during this period of his life.
Exceptionally well written. Bravo! I especially loved your opening statement. :)
DeleteTyler Durbin
ReplyDeleteEnglish 4A
11/21/13
Set in the war-torn country of Sierra Leone, Ishmael Beah tells an account of being a boy soldier in his auto-biography, A Long Way Gone. This groundbreaking story captures the suffocating nature of life and his redemptive human spirit which tries to rebel against it. Ishmael brings immense depth of characterization and verisimilitude with his profound use of literary devices in his narrative.
The plot of Ishmael’s life is a very dark, saddening story. He used the literary device of tragedy in his novel on a scale comparable to Shakespeare, un-coincidentally, who Ishmael is an avid reader of (104). Also similar to Shakespeare’s works, his story starts out with the more blissful times of his life. He recounts the last memories of his family, and his connection with his grandmother when he looks up to the moon. But like most of Shakespeare’s pieces, the happiness dies with tragedy. Throughout the story, Ishmael’s misfortunes become more, and more disastrous; weaving through every page it seems. One of the first unfortunate events would be the separation of his parents though he stayed in acquaintance with his brother. Following with the separation of his sibling and friends; leaving him in isolation with only the company of his conscience. The multiplying villainies of civil war surround Ishmael, when he is mentally forced into the government’s army regime. I say mentally forced, because he knew that if he did not submit to their will, he was a dead man walking. Ishmael goes on to depict the horrors that the Sierra Leone army did to him; with mention of multiple drug addictions to desensitizing him and other boys with violent war movies (121). The use of tragedy opens the eyes of the reader to sympathize with Ishmael’s journey.
Another literary device Ishmael uses, not just in his work, but that was apparent in his literal scenario is the use of foiling. Now, in most novels, foiling is used to make an antagonist to the main character who is almost an exact opposite of him. But since Ishmael’s story is non-fictional, there is no other character he adds to be the nemesis of his values. But rather, he himself is the foil when drugged and corrupted by his government to submit to their authority (123). The oppression that he was put under altered his conscience to be the person he was not, at the beginning of the book as well as after he immigrated into the United States. It shows the self-conflict of the protagonist, the person he was as a child, and the antagonist, the oppressed, militia killer. So far in the novel, we have seen his struggle throughout the story; one particular instance is when he is in the hospital with other boy soldiers. He is still a violent being at this point of time. He throws repeated violent outbursts resulting in self harm when punching glass in the building (139). He also described his violence as necessary because of the dismemberment of his squad, a thirst he needed to quench (140). We are unaware of what it will take for Ishmael to overcome his drug and violence addictions, but we know that his protagonist side will reemerge after he is a resident in America. This use of self-foiling, which is uncommon in most novels, builds deep characterization for Ishmael as well as showing the deep human spirit that rebels against his corrupted self.
The amount of value and human spirit that Ishmael packs into his auto-biography is immensely heightened with his use of literary devices. It blatantly puts the reader in his shoes, expands the realism of his account, as well as helping the reader appreciate the easy life that they have.
*CLAPS* Tyler, this was A M A Z I N G!
DeleteJulianne Taylor
ReplyDeleteLiterary Devices in “A Long Way Gone”
So many people pass over autobiographies because they think that they are dry or monotonous. However, the story of Ishmael Beah’s Journey through the war ravaged Sierra Leone would draw in almost any reader. Beah doesn’t simply re-tell his life in his book “A Long Way Gone”, he brings you into his mind as he experienced it, using literary devices to give the account a vividness and depth beyond mere words. The impact of his use of contrast and amplification gives the story a truthful and personal quality.
The biography doesn’t only delve deeply into Ishmael’s emotions as the events play out; it also explains what Ishmael is observing, providing strikingly conflicting tones. Ishmael fled from the war for months while spark after spark of hope is lit then extinguished. Over the course of his and his friends’ journey Ishmael describes events where he appears different from his companions. In one scene his friend Saidu had died and other boys broke down, sobbing together. Ishmael was alone, unwilling to cry (Beah 89). He had been so cold for so long that when he lost someone close to him, he couldn’t allow himself to cry. Ishmael was continually having different reactions than others around him, who had been experiencing the same events. Ishmael was just a young boy when the events started, the same as his companions, but something in him set him apart and allowed him to fight. However, the consequences were great; he came out on the opposite side of a chasm separating him from his youth and innocence.
It is truly a gift that someone like Ishmael, who had survived everything the war had put in his path, could have the ability to retell his story with such an impression. He so quietly intertwined metaphors, emotion, and details into his story which helped him connect with the reader’s soul. His artful use of amplification, especially, brings his audience to his side through his trials. The aspects he included were certainly significant and important to comprehending his experiences. A heartbreaking moment in his life was when he first became an active participant in the war. He picked up a gun with the intent to kill for the first time and the moments following were so vivid that you can almost feel his head pulsating. “I have never been so afraid to go anywhere in my life as I was that day. Even the scuttle of a lizard frightened my entire being. A slight breeze blew and it went through my brain with a sharp swoop that made me grit my teeth in pain” (Beah 116). Through including flashes like the dash of a lizard, Ishmael conveys both his awareness and his anxiety.
By enhancing the book with the intent to explain emotion, which has no words, and showing how elements contradict others Ishmael made his memoires a moving read.
Admirably well-written. Excellent command of language.
DeleteS U P E R B!
The book “A Long Way Gone” is a captivating book which uses literary devices to stimulate the readers thoughts and interest them in the topic. One of the many devices used in this book is symbolism. Ismael uses different things to symbolize other events, people, or places in the book. One example of symbolism in A Long Way Gone is the story about “Bra Spider". Bra spider represents the boys and how they they try and trick people for their own benefit, which turns around quickly to back fire on them. Musa also adds the skinny waist of the Bra Spider due to him caught in the entanglement of the ropes, which symbolizes the boys skinny waists caused by the undernourishment. The intertwined ropes also symbolize the many situations Ishmael is caught in.
ReplyDeleteAnother way symbolism is used in this book is in chapter eight, where Ishmael is in the forest. In chapter 8, Ismael says " On the third day i found myself in the middle of a thick forest, standing beneath huge trees whose leaves and branches made it difficult to see the sky" (pg. 49), where the trees and the sky both represent something. The trees represents the war and the fighting going on. The sky represents the life and childhood that Ishmael should have, but instead is blocked by the war and he can't see who he really is. The sky is representing his childhood because the sky is a clean slate and that is what a childhood is suppose to be. Rather than starting on a clean slate and having the life he should really have, he has to witness and absorb the madness of the horrific events that happen around him. The trees are so thick around him that he can,t see the sky, meaning the war is going on every where he goes and he can not see where to go. His childhood is being blocked by trees and he can not seem to see it no matter how hard he tries, and he can not find the hope to do so.
In A Long Way Gone, Ishmael uses this symbolism to capture and evoke the reader's thoughts and emotions. He uses symbolism at certain times to make the reader think about what is actually going on and make the reader think deeper about what is being symbolized. Symbolism is a powerful tool to keep the reader on his/her toes the whole book so they do not get bored with what the are reading. The use of the symbolism in chapter eight makes people realize how hard his life really was. People forget that Ismael is still a person, not just a character in a fiction book, he has real emotions and thoughts which really bring out the human being inside of him, even during the war.
Your analysis of the use of symbolism is good, however you did not include any citations (that is called plagiarism--be careful you do not forget to cite in the future). Also, you only analyzed one literary device.
DeleteZach Taylor 1B
ReplyDeleteWhile the book “A Long Way Gone” is non-fiction literature, it features the usage of many literary elements. One might think that it would not make sense to use elements that develop a story more fully in a work of non-fiction; however, these elements add to the gravity of the account that Ishmael Beah tells. They also help the reader see how Ishmael saw these events, even though nobody could know how disturbing it is without undergoing it themselves. With Ishmael’s addition of mood creation and evidence of character development, his account of his life’s struggles is highlighted more intensely than they would be without any literary elements.
Chapter 10 of “A Long Way Gone” discusses Saidu’s death and the resulting events. While this story does not dwell very profoundly on tragic events, this one in particular is dwelt upon more so than the others. The use of mood change is used intensely here. This is shown on page 85, when Ishmael says “It was then that we admitted that Saidu had left us. Everyone else was crying, but I couldn't cry”. This statement creates a high level of gravity and bitterness. It also creates a transition into the rest of the chapter, where the mourning process is described, also a very grim moment. This mood change is essential to the story because it allows the reader to fully understand the pain that Ishmael and his friends had undergone. It allows closure to take place and allow the story to continue.
In the same chapter, a transition to the next part of the adventure is told. In this transition, it is shown that each of these children have developed emotionally throughout the trip. This is evident when Ishmael says “We were leaving our friend, or as my grandmother would put it, ‘his temporary journey in this world has ended’. We, on the other hand, had to continue. When we started to walk away, we all began to sob” (88). At this point, Ishmael and his friends must continue with their adventure and learn to forget about Saidu. They are all able to carry on without too much trouble, clearly showing their emotional strength and ability to overcome arduous tasks. At the same time, however, they briefly mourn for their lost friend. This shows that they are not completely numb to any emotion, but still have the capability to ignore it.
It is clearly shown throughout this chapter that the addition of evidence of character development and mood change inexplicably add to the severity of Ishmael’s recount. Without these two elements, it is easy for one to take these experiences for granted. When one fully understands these elements and how they support the devastating story of Ishmael’s life, that person can then fully realize how effortlessly everybody goes through life, not even worrying in the slightest about problems such as these in the world, and have an astoundingly increased capacity for gratitude of a simple life.
Excellent and thorough analysis Zach. :)
DeleteThough things are not advertised on TV or in the paper, that doesn’t mean that it is happening in today’s world. For example we thought that child slavery was abolished from existence until Kony 2012 popped up on everyone’s newsfeed on Facebook and Twitter. Though not many people believed that it was real and that it was just a scam to get people to give the founder of the project money. This is what the modern world has done to people they think that everything that the government is not involved in is a scam because there are so many people that do that kind of stuff, but in Ishmael Beah’s book A Long Way Gone, there is a story about a regular boy that just wanted to be a regular boy living in Mattru Jong and listen to rap music with his friends. Though when he was 12 that all changed when rebels that stated that they wanted freedom for the country but in reality they wanted the country ran the way they wanted it, which was in the form of chaos. In Ishmael’s story about his childhood he uses a lot of imagery to further explain what something means in the story. For example when the bird had fallen out of the sky still alive, just unable to fly for unknown reasons. The bird was an image and/or a sign of bad luck that was near. Kanei even stated that he thought it was a curse or bad luck in the quote “Well now, if the falling of this bird is a sign of a curse or bad luck we are in both” (Beah 81). That bird was given the curse of not being able to fly because it was a sign that something bad was going to happen. Especially since it was a crow. That crow was the sign that a tragedy was going to happen soon, but the group of boys did not know that yet. They had found out what that tragedy was later that night, when Saidu decided that he could not go on anymore and had gone into a permanent sleep. “He just lay on his stomach, his face buried in the dust. His palms were turned upside down and they were pale” (Beah 85). These literary elements had helped the story be explained and gave the reader some hints as what was going to happen and helps people that would normally not understand what was going on. Doing this makes people better writers and is usually quite hard to get it just write, and despite not knowing English for a good majority of his life, Ishmael has accomplished this very well.
ReplyDeleteGreat introduction! :) Good analysis of imagery, however you didn't analyze a second literary device.
DeleteHolly Berry 1B
ReplyDeleteLiterary devices are elements of writing that help the reader interpret and understand a piece of writing in different ways. When used correctly, literary devices strengthen and develop an essay or story immensely. Ishmael Beah, an accomplished author, incorporates many different types of literary devices into his book, “A Long Way Gone,” in order to enhance and develop the story. The usage of literary devices can be seen throughout Ishmael’s entire work, including in a particular scene in the first few pages of chapter nine in which the author describes the ocean and its sounds. Demonstrated in chapter nine, literary devices such as similes and imagery influence the reader's understanding of the story.
In the beginning of the chapter, Ishmael describes the ocean using a simile, which allows the reader to grasp the intensity of the ocean’s sounds and their impact on the boys, given their paranoid mentality. The author compares the sound of the crashing waves to things like, “the roar of big engines,” and “a thunder exploding”(58). The comparisons express how loud and frightening the sudden, continuous crashes are to Ishmael and his friends. They show the reader that the noises are shocking to the boys after spending so much time in the often-tranquil forest. The simile also implies to the reader that Ishmael’s perceptions of the noises may also be related to his current state of mind. He and the others don’t know what the roaring noises are but they immediately associate them with things that are not necessarily pleasant(58). The boys are currently running from the war and the things Ishmael imagines when he initially hears the oceans are indications that his experiences with death and war have placed the weight of paranoia on his soldiers. During the time of war, Ishmael expects something bad to happen.
Another literary device Ishmael weaves into his writing when explaining the wave sounds and the ocean itself is imagery. The use of imagery with the concept helps the reader to better understand the boys’ environment and what they are experiencing. The description of crashing waves is incredibly vivid, involving comparisons to more relatable things like thunder and the starting of a large engines(58). Due to the vivid description and the relatable parallel between the ocean and the other included sounds, the reader is able to imagine what the boys are hearing and feeling. The author’s depiction helps the reader to comprehend the greatness of the noise and the shock and anxiety it could produce in Ishmael’s situation. When the boys finally see the ocean, Ishmael describes it as too big for his eyes to see, meeting the sky which is “at its bluest,” somewhere in the distance(59). The imagery emphasizes the vastness of the body of water and the blueness of the sky in a way that is easily imaginable. The reader can picture the ocean, the sky and the boys’ joy that comes with it. By envisioning these things, the reader can empathize with Ishmael and the others that there is still beauty left in the boys’ war-torn country.
As shown in the ninth chapter of “A Long Way Gone,” literary devices play a huge role in understanding the story in the perspective of the characters. The devices help the reader to more accurately imagine the experiences the boys are having. In the ninth chapter, when Ishmael explains the ocean meeting the shore, he uses simile and descriptive imagery, which affects the reader’s senses in a way that the reader can relate to the sounds and sights and imagine that they are near the ocean within the story. The environment and situation Ishmael and his companions are in becomes clearer through the imagery presented and the full effect of the crashing waves is easier for the reader to imagine due to the similes. Therefore, the literary devices applied to Ishmael’s writing in chapter nine are beneficial to the reader’s ability to envision the surroundings and feelings of the boys during their encounter with the ocean.
Great introduction, excellent analysis.
DeleteVan Dempsey 2B
ReplyDeleteObjects. Feelings. Ideas. These three things all have one thing in common: symbolism. In a Long Way Gone, Ishmael uses his intelligence and concrete things to express the idea of motivation. Even when Ishmael feels as if there is nothing to live for, he is reminded that perspective is the key to survival.
Most of us look at the moon as just a grey sphere of rock; however, when in a life or death situation, Ishmael sees that “rock” as motivation in his journey. He compares his life to the sky. The moon being his journey and the clouds being the hardships he experiences (Beah 70). I find Ishmael’s perspective of the moon to be very beneficial to him. In comparing his journey to the rising moon, Ishmael is suggesting that he too will rise each day. The moon rises every night and continues to rise even when thick clouds do darken its light. Ishmael uses the rising moon as a symbol of hope. He doesn’t know if his main motivation (his family) is still alive, but he does know that the moon is forever. It will always continue to rise, much like Ishmael has throughout his journey. This deep use of the moon is a source of motivation for Ishmael. This symbolism keeps him going even when times get rough.
Ishmael continues to pursue his journey because of the way he puts concrete things into a positive perspective. While sitting on the verandah, dogs came to the boys crying (Beah 84). As we all know, dogs hear things that humans can’t and Ishmael uses this information to his advantage. The dogs’ yelping helps Ishmael be prepared for what’s next. With the dogs’ warning, the boys left the verandah. With the departure, they found the cause of the dogs’ uncertainty to be a smiling man with two buckets of water (Beah 85). The dogs continuous crying was viewed as a false alarm at this certain time, but next time the boys might not be as lucky. This shows Ishmael’s perspective will likely keep him and the other boys safe from their next encounter with danger.
Even with the lack of war experience and horrible conditions he has to go through, Ishmael doesn’t forget that his mind is his best friend. Emotion, motivation and thought processes are controlled by the brain. These three things are essential to Ishmael’s survival. We, as a society, can use Ishmael as a symbol for success as he did with the weather and dogs. He shows us that, even when times are tough and there is virtually no motivation to continue, your perspective on life affects you.
Van, this is an outstanding piece of writing. Bravo!
DeleteAbbie Holden
ReplyDeleteMrs. Corolewski
1B-Hon. Eng. 10
11/20/13
Part 1-
Bullets, guns, bayonets, mortars, fire, blood; it’s probable that a person is picturing a highly detailed video game when given these six words in a list. However, in some parts of the world; when these words are uttered, children cry and hug their mothers, husbands grab their wives and pull them behind them for safety and worse yet; young men are reminded of horrific and scarring events that they wish they could force out of their minds. There’s a book titled "A Long Way Gone," it’s written by Ishmael Beah, he was a child soldier during the Civil war in Sierra Leone, who went through a similar experience. He uses extraordinary language and certain literary devices to display his audience his story, particularly in the tenth chapter. He specifically created mood by showing the way his emotions shatter from depression, in addition, his vivid flashbacks and dreams illustrating to the audience just how significant a war can truly desensitize a child’s innocence.
It would be easy to pick and choose just one mood Ishmael creates through the entire book, sadness, but to understand the precise aspects of the pain thrust upon him. It’s easier to watch the emotions grow from the stress he undertakes. His first experience with the war was in the very first chapter; Ishmael and a group of friends hear about the rebels from some teachers at the school, violence followed everywhere they went and ironically enough, they were rumored to be in Ishmael’s hometown, so they left for home (Beah 9). They crossed a river and followed a path leading into their home where they crossed through a town where Ishmael’s Grandmother lived; she was nowhere to be found, but plenty of mutilated people were. They were spilling out of cars, pouring into the town in lines leading from Ishmael’s home, each one having a different trail of blood pouring from their bodies or even from their loved ones; each one crying and saying how dangerous it was back home (Beah 13). Just from these events alone, Ishmael is destroyed. He never got to say goodbye to his family and all he can do is sit and hope for their return. Imagine someone never receiving closure from an event as traumatizing as that? In Chapter ten of the book, the audience learns that he doesn’t get any better, the first paragraph in the chapter discloses just that, “…I didn’t know what I was going to do with my life. I felt like I was starting over and over again…There were nights when I couldn’t sleep…I thought about where my family was and whether they were alive. (Beah 69)” Ishmael had been captured by multiple tribes and released, starved to death, been lost in the jungle for an unknown amount of time, and even made his way to the Atlantic Ocean; and yet he never managed to escape the nightmare of the war. He had never known what had happened to his family, and would likely never find out. It’s with those words, those experiences, those specific thoughts; that the audience, can know just what type of person Ishmael is, just a boy, and who he’s become thanks to the war, an empty body walking along the path (Beah 70).
In addition, almost as though emotions weren’t bad enough to deal with while he was conscious, he had nightmares to constantly remind him of the traumatic events that followed him wherever he went. In an earlier chapter, Ishmael himself describes how he cannot escape the memories of the past, causing him to fear sleeping at night and waking up in sweat(Beah 20), so he has flashbacks. Each one a different and yet still terrible reminder of the life he now had because of the war. A specific daydream he had in chapter ten, is one where he pictured his grandmother telling him of his name-day ceremony (basically a birthday). While this particular flashback made Ishmael smile, (Beah 77), it’s still a reminder of what he has lost. He will never be able to physically see his grandmother’s smile, hear her stories, or even feel her hug him again. As Ishmael himself says, “…I spent most of my time fighting myself mentally in order to avoid thinking about what I had seen…I became restless and was afraid to sleep for fear that my suppressed thoughts would appear in my dreams (Beah 52).” The fear of his reality from the war has taken away something sacred to everyone, dreams, almost like there’s nothing the war cannot control.
ReplyDeleteWar has become something that people can just compare to a highly developed video game; not very many people sit and contemplate what the cold reality of it is. Something as traumatic as a slaughtering of villages and farmhouses shouldn’t be taken lightly. War creates the worst in people, it causes emotions and morals to be shut down in order for survival to take over, it takes away families, and worst of all, it can take away sanity. The only way that war can be ‘properly’ described, is by Ishmael’s companion Saidu. He said, “ Every time people come at us with the intention of killing us, I close my eyes and wait for death. Even though I am still alive, I feel like each time I accept death, part of me dies. Very soon I will completely die and all that will be left is my empty body walking with you. It will be quieter than I am (Beah 70).”
Wow, what an opening!!! :) Excellent analysis. Work on being more succinct.
DeleteIn today’s world violence is glorified through the media, movies, television, and video games such as Call of Duty. The US does not seem to comprehend the horrible realities of war as they truly are. When people talk about war our generation sees the romanticized view given to us by such media sources, and saying things like cool and awesome, even when someone is talking about killing another man who believes he is fighting for a greater cause. In the story A Long Way Gone, by Ishmael Beah, he uses literary terms such as foreshadowing and symbolism to express emotion, build suspense, and build up each of the characters to make the reader feel like he knows each one personally.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading A Long Way Gone one of the things I noticed was a large amount of foreshadowing. Whether it was the way animals were reacting, the sounds coming from the forest, people he met, or just weird feelings he had along the way. An example of this is point in the book where a raven falls from the sky. Ismael talked about this being a bad omen, and they ate it. Later his friend Kanei died. “After Kanei stopped humming, the world became eerily silent. The breeze and the clouds had stopped moving, the trees were still, as if they all awaited something unimaginable”(Beah 81). This is excellent use of foreshadowing by Ishmael, and is warning of bad things to come meaning Kanei’s death.
In the story examples of symbolism are bountiful throughout the book. One of these that I mentioned in the previous paragraph is the raven. The raven has always been a symbol of death and despair, and is used widely by the poet Edgar Allen Poe. The raven had fallen from the sky and was unable to regain it’s ability to fly. The raven symbolized Kanei. After being captured and faced with the possibility of death countless times Kanei had lost hope as he said “How many time do we have to come to terms with death before we find safety? Every time people come at us with the intention of killing us, I close my eyes and wait for death. Even though I am still alive, I feel like each time I accept death, part of me dies. Very soon I will completely die and all that will be left is my empty body walking with you. It will be quieter than I am.” (Beah 70). Kanei is stating that every time the “shake hands with death” he dies a little inside. Unlike Ishmael who is able to overcome this, Kanei accepts his coming death and when it never comes he is unable to regain all the humanity he lost. Another form of Symbolism Ishmael uses is his cassettes. He has carried his rap cassettes with him his entire journey and throughout the story they seem to mean little to the reader, besides they ended up saving him and his friends a couple of times. It is until the cassettes along with his old clothes are burned that their true meaning becomes clear. The cassettes were more to Ishmael than cassettes they represented a time before the violence. A simpler time when he family was still alive, and he was relatively care free. When he was happy. When they were destroyed he was overcome with sorrow. It was as if his last bit of innocence went up in flames along with them.
These and many more literary devices that Beah uses in his story are what make it compelling to move forward and at the same time difficult and heart wrenching. A Long Way Gone is a literary masterpiece that sheds light on a dark, and overlooked chapter in man’s bloody history.
Excellent! Great job connecting to contemporary American society. :)
DeleteJonathan Tipton
ReplyDeleteMrs. Corolewski
English 10
21 November 2013
Long Way Gone
We often forget how great out lives are. Unlike Ishmael, we do not risk our lives every day going out to kill others, or are wondering whether we will live through the night. Although most of us live spoiled lives, Ishmael portrays a vivid image of war, hope, defeat, strength, sadness, addiction, joy, adrenaline, and many others. Ishmael's use of imagery helps us, the reader, understand the emotions Ishmael is feeling, and how he thinks. Another literary tool used throughout A Long Way Gone would be symbolism.
The combination of imagery and symbolism creates a strong image of the story in the reader's mind. The two literary elements complement each other and takes you deeper within the story and the text. Symbolism is when an author uses a specific scene, emblem, or symbol to represent something else besides its true meaning. "I walked for two days straight without stopping...Often, my shadow would scare me and cause me to run for miles"(49). Ishmael expresses his fear and emotions so easily and clearly in the quote above. Symbolism, Ishmael's shadow represents his fear, loss of hope, and frailness by being alone in the forest.
Imagery, authors use the literary technique to paint a picture within the readers mind about a scene by using strong descriptions and details within the text of a story. "I had passed through burnt villages where dead bodies of men... were scattered like leaves on the ground after a storm"(49). Ishmael describes his memories very meticulously, clearly the images must have left an imprint in his mind. Within the quote, multiple literary tools are used. Symbolism, imagery, and similes were used to describe the scene. Symbolism and similes are somewhat in the same boat, they take an idea and change it to describe something else. "Scattered leaves on the ground after a storm" describe where the bodies of the villagers were and how they looked separated and seen everywhere. As you read the quote, you can almost picture the scene as if you are looking into Ishmael's thoughts and seeing his memories.
Often times, when you read a story, literary elements are within the text to provide a better, enhanced, and in-depth experience. These tools pull in the reader and make a story come to life. Anyone can write a good paper, but it takes hard-work, dedication, and the ability to work smarter, not harder, by using these tools. Ishmael clearly states events in a clean and precise manner, but the elements he uses pulls you in, making you want to continue on even when the story is done.
Good!
DeleteCristian Lopez 2B
ReplyDeleteThroughout A Long Way Gone, there are a lot of literary devices used by Ishmael. However, there are two that seem to stick out the most. Ishmael’s tone as the story goes on changes from a numbing depression to an endless thirst of vengeance while the theme somehow stills the same throughout.
One of the persistent themes was hope Even when circumstances seem at their worst, Ishmael still somehow had some kind of hope that his family could still be alive, despite the endless bloodshed of countless people. “I have a feeling that we will find our families, or at least news of them”(89). After endless running and sights of brutal murder and mourning for his family’s safety, Ishmael finally receives news about where his family could be. This is very important because he has been emotionally distraught for quite a while at some point. It’s as if his feelings of happiness had left him a long time ago, but suddenly decided to come back.
Ishmael’s tone at this point was somewhat happy after the news of his family, but all of his hope was almost completely gone within a couple of minutes. The boys decide to help Gasemu on the way to the village at which many people from Mattru Jong were staying. This was were their families were supposedly keeping refuge.By the time they get there, the village was in flames. “I screamed at the top of my lungs and began to cry loudly as I could, punching and kicking with all my might into the weak walls that continued to burn… I was filled up with anger”(95). The only reason Ishmael reacted this way was because he cared about his family. Everyone he was hoping to see was taken from him in an instant.
This brewed a hate in Ishmael towards the rebels who caused it, and he is going to make them pay for it.
Cristian, I like that you analyzed devices others did not. And, you did an excellent job. Bravo! Do check punctuation.
DeleteStephanie Jones
ReplyDeleteMrs. Corolewski
Honors English 1B
21 November 2013
Chapter 5
"A Long Way Gone" by Ishmael Beah is a true story of how Ishmael went through so many stages from running from the Rebels, to hunger and thirst, to being in the army fighting the rebels. Not only is Ishmael a 13 year old boy but, him and his brother, Junior, and his friends Gibrilla, Kaloko, Talloi and Khalilou have to experience this together. Ishmael experiences so many things that a 13 year old boy should not experience. In chapter 5, Ishmael and his 5 friends experience hunger and thirst, which none of them had ever experienced before, they also get captured by the enemy or the rebels.
At one point Ishmael says " We were so hungry that it hurt to drink water and we felt cramps in our guts" (30). They searched abandoned farms and even got so desperate into which, they assaulted a little boy who had two boiled ears of corn to
himself. Rather than the young boy's parents confronting the Ishmael, instead give them each of the boys an ear of corn for themselves. Ishmael thinks that the pity, of them being so desperate and emaciated,saved them from the punishment. He feels guilty about their troubles that they caused but accepts that they had no other way to get fresh food.
As they journey continues, Ishmael, his brother Junior, and their friends Gibrilla, Kaloko, Talloi and Khalilou are captured by rebels “none of whom, were older than twenty-one” (31). The six boys are taken to a village filled with rebels. While being held there, Ismael watches as the rebels’ torment of an old man who wanders into the village looking for his family. "The rebels laughed at him and made us laugh with them by pointing their guns at us. I laughed loudly, but I was crying internally and my legs and hands trembled" (32).The rebels knock the old man to the ground and threaten to put a knife through his throat while they asked him questions. They accuse the old man of being unsympathetic to their cause, then fire a gun next to his head, convincing the old man that he has been shot.
Ishmael, his friends, and some other captured boys are then lined up to be selected to enter the rebels. The rebels’ first round picks include Khalilou, Ishmael, and a few others, but some rebels protest that the choosing was not done correct and they
start over. "One of them said that they had chosen wrongly, since most of us who had been chosen were trembling and that meant we were sissies" (34) This second time Junior is chosen but Ishmael and his friends are not. Junior and the other chosen
boys are then told by the rebels that to be rebels they have to go through the phase of killing the boys who were not chosen. Junior nearly bursts into tears at the thought of killing the boys, let alone his brother was right in front of him. They had to shoot the
boy in front of them. Nearby gunshots disrupt the process of the boys getting "training" the rebels get scared of the gunshot and get low to the ground, the boys manage to scatter into the forest. Ishmael escapes from the rebels and is alone until Junior and
the others catch up with him. Reunited, the six boys make their way back to the village in which they had spent their time searching for food to sleep and think about what to do next.
Steph, this is an excellent analysis of Chapter 5, however there is no analysis of literary devices used in this chapter--which was the assignment. :(
DeleteKaela Watson
ReplyDeleteMrs. Corolewski
Honors English 10
P. 1B
Literary Devices Blog Post Part 1
Throughout literature, literary devices are used as compelling ways to communicate with a reader. This can be clearly seen in A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. In A Long Way Gone, Beah uses literary devices to very clearly and realistically share his story with readers. The author systematically utilizes these devices to make comparisons, clarify the events of the book, and help the reader relate to and truly understand Beah’s experiences as a child in war-torn Sierra Leone.
One of the effective literary devices used in the book is symbolism. This device can be clearly noticed throughout A Long Way Gone, however a reader might notice that Beah uses symbols to demonstrate the way his life drastically changed when he joined the government army. At the beginning of Beah’s training in Chapter 12, he and all the other new boy soldiers were given new clothes and shoes by the government army (110). Furthermore, Beah states that he was very happy about receiving his new possessions (110). Acquiring new clothes from the army symbolizes that a new era in Beah’s life has begun at this point in the book. The acquired possessions exemplify the new chapter in Ishmael’s life. Also, Ishmael’s joy at being given new possessions shows and symbolizes that Ishmael trusts the government army despite the fact that Ishmael knows of the atrocities that soldiers commit in the name of war. Symbolism is also shown when Ishmael’s cassette tapes are burned after Ishmael receives clothes from the government army (110). A reader might find it unusual that after all Ishmael has been through, he still keeps his cassette tapes, despite the fact that the tapes take up valuable space that could be used to store food or other essential objects. The cassettes are Ishmael’s only physical reminder of his previous life with his family. The loss of the cassettes symbolizes the end of Ishmael’s childhood in Mogbwemo and complete loss of his innocence.
Justun Brower 4B
ReplyDeleteIn the biography “A Long Way Gone” by Ishmael Beah, he tells the story of when he was a boy running for his life, the people around him when this happened what he did to survive, when he was a child soldier in the army, and when he had to leave the front lines. In his journey, there are multiple milestones and tuning points that he had to go through. Some of the most important times in his journey might be when he heard that the rebels attacked his village, when he had to become a child soldier, and wand when he was at the rehabilitation center. There are also tons of points in Ishmael’s journey that may not all be when he is in the war, when he has to deal with what the rebels and possibly the war in general is doing.
As Ishmael starts telling the reader in his autobiography, he lives a happy, almost care free life. But that suddenly changes from right under his nose when the rebels attacked his village when he was in Mrattru Jong. From what Ishmael knows, his only family at this point is his older brother Junior. Something Ishmael says is; “We were in Matrru Jong longer that we had anticipated. We hadn’t heard any news about our families and didn’t’ know what else to do except wait and hope that they were well.” (21) This quote that Ishmael said prove that he is worried sick about his family and that he hopes that they are alive and not dead after the attacking of their village.
Later in his journey, when Ishmael and his friends are given the option to become a soldier or leave the village, Ishmael’s friend, Alhaji, says; “It is better to stay here for now. He sighed.” (107) Then “Ishmael writes; “ We had no choice. Leaving the village was as good as being dead.” (107) After he basically had to become a soldier for the army, he went through intense and difficult training. As Ishmael finished his training, he was given drugs and sent on a mission to ambush a rebel squad. During the mission, one of Ishmael’s friends dies right before his eye’s. After he knows his friend is completely dead, he is able to fire his AK47 at the rebel squad. After the mission was over he finds two more of his friends dead on the forest floor. Later, Ishmael is not the person who he used to be. Because of the influence of drugs, he became a stone cold killer. He cheers at the pain of rebels they captured and he is able to kill the captured rebels without hesitating a single second as well. He feels nothing for the rebels or anyone that is not in his squad.
Ishmael continues his autobiography two years after he became a soldier when he arrives at the rehabilitation center. He makes a new friend named Mambu when they met in the mess hall and found out they fought on the same side. After they left the mess, they asked a group of boys who they found out were rebels, if they knew why they were at the rehabilitation center. After the group of said that they were from the rebel side, the mood changed. The people on Ishmael’s side and the rebel group attacked each other as if they were on the front lines. When the battle is over, six of the boys who cam to the center died. And the two foreigners who brought them there and s couple boys from both the groups were injured and had to be taken to the mini-hospital. After the fight between Ishmael’s group and the rebel group, Ishmael writes what he and hi friends did at the center. He tells the reader that they tormented the center’s staff and the village’s people who came to get water. Another thing Ishmael did was taking a glass of water from a kind nurse and then throw the empty glass at the wall. He tells the reader that he and the other boys basically did what ever they wanted to do at the rehabilitation center. In conclusion, because of these three turning points in Ishmael’s life, they changed how he acted and how he thought.
Good job analyzing turning points, however is this a literary device?
DeleteCheck citations.
Andy Tuller 2B (Part 1)
ReplyDeleteAuthor Ishmael Beah has a very distinct way of telling the story of his experiences as a child soldier in, “A Long Way Gone.” He doesn’t hold back, and presents this comprehensive memoir in great, often graphic detail. He effectively establishes the mood of the situation by listing the various events in the story in rapid succession. These lengthy and candid lists are usually accompanied by flashbacks, and both these techniques help to shed some light on both Ishmael’s past, as well as the mindset he was in that particular stage of his life. This formula can be seen as Ishmael describes his thoughts and actions after a few days of living in Benin Home.
Upon his arrival at the rehabilitation center, Ishmael and the other former child soldiers were having a miserable time adjusting to civilian life. The staff that tried to help them was initially met with heavy opposition, usually in the form of violence. Ishmael relates to us the severity of the situation by bluntly naming all of the questionable acts he committed during his first few weeks at Benin Home. He told of how he and the other boys threw whatever they had at the counselors and therapists, how they burned a cook’s hand for not putting milk in their tea, how they frantically searched their clothes for crumbs of cocaine, and how they tormented the neighbors by pelting them with stones and destroying their buckets (Beah 138, 139). His methodical listing of the events that occurred serves to illustrate just how depraved he and the other former soldiers were at that point in time. It shocks and numbs the reader by showing them the reality of the situation while giving them a better understanding of who Ishmael was for this period of time.
As Ishmael bides his time at Benin Home, his mind begins to drift between the war and reality. These flashbacks happened frequently and at the slightest provocation. The sight of the city lieutenant made him think back to his time as a junior lieutenant in the “army” (Beah 142). This shows us just how deeply the war affected him on a psychological level. He even reported hallucinations such as when the tap water appeared as blood, and how he had to wait until it looked like water again before he could use it (Beah 145). The trauma that produced these flashbacks is arguably just as important as the content of them. They show that Ishmael is human and vulnerable, even though he doesn’t want to admit it at this point in his life.
Later in the same chapter Ishmael described how difficult it was to get through the day without thinking of his grisly war memories, and told how they were like a barrier that prohibited him from thinking of his life before the war. He eventually breaks down and gives into the painful parts of his past as he begins another flashback. Beah described a bloody skirmish that lasted several days and ended with him realizing that he narrowly avoided death several times in the midst of the firefight. The drugs and adrenaline prevented him from having any emotion towards the wounds he received and inflicted during the encounter (Beah 151). This brief insight into Ishmael’s past conveys so much more than just a description of a graphic exchange of fire with the rebels. It educates the reader on the specific situations Ishmael was faced with in his time as a child soldier. There is a significant amount of time that has been left out from when Ishmael is recruited to when he was released, and these flashbacks become more and more apparent as Ishmael begins to regain his memory. It explains why Ishmael was who he was. The war has taken his childhood, innocence, and his individuality from him. Before he was a child soldier, Ishmael would never do anything that would put him in harm’s way. As a junior lieutenant, he laughed at the wounds he received during combat- even when he was literally only a few inches away from death.
Outstanding!
DeleteJadn Soper/4B
ReplyDeleteA childhood is not something to be taken for granted, most kids have heard to take advantage of it while we can. During those years, people build the foundation for the person they will grow up to be. Some people in this world are robbed of their childhood. In most cases this robbery is commited by a traumatic event, one that will shape their life forever. In the case of Ishmeal Beah, he elaborates the apalling events that sculpted his youth in his book A Long Way Gone. Considering the events throughout the story are reality based and non-fiction, it leaves little room for the author to expand the story with literary devices.
Throughout the novel he uses personification. Relating inhuman things to the emotions of the reader by giving it person-like charactoristics. He does this when describing the flames that burned down a town as “dancing with the breeze” (123). The ease in which he says this is chilling. From the lessons drilled into his head by Sierra Leone’s finest, he now lacks the empathy to realize the pain he is inflicting on others. When Ishmeal cut the prisoner’s throat in order to portray his strength, he didn’t feel the need to leave out a single gruesome detail. He described the Adam’s apple as “making way”(125) for his blade while he slit it. As if it was holding a door for the bayonet, to end the man’s life. This action was not only violent, and without remorse, but met with the applause of his peers.
The pack mentality is carried out through his military career. The boys do as the “alpha” or leutenent says and does so with pride. Similies relate the horror to the reader’s everyday life. When dicussung the effects of the drugs he was now addicted to, he said exterminating a human life had “become as easy as drinking water” (122). As if ending someone’s existance was no more of a choice than breathing. Having the instinct to kill anything opposing his ideals and superior’s beliefs, hard wired into his brain, most would think he already lost the battle. Maybe he would have. If no one tried to re-program Ishmeal with a respect for human life, he could have possibly continued on the peramiters given to him by the military. He could have grown no further than the strength it takes to end someone’s existance.
Slowly but surely the child soldiers on both sides of the war became numb to their surroundings. With the help of drugs and lack of personal thought, Ishmeal has been morphed into the perfect soldier. Someone with a reason to fight, nothing to loose, and no feelings to get in the way.
Excellent analysis Jadn. Two things: your first sentence is very confusing and you need a transition from that to your second sentence.
DeleteKaela Watson
ReplyDeleteMrs. Corolewski
Honors English 10
P. 1B
Literary Devices Blog Post Part 2
Along with symbolism, another very effective literary device that Beah uses is the flashback. An example of this device can be seen in Chapter 12, when Ishmael is remembering his life prior to joining the army and his family’s death. Ishmael states that the soccer games played in the army village remind him of the soccer matches that Ishmael and his brother, Junior, would participate in when they lived in Mogbwemo (102). Beah uses this memory to compare his life from when he was a child to his life as a soldier. Although, Ishmael’s life and the lives of all the people touched by the war have been changed immensely, the use of Ishmael’s memories as a flashback helps remind the reader that there are similarities between Ishmael’s life, before and during the war. Additionally, Beah uses flashbacks to demonstrate the differences, as well as the similarities, between his childhood and his life in the army village. At the beginning of Ishmael’s training, Ishmael tells the reader about how the only weapons that he has ever used were used solely for games that Ishmael, when he lived in Mogbwemo, would play with his friends. Beah also implies that he and his friends glamorized the war games (111). This flashback evinces the stark contrast of Ishmael’s two mentalities towards the violence, both preceding the war and after he was exposed to it. Before the war, Ishmael was ignorant to the reality of violence, and in fact acted as if violence was simply a pastime at which Ishmael’s younger self could play. The first time Ishmael holds a gun is an obvious indicator of the change between Ishmael’s current way of thinking and of his past opinion of violence. Ishmael states that the gun frightened him (111). At this point in Ishmael’s life, he has been overexposed to violence, and he knows too well the damage that a gun can produce. By using a flashback, Beah shows readers the distinction between the two major parts of his childhood. This literary device also helps demonstrate the similarities between these two parts. Throughout this book, literary devices are employed to add meaning and clarify the events of the book. Ultimately, Beah’s use of literary devices allows the reader to walk away from this book with a vivid sense of the themes, and let the reader know Beah’s story as if it were his or her own.
Excellent analysis Kaela. Do try to be more succinct. :)
DeleteBri DeMaree
ReplyDeleteMrs. Corolewski
English 10 4B
20 November 2013
Literary Devices Used in “A Long Way Gone”
Oftentimes we don’t think much about atrocities such as being a forced child soldier happening in this era. We believe that in this era everything is excellent and nothing could be any better. The national bestseller “A Long Way Gone” by Ishmael Beah is a memoir of his time as a child solider in the war-torn country of Sierra Leone. Beah tells the story with pure honesty, and it is magnificently written. He uses many literary devices throughout his story to enhance his writing. In the autobiography “A Long Way Gone” Beah uses the devices of portraying the mindset of his fellow soldiers, and his, and the use of flashbacks to maintain a grip on his reality.
First, Beah portrays the emotions of the other characters to show their change of mindset as they progress from regular boys to child soldiers. He shows how they alter their thinking as their training advances in the government army. Beah, at the beginning of his training, shares a tent with two younger boys and writes after their first day of tough instruction, “Instead of smiling in their sleep, Sheku went “Paw paw, boom,” and Josiah went, “One, two,” the numbers we had recited as we stabbed the banana trees” (Beah 112-113). In this one line Beah demonstrates the start of the boys’ brainwashing. The boys are trained incredibly hard as to cause them no rest from training, even in their sleep. They are impacted hugely by the exercises which they went through, stabbing banana trees with their bayonets and shooting their new guns. As if they hadn’t been affected by the war around them enough, they are now a cause of it. Sheku and Josiah, the two boys Beah shares a tent with, used to smile in their sleep, showing that after all they had gone through they still retained a portion of their innocence of childhood. Now, as child soldiers, the war has fully gained control of their minds and instigates them to even dream of it. It shows the hardship and the war they go through daily that affects them to the certain extent of losing their minds to it.
Even in the course of this brainwashing Beah is still able to maintain a grip on his reality by thinking of his past and offers these elapsed experiences to the reader. An example of this is when Beah recites a monologue from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar with a government lieutenant and tells how he also did this at his old home (Beah 104-105). When he repeats these well-known verses even amid countless soldiers and seemingly endless war it shows that Beah is able to keep a part of his old self inside him. He shows that he can survive this war with an old part of him still intact, no matter how far it gets buried. Beah wants to remember his joyful times as a child and how proud he was when he could recite these trying monologues to the adults of his village. He uses this memory and many others to draw support before, during, and after his time as a child soldier to survive the war and the later guilt of his actions. He holds onto his original self consciously and self-consciously to save his mind from utter destruction.
Against all odds in his situation Beah comes out changed for the better. He presses forward through his guilt and allows others to share his experiences through his wonderful memoir. Beah becomes a true writer, expressing his thoughts and actions with perfect candor allowing others to see what he saw and become changed by his compilation of memories, using these literary devices and others to augment his life as a child soldier.
Good job Bri!
DeleteAndy Tuller 2B (Part 2)
ReplyDeleteBeah’s use of flashbacks and his listing of events throughout the story help the reader learn more about him while at the same time giving them a better understanding of his world. He fills in many of the gaps that he intentionally left obscured while making meaningful statements about the effects of war and life as a child soldier. The result is a shocking yet compelling first-hand account, masterfully woven by Ishmael Beah.
Matthew Magaw
ReplyDeleteAlthough Call of Duty, Battlefield, Halo and other war games are fun we as Americans tend to idolize war as something that is fun or something that should be taken lightly when in reality in other countries around the world there are children our age who are actually fighting a war and are being forced to shoot guns that we as teenagers only see in videogames or movies. Ishmael uses many literary devices to help tell his story to us of when he was a boy forced to fight a war that was not his own. Ishmeal uses Imagery in the book to help you picture what he was actually seeing during the time.
“I had a gun now, and as the corporal always said, “This gun is your source of power in these times. It will protect you and provide you all you need, if you know how to use it well.”” (Beah 124) Corporal Gadafi’s mentality is demonstrated by this statement, which the corporal transmits to the soldiers under his command. In the violent times of Sierra Leone civil war, weapons are power; Beah learns to focus his sense of security and strength in his G3 rifle for most of his military career. Later in the memoir, when his weapon is taken from him, he panics and feels at a loss without the tool of violence which has come to define him. Ishmael Beah goes through many trials and he clings to that sense of security whether it be from a gun or a memory of him with his family when he goes through hard times so he can continue to move forward in his journey.
Good opening (however, it is a run-on). Your analysis is of one literary device--it was to be of two.
DeleteKarla Gulley 4B
ReplyDeleteIn his autobiography, Ishmael Beah, tells of his encounters with war and innocent life. He started his journey as a young boy, about a teenager, and comes to terms with the many facts of life and death. There are decisions made that most of us will never have to make because in the United States we are privileged. We generally take what we have for granted, we whine about how much homework we have but what we don’t think is , how would Ishmael have felt if he had the chance to do homework instead of become part of the war and have all of these discrepancies thrust upon him that he can never live down. In chapter 12 Ishmael uses the literary devices of imagery and the tone of the chapter makes this an impactful chapter.
Ishmael uses a imagery throughout many of the chapters. The imagery that stood out the most was the quote about the sunrise that Ishmael sees in the village, it says "that morning didn't come just with a sunrise; it brought with it soldiers, the few who were able to make it back to the village" (Beah 105). This imagery strikes attention to what the mood is for this chapter as well as setting a tone
The tone that Ishmael shows is the fear that he feels. This anxiety, that is a constant theme through the book, that is shown is incredible by the reactions given as well. When Ishmael is talking to Jabati and they discuss the Julius Caesar quote of how cowards die many times before their death, his reaction is very minimal(Beah 104). The tone set while he was talking to Lieutenant Jabati was interesting for the fact that Ishmael knew the quote yet if contemplated it can lead to the decision to either choose or not the discrepancies that Ishmael shows. Ishmael may have gone through extremely difficult times and made important decisions that led to discrepancies thrust upon him that he can never live down, we need to think about not taking advantage of what we have and learning to love the way we live because one day you may lose everything as Ishmael did.
P. 4B
ReplyDeleteIn order for people to learn, they must recall their past experiences. Humans make connections between past and present experiences in order to make sense of situations. In A Long Way Gone, Ishmael’s memories are stimulated throughout the book, especially when he is running from the rebels in the forest. Although it was not necessary for Ishmael to develop war survival skills in the past, he did learn emotional survival skills. Ishmael mentions flashbacks constantly. He lost everything but his memories, and he chose to hold onto them to keep him alive. He retained some information from his past that helped him along his strenuous journey. "I thought about when Junior and I had visited Kabati and would take walks with our grandfather on paths around the coffee farms by the village. He would point out medical leaves and trees whose barks were important medicines. During each visit, Grandfather always gave us a special medicine that was supposed to enhance the brain's capacity to absorb and retain knowledge" (Beah 51). When he was trying to survive, this flashback was triggered. His mind knew this information could be vital to his survival. Ishmael’s family comes to him during his flashbacks which helps keep him sane.
Ishmael’s memory of a conversation with his father gave him hope that he would find his family. “’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.’ I thought about these words during my journey, and they kept me moving even when I didn’t know where I was going” (54). Without this hope, Ishmael feared that he would die on the inside. When he is taken by the army, Ishmael is brainwashed into thinking that his fellow soldiers are his new family and he adopts his lieutenant as his new father figure. Ishmael was also made reliant on drugs that were forced upon him, and he was coerced into a soldier mindset. His new hope was that by killing the rebels, he would be avenging his family’s deaths, if they were dead.
Chapter 16
ReplyDeleteWhen you think about it, it’s pretty incredible that Ishmael Beah had survived through the amount of war and terror that he had coped with. Better yet, it’s amazing that he had the ambition and need to teach these concepts to the world, because the general population of the world doesn't understand how war can affect a society, or even a person's mind. This is because for most large societies, war is simply a word used to describe something happening thousands of miles away, with no relevance to them. Ishmael puts the reality of what war actually is into our minds using exceptional implications of literature, by using literary devices such as flashbacks and allegory.
Through his recovery from the war, Ishmael explains many of the things that are happening, not only to his body, but also to his mind. Though he doesn't realize it yet, Ishmael’s mind sets are already recovering greatly, for example, when he states "I was once a lieutenant, I thought, a 'junior lieutenant', to be precise." (Beah 142), this displays how his brain subconsciously thinks "I was once" meaning that he does not feel he is a soldier any longer, even though he does not directly reflect this. This represents the fact that he is mentally making major improvements, although, as I stated before, if someone like Esther were to ask if he felt like he had changed, he would say no. The moment after he thinks this, he has a flashback to when he was fighting for the army, when he had started to attack a village, but his friend Alhaji decided to practice his Rambo moves, and does so without being seen, until a rebel spots one of the dead soldiers Alhaji killed, to which Ishmael and his friends begin shooting (Beah 143). This shows how sensitive his mind is to anything related to the war in the slightest, so much that he can’t even reflect on certain situations with previous experience.
Even after months of recovery process, Ishmael still faces troubles which are directly reflected by his mental state and attitude. As he says later in Chapter 16, "I would dream that a faceless gunman had tied me up and begun to slit my throat with the zigzag edge of his bayonet."(Beah 149). Even though one of his nightmares was over, while wide awake, these hallucinations would continue. The hallucinations and nightmares are an effect of war trauma, and Ishmael does a great job of showing how his young mind could not cope with the kind of things that war brought on. Soon after this nightmare of his, he has another flashback, this time it is about a battle for a village in the rain, which lasted an extremely long time, but the things gained from this battle were very beneficial for Ishmael, even though he had come centimeters away from death, given that there were bruises all over his body from bullets nearly hitting him.(Beah 151) This is the same situation with his mental recovery, it is a long vigorous fight for sanity, but in the end, much is gained, even though he has come close to staring failure in the face. These things support his means of writing through the literary devices of flashback and allegory by helping give the reader indirect reflections of what is happening emotionally and mentally without needing for Ishmael to actually make constant direct analyses.
Seeing the sadness that this story brings, with all of the things that a young child had no choice whether he actually wanted to have these things actually happen to him or not, brings to thought of how lucky we are to have someone in the world like Ishmael, who knows about these things, yet decides to teach it anyway, knowing how much good it can do people mentally showing them through his amazing use of not only literature, but literary devices such as flashbacks and allegory, and not resisting to talk about the graphical situations that most people touched by war refuse to talk about, and I think this is good because it leaves nothing behind, nothing hidden, and reveals the reader to the full affect and purpose of the story.
Bea Grimsed
ReplyDeletePain and death of loved ones are some of the many hardships a child in a war must go through in his life time, A Long Way Gone, by Ishmael Beah, is a story of a young boy who is struggling against these trials. Ishmael shows the reader a life-like connection with his past experiences, in an effort to show the cruelty of war. In an attempt to explain his tragic experience, Ishmael uses illuminating metaphors and foreshadowing to hold tension within the novel.
Ishmael uses metaphors in his writing to help the reader understand what is happening, he describes how difficult his journey is and will continue to be. “In some way my journey was like that of the moon --- although I had even more thick clouds coming my way to make my spirit dull” (Pg. 70). Ishmael realizes that he will endure even more of the hardships of his current life, but can also see that his love will preserver to the end. As is seen in the following chapters of this story Ishmael falls into the trap of becoming a child solider, by losing his family and choosing life as a solider over death. He feels the pain of the dark clouds ahead of him.
The reader gets a hint of what is to come, when the boys see a crow fall from the sky, not dead, but with a broken wing. Ishmael and his friends see this as a sign of warning, but decide to eat the bird anyway. Later that night Saudi tells his friends that he fears that he is dying on the inside, and that eventually there will be nothing left but an empty shell. A few days later Saudi dies. The bird helped the reader predict what was to happen by showing that some innocent creature was injured in an irreparable way. The trauma of the war killed Saudi’s innocence and showed what terrible experiences all of them will go through.
Marlena Spies
ReplyDeleteHonors English 10 1B
Mrs. Corolewski
11-21-13
In a perfectly written novel, literary devices would be in an abundance, Ishmael in “A Long Way Gone” brings this ideal book to life. Beah uses literary devices one after the other, and does so in a very fluid way. Having this aspect within the book helps the reader stay connected to what he or she is reading. What I found most prevalent in “A Long Way Gone” was the use of literary devices such as imagery and repetition. Using imagery and repetition throughout the novel helps the reader develop a mood for the book and also helps Ishmael demonstrate the emotions that he is experiencing while enduring this war.
To truly describe the gruesomeness of the war that Ishmael is suffering through, Beah uses many forms of imagery scattered about in chapter twelve. In the beginning of chapter twelve, Ishmael goes in depth about how his experiences were so horrific that it was almost unbearable. He describes that he “saw bodies of eleven and thirteen-year-old boys in army shorts piled by the river (Beah 100)”. This detail and monstrosity of the setting that he depicts through word choice only begins to show how imagery is used to the readers advantage in this book. One who may be more sheltered from the world and what is happening all around us, may find that the use of imagery in Beah’s book helped them realize the true of what is happening right before these little boys’ eyes.
Repetition can play a key role in a book when it is used correctly, like how Ishmael demonstrates in “A Long Way Gone”. Toward the end of chapter twelve, I find that Ishmael used the word “that” to show that he was wanting the event that occurred that night to be in the past due to the effect that it had on his life (Beah 112). Ishmael also uses the word “that” designate that night as once that was life changing and had a lot of meaning behind it. I believe that Using the word “that” shows that it could be a flash back from when Ishmael was a child soldier and he is now living safely at “home” in New York City. Another Example of repetition is when all the boys have got in their tent for the night and all that Ishmael hears coming from the dear lips of his friends are mock noises that sound like the guns when they are fired, or the things they have to repeat when training. The repetition of the corporal saying these training “chants” drilled the killing methods into the young minds of the boys and got these, once innocent, children used to the sound of war cracking at their backs.
Using the literary devices of imagery and repetition helps the reader of “A Long Way Gone” paint a disfigured picture of what Ishmael had to go through in his adolescent life. The strong use of imagery and repetition is important in giving the reader a glimpse of the devastation that Ishmael has survived with the death of his family, the loss of several friends, lack of innocence, and realization that he is lucky to have survived what he has. Ishmael Beah, and his writing, has made people open their eyes up to the world using literary devices to create the “ideal read” that we all crave.
Marcus Sappington
ReplyDeletePractically all Children are told to “dream about who you want to be!” They are told that being an adult is for a later time and they should live in their fantasies. Ishmael is telling his story about how his fantasies were ripped out of him. He was no longer free to use imagination how he wanted, he was to fight in a war. His story is too severe to tell on its own, Ishmael uses a plethora of literary devices.
One of the many forms of literary devices is personification. On page 49, Ishmael talks about how the air wanted to attack him. Something as simple as the air which, aside from extreme cases, doesn’t hurt you. Infact you need air to survive, but with everything going on in the story the air seems to be as harmful as everything else. This is just one example of many, where Ishmael uses personification.
A separate literary device Ishmael loves to use is storytelling. In certain cases, it can be exceedingly vague. In another case, it quite obvious. Like the story of bra spider. The story of bra spider was used in a specific time when it was necessary in their lives to hear. It told about how being selfish will end up hurting you in the long run.
In A Long Way Gone, the literary devices bring this dark story to light. The horrid life that Ishmael went through is a story of bravery. The fact that he was able to look back on those images and memories to be able to write this book proves that.
Garrett, Trent
ReplyDeleteEnglish 1B
Hope, anger, sadness, and grief, emotions displayed all too well by Ishmael throughout the book affecting his state of mind more than once. Ishmael, an emotional person at times, would subject himself to let out all of these emotions affecting everything from objects to people around him. The graphic scenes portrayed by Ishmael painted vivid pictures to an audience, making them more aware of how life is outside of the living room. The truth of the matter is that though emotion, Ishmael is able to change the mood of the book not just for the reader but for the characters that lie within it.
When certain events unfolded for Ishmael one of the things I noticed was him “bottling” his emotions until something so drastic occurred he released them such as a volcano releases it lava. When coming to the village in which his parents temporarily lived and then died Ishmael, just as a volcano, released his emotions not just mentally but physically by “kicking and punching” everything to the point where his friends had to drag him away from a certain scene (Beah 95). Ishmael, having lost his one hope, resorted to the extreme of staying in a burning house and kicking inanimate objects painting a scene of dismay. These emotions plunged Ishmael into a temporary low state of mind making him angry not only with himself but with the others around him. When looking elsewhere to let off some more steam, Ishmael bashed out at Gasemu by placing him into a choke hold, hitting him with a “pestle”, and causing him a nose bleed. Ishmael reverted to try and hurt the man who indirectly saved him and his friends. All consideration was lost and anger and rage overcame Ishmael, a once peaceful person.
With anger and frustration consuming Ishmael his only drive was to survive, it was surprising to see him show compassion in the form of help to the man he lashed out at, Gasemu. Ishmael made his biggest traipse upon showing compassion for Gasemu by giving him comfort and going further as to even cry while Gasemu took his last breath (99). This act provides the sense that Ishmael, having choked and struck Gasemu, had the feeling of anguish for what he had done. In the same sense the emotions laid out by Ishmael gave the reader the understanding of how imperative the situation must have been for a person who was previously numb to all, to show tears of remorse for a fallen man. Throughout that same night Ishmael’s eyes had the reception of watering to again show the compassion towards the recently passed Gasemu (99). Although filled with sadness and grief, the literary devices used by Ishmael at this point provide an eerie calm feeling. This eerie calm feeling leaves the reader curious as to how far Ishmael’s emotions can carry and affect him.
Garrett, Trent
ReplyDeleteEnglish 1B
One of the more subliminal moods of the story, hope was laid deep within Ishmael clinging onto the probability of his family still being alive and well. “Your parents and brothers will be happy to see you. They have been talking about you everyday and praying for your safety. [...] I dropped the hand as he started giving me the news” (Beah 92). Ishmael, after weeks of conceiving the one hope that he clinged onto, let it out in a frenzy. It was enlightening to see Ishmael let out and give the reader an inference that there was still a hope inside of trying to make it's way out. Ironically the hope that gave Ishmael some temporary joy made him angry in the sense of him getting exasperated over his group having to pause for brief periods of time to get to the village in which his family resided in (93). It was ironically good to see Ishmael become so anxious as to get angry for a brief pause for rest after everything thing he had lost and gone through. This unexpected hope, brought forth the idea and a new hope a joy that Ishmael could again possibly act and have the life as a normal child should.
With all of the different settings and moods given throughout the book, Ishmael manages to add a twist and make each one have their own signature. Each new mood brought forth by Ishmael put the reader in his shoes, providing them with the feelings needed to understand what Ishmael went through. With each new mood being newly represented, it drives the reader back for more and foretells of what might come as next. Overall the quality and quantity of moods told by Ishmael brings the reading to somewhat of a personal level with each reader, further expanding the issue and problems that go on outside of our “bubble”.
Melody Mina 4B
ReplyDeleteAfter living through a horrendous time, one might not be able to thoroughly explain what occurred. In A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah uses theme tone to express all that he sensed, and uses imagery to show how he viewed his surroundings during that time.
Feeling is a very essential sense that the readers need to feel to fully comprehend what a character or person is going through. After going so long without being with his family, Ishmael finally received news from Gasemu about Ishmael’s family. “‘Your parents and brothers will be happy to see you’... I dropped the hand as he started giving me this news. Excitement and sadness made me feel as if my heart would explode if I waited any longer” (Beah 92-93). Ishmael was so ecstatic to be reunited with his family, that he became anxious. This is evident, as Ishmael made the tone clear for the readers to understand. Seeing and feeling, in many ways, correlate. Imagery is a fundamental way to get across an image or scene of something going on in a story. While Ishmael witnessed the rebels walking through the burned village, he described them. “Two looked slightly older than me. They had blood on their clothes, and one of them carried the head of a man, which he held by the hair. The head looked as if it was still feeling its hair being pulled. Blood dripped from where the neck had once been” (Beah 96). If Ishmael did not use this extent of imagery in his autobiography, I believe that the readers would not sense the full effect of what he was intending to convey. Graphic writing was necessary for this story to be told.
The use of imagery creates a complete way to paint a mental picture inside the readers’ heads. The use of theme tone also creates a fitting way to, in a sense, transfer feelings, from Ishmael to the reader. A Long Way Gone is a pleasing example of entirely understanding a character’s, or in this case, Ishmael’s viewpoints, mentally grasping the images inside his mind, and being able to perceive his feelings.
Savannah Willits
ReplyDeleteMrs. Corolewski
English 10 4B
21 November 2013
The term “mental breakdown” is casually tossed around on a day to day basis. The threat of a breakdown lingers over numerous individuals, however few people actually experience one. In the autobiography, A Long Way Gone, the narrator, Ishmael Beah gives insight into the reality of a traumatic mental breakdown and the journey of recovery. The insight achieved by contemplating on past experiences allows Ishmael to employ revealing similes, as well as a bildungsroman plot line to illustrate and magnify his crucial physical and ideological reconstruction.
Physical obstacles are often described as painful, despite pain’s lack of an universal standard. This dilemma is the reason Ishmael replaces hollow adjectives with similes that compare what he is feeling to specific situations. In chapter 16, Ishmael connects the tedious occupation of a blacksmith to interpret the enduring torment of his physical state (Beah 140). The simile showcases the magnitude of strain felt by Ishmael as he is positioned for recovery. The use of metal work is also specific; it is a physically demanding job to sculpt the world’s most rigid compounds. Ishmael continues with a second simile of the anvil to describe his mind’s constant throb (Beah 140). The connection to the tool demonstrates the power surging behind the pounding. There are few relatable situations with greater tension, thumping, and compression then one of metallurgy. Ishmael precisely depicts this knowledge and links it, through well placed similes back to the level of his physical distress.
Another torment for Ishmael is an ideological struggle. A tactic to eloquently clarify these mental challenges is adopting literary devices, such as a bildungsroman plot, to beneficially communicate overall progress. Ishmael uses this strategy, beginning with his positive perspective of his nickname, the “green snake.” He is called the “green snake” because of his stealth ability to kill and yet seem like a harmless child. This is illustrated when he and Alhaji manage to slaughter an entire village (Beah 143). However, he learns over time that he must overcome the mental barricade hiding his pre-war memories, in order to heal and forget Ishmael the child soldier (Beah 149). The unfolding of the bildungsroman causes the reader to recognize Ishmael’s severely damaged mental state. Furthermore, it aids in examining Ishmael’s need to be reborn and regain compassion. Ishmael’s distinct growth from obliviousness to awareness, displays the improvement he has achieved. It also acknowledges the next step of Ishmael’s reconstruction, which is forgiveness for his actions. It is vital for him to clearly understand the consequences of his nickname. Even though he is a child, he has committed awful acts and his mental progression is illustrated as a bildungsroman plot. As the chapter ends, it is clear Ishmael’s progress will continue, only if he can conquer his ideological struggle from being a child soldier to becoming a sympathetic human being.
Ishmael’s journey through youth has physical and mental consequences. He doesn't idly toss around the notion of a mental breakdown, he experiences a true a mental break down. The reader journeys with Ishmael, living the struggle with him, by his use of similes and bildungsroman plot line. Through it all, we learn of his suffering, process of recovery,and hope for the future not only Ishmael Beah, but for all innocent children who are taken advantage of.
Maria Cornell
ReplyDeleteMrs. Corolewski
English 1B
21 November 2013
Chapter 10 Literary Devices (Part 1)
Cultures around the world have the tradition of passing down stories, legends, and myths throughout generations to teach a lesson, for entertainment, or just for the sake of sharing in an adventure. In Africa this custom seems more common than most countries. In his own story, A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah tells his experience of fear, loss, manipulation and much more while using many literary elements to his advantage and carrying on the tradition and sharing his own story. In order to express his emotions and thoughts he uses devices such as symbolism, foreshadowing, and flashbacks to give the reader a chance to read deeper into his words, the ability to predict and look back in surprise at events that occur, and most importantly provide the reader with the balance needed to take on such a graphic and emotionally challenging story.
Throughout the book Ishmael uses symbolism consistently, allowing readers to interpret the situation for themselves and making them think. The most powerful use of symbolism is Ishmael’s portrayal of the moon. Both serving as a beacon of hope and at other times acting as a stellar representation of Ishmael himself, the moon plays an important role not only in Ishmael’s life, but in the way he shares his story. At the very beginning, Ishmael described the moon as something everyone appreciates in a unique way (15). For Ishmael it symbolized his childhood, serving as a reminder of the past. In a way, the moon was a crucial factor in his endurance, a key to his hope. Because while he was on the run from the rebels he was able to look up know he still had something left. During the darkest parts of Ishmael’s journey that were filled with fear and stress the moon wasn’t there to act as his guardian angel, or it was being obscured by the darkness (69). This darkness was symbolic to the war and all of the other demons brought with it…all of which only have the goal of tearing him down and break his spirit. “In some way my journey was like that of the moon- although I had even more thick clouds coming my way to make my spirit dull. (70)” Not only did Ishmael find hope and strength in the moon, but he saw himself in it. It was the only constant in his life, and yet even its light flickered on and off making him search his way through the darkness on his own (80).
Another example of symbolism is the story of Bra Spider, which was one of greed and laziness. In Ishmael’s situation it can be viewed as both a story of the rebels and the government army. The rebels are incredibly greedy and careless just as Bra Spider. The rebels and government army will storm upon a village killing and torturing everyone just for the rations and material supplies. Their greed consumes them along with their brainwashed longing for power, their need for more. They have intentionally starved themselves for the sole purpose of being able to feast. Except in the case of both armies, they’d be feeding on the joy of killing people and listening to their cries of suffering. Just as Bra Spider did when he was attempting to be a part of all the feasts, they feed upon what is not rightfully theirs. None of these characters put any effort into what the take and receive (74). One could say that they’re all brainwashed pigs sitting around waiting to be spoon fed: lazy. Bra Spider ended up stretching himself too thin, just like the boys are doing. The only difference is that they don’t have a choice, and they’re closer to snapping.
Maria Cornell
ReplyDeleteMrs. Corolewski
English 1B
21 November 2013
Chapter 10 Literary Devices (Part 2)
In chapter ten one of the boys, Saidu, finally puts words to what it is really like to be in a predicament such as theirs.
“Every time people come at us with the intention of killing us, I close my eyes and wait for death. Even though I am still alive, I feel like each time I accept death, part of me dies. Very soon I will completely die and all that will be left is my empty body walking around with you. It will be quieter than I am. (70)”
Later in the chapter after Saidu’s death it is interesting to look back on this, and see how he was predicting his own death. This was a real life example of foreshadowing. If one were to be put into the situation however, it would become premonition. Saidu had bad vibes about how the rest of his life would play out. Even if he hadn’t died, then he would have been captured along with all the other boys into the government army (100). Looking at what ended up happening to the other boys, including Ishmael, in the end either way he would have been like an empty shell of his old self. Walking around with no real purpose, or at least not his own, and with no part of him left. When these such premonitions or foreshadowing happen in real life, it really gets one thinking about whether or not we all have a specific fate planned for us, or if life really is just one big butterfly effect. Literary devices such as these do have a strong impact on the story and the reader.
This same example is further explored when the boys reach the village they hear of their families in. Saidu is in bad health and the boys don’t notice as he passes away in his sleep (85). Ishmael had a feeling that something awful was going to happen. However the spookiest part of all this is that before his death, dogs from all over the town came running while howling. Some stopped in front of the verandah they were staying on. It seemed to both Ishmael and Alhaji that these dogs knew something, or sensed something, that they didn’t (84). This factor adds to the spookiness of the story, which in and of itself is already quite terrifying and horrific.
To add some balance to parts of the story like this which are quite depressing, Ishmael tends to use flashbacks to his life before the war to balance out all of the emotions brought forth in these stories. He usually refers to stories or memories involving his grandmother. After listening to Musa’s story of Bra Spider, Ishmael has trouble falling asleep. While he sits there, his thoughts wander to times he spent staying up late into the night talking to his grandmother. These memories bring him happiness and comfort but also an underlying sadness knowing that he will probably never see his family again (75-77). These flashbacks provide the reader with a break from the rest of the story which is often times very sad and emotionally traumatizing.
Maria Cornell
ReplyDeleteMrs. Corolewski
English 1B
21 November 2013
Chapter 10 Literary Devices (Part 3)
However Ishmael also uses these flashbacks to bring emotion upon the reader. Later in the chapter he brings up each of the boys experiences of when Mattru Jong was attacked (78-80). Not only does this add character development and understanding for each of the boys, but it’s truly awful. In this book to really understand the power of Ishmael’s words you have to be empathetic, but in this specific part when he’s mentioning how they all lost their family it is almost impossible for anyone not to feel all of the emotions it evokes. The flashbacks Ishmael chooses have a way of impacting the story in a way that most others wouldn’t. They take you to a different time that is either better or way worse. Ishmael times them all fairly well too. For example he won’t add a flashback like the one of the rebels attack in at a part that is already very emotionally troubling. This timing and just the power of these memories in general make a very strong impact. They also reflect on what Ishmael’s life was like before the war, before the running.
Even though Ishmael’s tale is a sad one, it is one that needs to be told. Stories are what bring all cultures together despite differences and dislike. Stories are also the way that we as a worldwide community preserve our history so that we don’t forget the horrors and triumphs of the past. But one of the only ways to make these stories remembered and recognized is to make them memorable. Words are one of the most powerful things we as human beings have access to, and there are some people in the world who are able to bend them in a way to tell their story and make an impact on people’s lives. Ishmael Beah has succeeded in doing just that with the use of a pen, paper, and his story. One of the reasons he was able to do this is because he was able to open our eyes to what is happening in the world. Ishmael gave us all a reason to look at the moon in a different light, be thankful for what we have now, and make the most out of our lives with the time we have left. Most importantly… He gave us a great story.
Emily Malterre 4B
ReplyDeleteHe was gone. A long way from home, and gone. Gone from everything he knew. Gone from everything he had known. Gone from everything he had loved. A long way gone. This is the position Ishmael Beah is faced with in chapter nine of his autobiography. Above, you see an example of repetition, one of many literary devices Beah uses. In Beah's novel, A Long Way Gone, Beah uses repetition and imagery to convey his message in a way that is both effective and powerful.
Beah uses the simple repetition of the book's to create themes and symbolize a main idea that encompasses the entire book. He discusses how far he was physically from his home, "This time we were a long way from Mattru Jong. A long way gone" (Beah 65). The simple repetition of the book's title has a profound impact. It not only is a poetic phrase, but it clues the reader into a big idea of the book. But Ishmael is not only talking about how physically far he is from the home he left behind, but of how distant that past life is to him. He is no longer an innocent boy with a happy family life, competing in talent shows and learning rap songs. He is a long way gone from the sense of happiness and community that once wrapped its arms around him. War has changed him and dragged him far away from the child he once was. He is a long way gone from everything he was, and he will never be able to truly make it back.
Another literary device the author deploys is imagery. Beah uses descriptive imagery to invoke emotion and allows the reader to visualize the scene. Many times this imagery is shown through excellent word choice. Many powerful images come from describing people, for example, "She wiped her disconsolate face as she disappeared behind the hut" (Beah 65). The use of the word disconsolate sums up her demeanor and emotions perfectly. We can easily see and feel her pain as she desperately try's to warn them to save their lives. We get a heart wrenching image of one of the only people who was simply looking out for them. Another use of descriptive imagery is using words that we can easily visualize to put us in the shoes of the people in the scene. "The stars were beginning to be covered by fast-moving clouds" (Beah 64). Instead of simply telling us it was about to rain, he shows us the imagery. It is easy to visualize the clouds become dark and fill the sky and almost taste the stench of rain. This way of showing us the image puts us into this place much more effectively. Imagery allows for potent connection between the reader and the scene.
These literary devices allow for more connection between the reader and the text. They allow us dive deep beneath what the simple words are saying and to discern the meaning and the deep ideas behind the text. Beah uses repetition and imagery to invoke weighty emotion and effectively convey big ideas.
What would you do if, when you were 12, you were given a gun and told to go fight in a war? With the way our country is now most people would say something like “awesome, sweet, or even something like I would aim for the head.” In our country war has been romanticized, and it’s not what most people think that it is. Ishmael Beah was someone who had to fight in a civil war in is country. Ishmael has written a book about his hardships and the trauma that he had gone through. In his book Ishmael uses some foreshadowing and a lot of detail about what is happening to him both physically and mentally.
ReplyDeleteMany times in the book Ishmael talks about how he knows that he should cry, but he is not able to. Now if I talk about the entire book I will take up at least 5 pages, so let’s look at chapter 12. An example of foreshadowing in chapter 12 is right at the start; when you look at page 100 paragraph 2 the soldier says “you will get used to it, everybody does eventually.” this is said right after Ishmael sees some men gruesomely killed on the ground. This is foreshadowing to the fact that seeing someone in such a gruesome way is something he will be used to seeing. Ishmael talks about, in page 102 middle of paragraph 3, he says “my symptoms weren’t mentioned in the morning when the ‘sergeant doctor’–as the civilians called him-lined up the children and families for treatment. The sergeant doctor called for fever, cold, and many other illnesses, but he never asked if anyone was having nightmares or migraines.” This is showing that while Ishmael and some others are okay physically they are still ill mentally. All of this is showing that while Ishmael is suffering he is also showing us that there are things that build up to other events, and that just as one can be okay physically they could be having trouble’s mentally.
Amber Coleman
ReplyDelete1B
Mrs. Corolewski
11/21/13
The childhood of Ishmael Beah was not a happy one. “A Long Way Gone,” the biography of Ishmael Beah’s childhood, is filled with tragedy and horrendous hardships. The contrast between how he lived before the war was amazingly simple and normal compared with after the war. Ishmael uses flash backs to reflect or show how his life was before the war and how his life has now been changed for the worse. Beah is also known for displaying large amounts of internal conflict within his book, which he uses to magnify and to put emphasis on many emotional struggles in his life.
Within chapter eight, Ishmael uses two main devices, flashbacks and conflict, to compare how his life was before the war with how it was after. The most used literal device for chapter eight would be the usage of flashbacks. On page 49 Ishmael talks about how he’s had to walk for two days straight without sleeping and he’s stopped only to drink from streams. He continues on to say that he was hungry, but he didn’t have the strength to find food. But then, he finds an odd fruit which he has never eaten before, but he is at the point of near starvation, so he decides to eat the fruit, not knowing truly whether it was edible or not. Then, on page 51, Ishmael flashed back to a time when he was in Kabati, with Junior and his grandfather. He talked about how his grandfather would point out medicinal leaves and trees whose barks were used in important medicines. After his flashback, Ishmael wanders around looking for one of the medicinal leaves that his grandfather had said removed poison. At this time in Ishmael’s life, one can easily see how his life has changed from simple and ordinary to battling and fighting for survival from starvation. In chapter eight, Beah uses this literary device to contrast how his life was before to how it is now. Although there were other flashbacks that could have been used to display the thesis, the flashback chosen had more of an impact contrasting his past life to his current situation.
The other major literary device used is the display of conflict (mostly internal conflict). On page 52, Ishmael states, “The most difficult part of being in the forest was the loneliness….One thing about being lonesome is that you think too much, especially when there isn’t much else you can do. I didn’t like this and I tried to stop myself from thinking, but nothing seemed to work. I decided to just ignore every thought that came into my head, because it brought too much sadness.” The quote stated is a prime example of internal conflict, as it is one of the main issues for Ishmael throughout his life. The entire time Ishmael is alone in the jungle, he is constantly struggling with the battle against the loneliness he feels and the thoughts that come creeping into his mind when he’s by himself. On page 54, Ishmael states, “I became restless and was afraid to sleep for fear that my suppressed thoughts would appear in my dreams.” Time and again, Beah has been suppressing himself because he is scared of what he will see or think. This is also a perfect example of evidence.
To summarize, the flashbacks to the time in Ishmaels past, before his experience with the war, is a main literal device used throughout the entirety of chapter eight. Ishmael uses flash backs to reflect or show how his life was before the war and how his life has now been changed for the worse. But, flashbacks are not the only literal device he used with in this chapter. He also used the displaying of (internal) conflict, which he uses to magnify and emphasize the many emotional struggles in his life. The many trials Ishmael has experienced throughout life have only made him a stronger person in the end.
Nick Kelly
ReplyDeleteMrs. C
Honors English 10
21 November 2013
Imagine leaving your home to go to an event in a nearby town thinking that you are going to return in a couple of days, but when you are gone your home is attacked by a hostile invader. You are then forced to run from the terrorist with nothing but the clothes on your back. This is what Ishmael Beah went through when a rebel group called the RUF attacked his home town and devastated everything in their path. Ishmael’s account of his experiences in his autobiography, “A Long Way Gone” is very poignant due to his use of symbolism and similes to demonstrate how crazy his world had become after the civil war began.
In chapter ten, Ishmael and his group of friends faced death several times and the experiences are taking their toll on Saidu. He expresses his feelings that every time they are captured by the villages, a little part of him dies (Beah 70). Saidu’s state of mind is mirrored in the form of a bird falling out of the sky, even though the bird is not dead. Too much of Saidu’s soul has been destroyed by the times that he accepted death and he was ready to accept death for the last time. The bird had also had too many hardships and lost the will to live. When Saidu eats the bird, he becomes “connected” to the bird and soon dies along with it.
During Ishmael’s journey to find freedom he faced many challenges that could have brought him down. Ishmael compares himself to the moon saying that even though his future is hazy and dark, he has to persist and keep on trying to shine and show his light (Beah 69). This is a perfect example of a simile. Ishmael faced many hardships during his escape and he knew that he they were not going to stop. Instead of letting the obstacle bring him down and Ishmael pushes through the haze and keeps a positive attitude about the prospect of finding his family.
Although many of us will never have to follow in Ishmael’s crapes, we can see how the hardships would affect us because of Ishmael’s impeccable use of symbolism and similes.
Nicole Skinner 1B
ReplyDeleteWhat catches your interest in a story? Perhaps it’s the author’s word choice, the topic, or maybe even the amount of detail that’s used. Regardless of what it is, it wouldn’t be quite as effective and attention-catching without literary devices. In Ishmael Beah’s autobiography “A Long Way Gone”, he uses many of them to enhance his writing. In chapter 6 specifically, Beah entwines flashbacks and amplification into each page in order to demonstrate contrast and show detail.
The flashbacks in chapter 6 play a key role in showing the changes Ishmael is having in his life. One example of this is when he reflects back on Junior teaching him how to skip stones on water. He was even able to recall Junior laughing and tickling him. (39) Ishmael remembers this story while sitting in an abandoned village to avoid the rebels. He was looking at Junior and could see the depression set into his face. This part in the chapter clearly demonstrates the amount of change that has been forced upon Ishmael and the other boys in a short amount of time. The stone-skipping story had happened recently enough that he could remember even the little details. Now that the war had set in, children could no longer naively enjoy simple things because they had to behave like adults. The contrast between Ishmael’s pre-war life and the life he had while running away from the rebels was astounding.
Amplification is also a commonly used literary device in chapter 6 that provides the reader with a lot of detail in order to get a message across more clearly. This was seen in many places, one of them being when Ishmael was talking about farming in Kamator. He could’ve just said that the farming was difficult, but instead he went into extreme detail. He thoroughly explained the condition of his hands as being “peeled, swollen, and blistered.” (42) Ishmael used a lot of descriptions and included so much detail to give us a clear idea of what he was going through. Living in America, we don’t have to face the sort of things that Ishmael had to. We feel sympathetic but we can’t completely connect because it’s so different from anything we’ve ever had to experience. Beah’s writing wouldn’t be as impactful if he didn’t include the amplification to give us more vivid images.
Both the amplification and the flashbacks play a vital part in allowing us to see the extremities of Ishmael’s war life. Through the stone-skipping story (39) and the farming descriptions (42), we’re given a clear view. Obviously, we’ve never been through anything close to Ishmael’s situation and never will be able to completely connect with it. Many people would take something simple, like a sibling teaching you how to skip stones, for granted. However to Ishmael, it had become a happy memory that was long gone. He was able to see in Junior’s face the effects that the war was having on all of them. It was very important that Beah included this story and other flashbacks because it enables us to see the drastic changes. We never got to see much of his life before the war, when he was still happy. These flashbacks allow us to see inside his head and know how much he’s truly been affected. The amplification is also vital for us to reach an understanding of what he went through. If he had simply stated that “farming was hard”, then we wouldn’t have a visual image of quite how difficult it was. The attention to detail played a large role in including the reader in the story as much as possible.
Although we sometimes like to believe that we can relate to everything, there are some things that will always be out of our grasp and completely unrealistic to happen to us. So how are we able to form a connection with the events that happened to Ishmael? He made wise writing decisions by centering his autobiography around attention to detail and contrast, giving us a pathway to a world that we’ll never personally experience.
Carson Shaw
ReplyDeleteMrs. Corelewski
Honors English 10/ 4B
21 November 2013
Ishmael Beah: A True Soldier
Little known to most Americans today, there are millions of child soldiers, most likely one is in your living room reclined back with a twelve pack of Mountain Dew and a bag Doritos playing romanticized first person shooter games, though the majority of child soldiers don’t get it that easy, such as Ishmael Beah recounts his time as a child soldier in his autobiography A Long Way Gone. Ishmael describes vividly his experience of real life with the help of literary devices like hyperboles and personification.
Ishmael illustrates the physiologically tough experiences with writing that evokes amplified mental images, and relating actions that most people can understand onto entities. Ishmael’s decaying senses from the harsh experiences of war, put him in paranoia making everything worse than it seems, “[e]ven the air seemed to want to attack me and break my neck” (49). The treacherous images that Ishmael has been through makes it as though that inanimate objects will attack him even though he knows they won’t. Ishmael overstresses that even the air wants to hurt him because every turn he takes he finds people who want to hurt him, whether it be the rebels that manipulate Ishmael, or towns that assume the worst of Ishmael from the actions of other boys his age who pillage communities. Ishmael with everyone against him and separated from his brother and all acquaintances at this point, is alone with nearly everyone looking out only for themselves, losing humanity. The application of human traits to objects further displays Ishmaels hardships that he is put through, “[s]ometimes I closed my eyes hard to avoid thinking, but the eye of my mind refused to be closed and continued to plague me with images” (49). Ishmael recreates a gruesome scene before the quotation of the mutilated and destroyed dead bodies of societies, Ishmael tries to expel the images, by closing his eyes but his mind will not stop flashing back to the trauma (49). As an adolescent without the experience or coping methods developed, it is impossible for Ishmael to deal with the tremendous amount of death around him, and not have horrendous visions of deceased dehumanized bodies. The use of personification of his brain’s eyes ceasing to close is the only way people who haven’t been through war can understand the brutality of the rebel’s tactics. The hyperboles and personifications used create a bridge for people, especially those living in societies that view war with valor and courage, can fully understand how terrible warfare is.
Ishmael is a genuine courageous soldier, and experienced the true feeling of war, not just pressing “x” to reload his AK-47, but having to push the magazine into the compartment, having to actual farm for his food, not yell at his mom to make him some pizza rolls (43). Ishmael demonstrates and makes it feel as though you were there with him, through his descript use literary devices.
Mikayla Lawrence
ReplyDeleteEnglish 1B
11/21/2013
In America we don’t really hear about someone struggling to have freedom, but people in Sierra Leone as well as other places are living what we don’t hear of. Ishmael Beah writes his story is a child soldier in Sierra Leone and the struggles and heart ache he went through to achieve freedom in America. In his story A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier he use some literary devices to help you visualize what is happening and show his emotions in his story. He uses them to add more meaning to his story and share with the reader some of what he went through.
In chapter thirteen Beah describes a shocking moment in war when he loses when of the younger boys that he shared a tent with, this is also when he first uses his gun to kill, Beah uses imagery to help you visualize the death of his young innocent friend Josiah “He wiggled his legs as his cry gradually came to an end. There was blood every where.it seemed as if bullets were flying into the forest from all angles. I crawled to Josiah and looked into his eyes. There were tears in them and his lips were shaking, but he could not speak. As I watched him, the water in his eyes was replaced with blood that turned his brown eyes into red. He reached for my shoulder as if he wanted to hold and pull himself up. But midway, he stopped moving” (118). Readers might think that Beah uses this type of literary device to show and better understand what he went through and saw in the life of a boy soldier. He very clearly describes what he saw to help the reader visualize what really goes on in war it’s not what American see in video games, movies, or sometimes books some of those are imagination of a writer working to try to understand what happens in war. War is much more than some can imagine.
Beah uses the mood of the story to help show his emotions to the reader. He speaks of the time he first went into combat “The explosion was followed by an exchange of fire from both sides. I lay there with my gun pointed in front of me, unable to shoot. My index finger had become numb. The forest had become to spin. I felt as if the ground had turned upside down and I was going to fall off, so I clutched the base of a tree with one hand…I raised my gun and pulled the trigger, and I killed a man. Suddenly as if someone was shooting from inside them inside my brain, all the massacres I had seen the day I was touched by war began flashing inside my head. Every time I stopped shooting to change magazines and saw my two lifeless friends, I angrily pointed my gun into the swamp and killed more people. I shot everything that moved, until we were ordered to retreat because we needed another strategy… We went out two more times that week and had no problem shooting my gun” (117, 199, 120) As you read this passage from chapter thirteen you can see how his mood about war changes he went from terrified not knowing what to do to killing anything that moved. The reader can clearly see his change in emotion towards war and how he reacts to it because he later went to say that he had no problem shooting his gun the next time. A reader might believe this is a big change for Beah in the story because before he was running from it and scared of war and now he is assisting in the war and killing families like his own.
Throughout the book Ishmael Beah used many types of literary devices but the mood and visualization show through clearly in chapter thirteen. They show is change of personality, his compassion for his friends, and the effects that war take on someone. This book clearly shows what people don’t realize is going on in other countries and will help Americans be more aware of what is going on in other countries beside their won.
Alyssa Travis P.2B
ReplyDeleteWar is the biggest, most controversial issue in the world today. From teenagers playing Call of Duty video games to children being forced or influenced to fight in wars and kill people, even their own families. In the autobiography, A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah goes through far too many traumatic experiences in his childhood that any child should ever have to live through, such as losing the people closest to him and encountering death far more than any child should.
Throughout the course of Ishmael's life, he has lost his family, friends, and everyone closest to him. After being taken into the government's Army, they burn all of his old clothes and belongings, the only things he had left to remember his family. After they are burned, the Army gives him new clothes to wear, all he has left of his past is the memories that are slowly dwindling away. "I remembered a few weeks back when Saidu had spoken about parts of him slowly dying each passing day, as we carried on with our journey. Perhaps all of him had died that night when he spoke in that strange voice after we had survived that attack by men with machetes, axes, and spears, I thought. My hands and feet began to shake, and they continued to do so throughout the night. I was worried and kept calling out my friends' names, so that they wouldn't fall asleep. I was afraid if any did, he was going to leave us" (Beah 87). These boys are slowly dying everyday, losing apart of themseves . They are being completely changed, they are no longer who they were. The only thing they have left of their past, is their memories. They aren't innocent children anymore, they are just people living in world of sadness.
Death is a horrid thing for children to go through, whether witnessing a loved one die and killing someone else. The Army lieutenant desensitized the children or death by having them see and witness the killings then having them kill others themselves. After joining the Army at first, Ishmael can't even begin to comprehend what is happening. He then starts to catch on to what is planned to happen, but when, it does, he can't bear to even fire the gun. "I lay there with my gun pointed in front of me, unable to shoot. My index finger had become numb. The forest had begun to spin. I felt as if the ground had turned upside down and I was going to fall off, so I clutched the base of a tree with one hand. I couldn't think, but I could hear the sounds off the guns fat away in the distance and the cries of people dying on pain. I had began to fall into some sort of nightmare. A splash of blood hit my face. In my reverie i had opened my mouth a bit, so i tasted some of the blood. As i spat it out and wiped it off my face, I saw the soldier it had come from. Blood poured out of the bullet holes in him like water rushing through newly opened tributaries. His eyes were wide open; he still held his gun. My eyes were fixed on him when I heard Josiah scream. He cries for his mother in the most painfully piercing voice that i had ever heard. It vibrated inside my head to the point that I felt my brain had shaken loose from its anchor" (Beah 117-118). Ishmael is just so struck by what is happening. A few months ago Ishmael would have never thought this is what the world was like.
Ishmael's experiences are so signifigant and different than anyone elses. He has gone through so much in such a little time and its astonishing that he is only a child doing all of these incredible and horrible thigs.
Kennedy Alvaro
ReplyDeleteMrs. Corolewski
English 10
Imagine, at the age of ten, being abducted from your family and forced to go to war. That is what happened to Ishmael Beah. In American society, even the mere thought of being a child soldier is almost impossible. The sad truth is, in third world countries, the possibility of becoming a child soldier is very real. In the book “A Long Way Gone” Ishmael uses vivid descriptions to show how he has become emotionally traumatized by the acts of violence in the war. Beah utilized metaphors and personification to illustrate his emotions throughout his journey.
There have been countless instances where Ishmael has come face to face with death. Every day, living in fear that today might be his last, “Very soon I will completely die and all that will be left is my empty body walking with you. It will be quieter than I am” (Beah 70). He is comparing his dead body walking and his soul being dead. Beah has come to a point where he is uncertain how much longer he will live. It is not so much as him actually being dead, but that Ishmael’s soul and spirit will die and he will become lifeless just walking and moving on with his struggle to survive and find safety.
Throughout the book, the moon occurs alongside Ishmael during his darkest hours. During the long silent nights, Beah is connecting to the moon on a personal level, as if the moon is a reflection of his life. ““One night when I sat outside in a village square thinking about how far I’d come and what might lie ahead, I looked in the sky and saw how the thick clouds kept trying to cover the moon, yet it would reappear again and again to shine all night long. In some ways my journey was like the moon—although I had even more thick clouds coming my way to make my spirit dull” (Beah 69-70). At this point, Ishmael is unsure of his future, but knows a forest of terror will soon be upon him.
The emotional scars and horrifying events in Ishmaels past is, without a doubt, unimaginable. One cannot even being to apprehend the thoughts going through Ishmael’s head. The tragedies Beah has been through, at such a young age, are absolutely terrifying. The metaphors and personification used throughout the book, helps grasp and understand the traumatic events Ishmael went through when he was a child soldier.
Annika Thomas
ReplyDeleteMrs. Corolewski
English 10
20 November 2013
Blog Post
The innocence of childhood was disrupted for far too many children during the Sierra Leonean civil war. They needed to keep a strong will power to retain any sense of courage during the trauma. Ishmael Beah’s will for a better life motivated him through the graphic experiences his life entailed. In his book, A Long Way Gone, Ishmael uses similes to create a relatable mood for the audience and flashbacks to help build character and hope that counteract the morbid scenery.
Throughout the book, Ishmael uses similes to describe melancholy settings in ways the audience can relate. “I had passed through burnt villages where dead bodies of men, women, and children of all ages were scattered like leaves on the ground after a storm. Their eyes still showed fear, as if death hadn’t freed them from the madness that continued to unfold” (Beah 49). As the rebels stormed through towns, they wreaked havoc, killing hundreds of innocent civilians and leaving their bodies to rot in the quiet villages. Comparing the bodies to scattered leaves creates a relatable atmosphere of disarray, the wreckage tossed about with no morality in the storm of rebels that caused it.
Throughout the ruins of society, Ishmael still found optimism in words is father told him at a young age, the flashback building sense of hope that’s instilled in Ishmael’s character for the rest of his life. “When I was very little, my father used to say, “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.” I thought about these words during my journey, and they kept me moving even when I didn’t know where I was going. Those words became the vehicle that drove my spirit forward and made it stay alive” (Beah 54). Ishmael portrays extremely devastating scenery throughout the book, but his father’s words show hope for his destiny. There was a reason he lived through it all, and as Ishmael lived through the terrors he faced as a child in Sierra Leone, he was driven by the words his father gave him so long ago. The flashbacks used in the book not only relate to building hope, but character as well. They give the readers an idea of the thoughts running through Ishmael’s head, his past family, and what keeps him going. The memories of past times build hope for better ones.
Ishmael uses many literary devices throughout the novel including similes which help create a mood of the setting and flashbacks to build character and hope for a better future. Through the thick and the thin, Ishmael’s father’s words of destiny, hope for a better tomorrow, drove his spirit through the harsh and graphic images he experienced. Sierra Leone had a tragic war, not too long ago, that stole the lives and the minds of far too many people. Ishmael Beah was a victim of this tragedy, but he was able to make it through driven by hope. He survived the trauma of the war and was able to share his experiences with the world, now living the type of life he wanted. In an interview with Gina Stepp in 2007, Ishmael referenced what his father told him and said, “Now it could be good or bad but something will change. So when I was running I kept that thought: "If I am still alive there is still hope that this could end and that I could survive.” That didn't turn out to be the case for quite a while, but eventually it did.” When there is still a life left to live, a new tomorrow, there is always a chance that something good can happen, Ishmael Beah is living proof.
Zared Kile
ReplyDeletePeriod: 2B
A “Long Way Gone” is an autobiography of Ishmael's tragic involvement in being a boy soldier. In this tragic autobiography, Ishmael uses a lot of literary elements describing his experiences being a child soldier. A couple that was conspicuous to me in chapters six through sixteen was Amplification and imagery. Ishmael uses these elements to magnify how skillful his writing is in English.
“It was infuriating to be told what to do by civilians”(138). In the beginning of chapter sixteen Ishmael uses the literary element amplification to magnify how aggravate it was to take commands by civilians. The vocabulary of Ishmael is very broad considering how drugged up he was a kid. His vocabulary is like one of a doctor that graduated English with Honors.
“Everything felt awkwardly brutal. Even the air seemed to want to attack me and brake my neck” (48). Describing how weak Ishmael is becoming shows imagery. Ishmael is using imagery to give the reader a mental image of how hungry and thirsty he was. Because of how starved Ishmael is the reason why the “Air seemed to attack me and want to break my neck”(49).
Without the elements that Ishmael uses, Ishmael’s writing would be original instead of how unique like it is. Ishmael's writing would be like everyone else's, plain, bland, boring, and no one would want to read his autobiography.
Hayley Parks 1B
ReplyDeleteSometimes something tragic and horrific will happen to you, but there will always be an opportunity to create something amazing out of it. Ishmael Beah, author of A Long Way Gone, and former child soldier knows a thing or two about dealing with hardships in life. To enhance the telling of his story, Ishmael develops his character and uses many symbols to show the change he has gone through.
Ishmael really develops his character throughout chapter 16 to show how he starts to change and make his transition from soldier back to a “normal” child. “I craved marijuana so badly that I would roll a plain sheet of paper and smoke it” (139). Part of Ishmael’s journey out of soldier life involves his withdrawal from drugs. As Ishmael lets the drugs leave his systems and he learns to live without them, he takes that part of soldier hood out of him, bringing him farther and farther away from darkness. After he can completely rid himself of the desire for drugs, he can move on to the next stage of becoming a regular kid again. “We walked all day, buying ice cream and Vitmo drinks... I spent most of my time licking the sticky residue on my elbow and between my fingers instead of eating it from the cone” (147). It is seen how much Ishmael has changed just since the beginning of the chapter by the way that he admires the city and enjoys what he is doing, rather than being violent and destructive. When he is struggling to eat his melting ice cream and licking it off of himself, you see how he is coming out of soldier mode and back to child mode as he acts silly, innocent and childlike again. Part of enjoying childhood is just being able to have fun.
Ishmael uses character development throughout his memoir as well as many symbols. “We wandered about all the way to the Cotton tree, the national symbol of Sierra Leone and the land marks of the capital. We stared openmouthed at the huge tree that we had seen only on the back of currency” (147). The Cotton Tree is seen as a symbol of reality. The Cotton Tree symbolizes reality because the boys have only seen this symbol on money, never in person. It takes them out of the forest and the small remote villages into the reality of the big city to see what a more modern lifestyle is really like. “’Come back tomorrow so that I can change the bandage. Okay?’ She began to rub my head, but I pushed her hand way and walked out” (141). The nurse, as well as the city soldiers, and UNICEF staff are all a symbol of family and love. These people all care for Ishmael as well all of the other boys and their wellbeing. They provide the love, care, and support that the boys would get from their families, but since they no longer have families, they are willing to step in and fulfill that position, just as a family would.
Ishmael Beah does an excellent job of taking his hardships and turning them into something new. Ishmael uses a good amount of character development and symbolism to tell his incredible and moving story.
Shannon Barna, 1B
ReplyDeleteIn America, war and violence are more than often romanticized rather than depicted in their true nature. Ishmael Beah, author of A Long Way Gone, experienced war and violence first hand as a child soldier in Africa. In his book he tells of his tragic and traumatizing events and images he observed and were directly involved in. To fully allow the reader to understand his experiences Ishmael uses a range of literary devices including symbols and capturing a specific mood that sticks with the reader through out his story.
As one follows Ishmael through his journey as the book unfolds, one can pick up many symbols that seem to be of significance to him. Specifically, most of these symbols seem to be from his childhood before the war, and he clings to them as he struggles to keep his identity and remember who Ishmael Beah is. An example of this can be found in chapter ten, which will be the chapter of focus in this essay. Ishmael one night, while traveling alongside with his companions, looks up at the moon: “One night as I sat outside in a village square...in some way my journey was like that of the moon” (pg. 69-70). All the way from chapter one the moon has been a huge symbol to Ishmael of his childhood. But it goes far deeper than that in this chapter. As Ishmael endures more heartache and see's more traumatizing images being displayed daily, he is slowly losing bits and pieces of how he identifies himself, as an innocent child. The moon, representing his childhood before the war touched him, shows how through all the things he is witnessing he still desperately holds onto that identity. Later when Ishmael and his companions come across a village, they stop and stay for a while and in seeing the happy families together, Ishmael is reminded of his family who he was separated from. “I put my hands behind...when he did something wrong” (pg. 71). Ishmael is recalling things of his childhood before the war that he is fond of. All of these things symbolize the make up Ishmael's identity and how he likes to remember himself and his life being. These memories though are becoming replaced with the pain he has now come to be comfortable with.
In order for the reader to grasp the feelings that Ishmael had come to be familiar with, he had to do a very good job of capturing a mood, which was very well accomplished in his book. This is evident in chapter ten after Ishmael and his group had been walking for a time and were starving, an unusual crow fell out of the sky. “'What day is...something unimaginable”(pg. 81). Ishmael's word choice in what words to use played a big role on the mood of this particular setting. The eerie silence that he said followed the eating of the crow builds an uncomfortable feeling as if something bad is about to happen. The boys feel something is definitely wrong. The eeriness Ishmael is describing is the feeling that he had done something that he knew he probably should not have done, though it was necessary for survival, and the boys have the feeling that something bad is going to happen because of it. Later that mood is portrayed again: “I didn't sleep that night...take up the cry” (Pg. 84-85). Ishmael again shows this mood which is setting up for Saidu's death. These moods that are set up are preparing the reader for events to come, as well as making them feel the same mood that Ishmael was experiencing. It is the literary elements mentioned and more that have allowed Ishmael to paint readers a picture of his journey through being a child soldier. Ishmael has allowed readers to be emotionally moved by his story and become more knowledgeable using these techniques. Great praise goes to him and what the literary devices he used where able to do for the fellow reader.
Ashton Sullivan
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Imagine a blank canvas. A canvas as white and as pure as snow, a canvas that has never been touched by harsh colors of the paint. Now imagine someone smearing that blank canvas with blood reds, ominous grays and terrifying hues of black; the fabric will forever be haunted by the colors, never being truly clean again. Ishmael Beah takes us along through the unsettling journey of his childhood, repainting his experiences using ambiguity and acute eloquence.
Go back to the untouched canvas and in its place visualize a child. Just a little boy struggling with all his might to survive in a pointless war, to stay away from all the death and affliction. Yet someone had to take their paint coated fingers, dirtied from the blood and agony of other innocent human beings, and continually bathe the young child in it. Eventually, those horrors will become all that child knows; they will become a part of him, they become who he is. “The villages that we captured and turned into our bases as we went along and the forests that we slept in became my home. My squad was my family, my gun was my provider and protector, and my rule was to kill or be killed. The extent of my thoughts didn't go much beyond that” (Beah 126). The amount of emotion with which Ishmael describes his attachment to the army squadron begins to explain who he has become and the mark that the “paint” has made on him.
There is going to come a time when someone is going to come along and want to cleanse the canvas of the grisly colors staining it's surface. Nevertheless, it's often too late to pull the stain from the fabric; the blemish has seeped beneath the skin and rooted itself in the foundation of the material. “The drugs from the previous nights, before we were brought to the city, had begun to subside in my system. I walked up and down on the verandah, restless in my new environment. My head began to hurt” (Beah 137). In former chapters, Ishmael often mentions the constant headaches that pain him before he became numb to reality. Not only did the commanders drug the boys with potent substances, but they are also drugged with the comfort of weaponry and the excitement of supposed revenge. As they fall from that exhilarating high, the reality begins to seep in and it hurts. The pain of reclaiming who they are, with the many scars that mark them physically, mentally and emotionally, hurts more than anything we could ever dream of.
Imagine that canvas one last time. Except now, place yourself in that situation. Could you ever go through those hardships, that torment, the utter agony that Ishmael and so many other young children have pushed through? Even more so, could you have gone back and recounted each thing, each experience with such emotion and reflection? Ishmael Beah found his way through those paint stains by showing the world the hidden tragedies; by telling the world it needs to be changed.
Ian Kerby
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To most people privileged to be living in a well developed and safe society a tragedy is an uncommon occurrence that leaves a lasting impact and time to heal, but this privilege is stripped from some people. People in Ishmael Beah's shoes in a recount of his fight for survival of a childhood, “A Long Way Gone”, shows how conditions can dramatically change for the worse without any healing period. Ishmael, his friends, and many other people were victims of improper healing time. Tragedy is common place for Ishmael and the imagery that comes with it is just as horrifying.
Ishmael's recollection of his early life was mostly tragedy. He was shocked or nearly paralyzed at the first occurrences of his situations. People brutally murdered by rebels through various forms of homicide, bodies with displays of agony or mutilation, littered around. And he had to walk around the lifeless people. But as the situations grew more frequent, like a shovel scraping at the ground, slowly approaching the core, but each subsequent layer taking a little less than the former. When Ishmael reaches the point when he is forced to fight, he displays apathetic attitudes. The tragic situations are incorporating more of him now, he's killing on a regular basis, and relishes in the satisfaction from killing those whom he holds responsible for innocent deaths and his families assumed death. Competitions emerge from the situations, and the greatest example of the common occurrence of tragedies is when Ishmael kills for sport. “The morning after... life's greatest achievements” (Beah 124). Slitting a persons throat is no easy task, but performing the action for sport or competition is a prime example of the constant tragedies, and the detail of displays only adds to the effect.
When a writer just mentions an action casually it doesn't generally leave a lasting impression or “touch” the reader. Proper imagery is responsible for that. Imagery makes for interesting writing, whether it is a text to a friend or a novel/biography, those details make the writing good. The use of descriptors used in “A Long Way Gone” make a lasting impression upon readers, and is effectively applied. Without the extra sensory details added, it's like reading a news article, but by adding those effects of smell, sight, sound, and feel make the reader realize that Ishmael was experiencing these first hand and the direness of his situation. Bodies squirming, feeling a serrated edge cut through someone, and blood pulsing from recent wounds paint a lasting image in a readers mind (Beah 124). Anyone can realize how desperate of a situation he was in.
The tragedy literary device is extremely common in Ishmael's anamnesis, but he doesn't just leave it as an event, he numbs the intensity of how he sees it as he runs across it more often. He transitions in the book, the same way he transitioned in life. And to aid in these transitions is imagery. He began listing the traumatic sights with great detail, and while that detail never left, he gave it an apathetic air. Displaying his accustom to what First World people couldn't bear to stand in usual life.
Sam Beets
ReplyDeletePr. 1B
In Ishmael Beah’s autobiography, A Long Way Gone, Ishmael goes through many hardships before he considers himself ‘safe.’ Throughout his book, Ishmael is in situations that can be summed up in the old phrase ‘out of the frying pan and into the fire.’ He must deal with many, sadly, ironic situations and fight the flashbacks he often times gets.
A predominate ironic situation in the the book is when UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, took the child soldiers out of dangerous situations (i.e. fighting in the civil war) and put them in a ‘safe’ environment that caused the boys harm. “During that same week, the drugs were wearing off… we began to fight each other day and night.” (pg. 139) UNICEF had taken the boys out of combat and put them immediately into a peaceful area with much pent up aggression and anger still inside of them. As the boys stayed in safety, they became less safe, fighting and arguing among themselves. Also, they were not supplied with the cocaine and marijuana needed to wean them off of the harmful drugs they had been taking. The boys were lucky to have survived the rehabilitation. When the shock of having no drugs hits someone it can cause major damage to their body or even kill them. This is because the body becomes dependant on the drugs, like swimming in a pool. After a while, it starts to feel normal and then, when you get out of the pool, it’s a shock. Luckily, the boys were able to break into the ‘hospital’ and steal drugs from it, satisfying their drug-lust and probably saving their lives. This proved a large hurdle that Ishmael had to jump - he had to adjust to normal life and he had a hard time doing it.
Ishmael was also very affected by his frequent flashbacks. “We then rolled each man into his hole… then pull me up and walk me back to the hall.” (pg. 151) Ishmael was suffering from the crushing guilt of his actions, so much so that he was seeing blood instead of water come from the water faucet. (pg. 145) After finally coming off drugs Ishmael was seeing what he had done with lucidity and disagreeing with what he had done. This shows that though Ishmael did do those evil, detestable acts, he is still human. He still makes mistakes, bad decisions, but Ishmael feels regret about doing these horrible acts. Unlike the rebels or the army, who will stoop to hurting non-combatants to hurt each other, Ishmael is haunted by what he did because he is a good person.
Throughout his book, Ishmael has shown us, through literary devices, what he went through in his time as a boy soldier; During the horrible, if ironic, situations he was in, Ishmael survived. Against the flashbacks of horrible situations he had been in, Ishmael suffered. And throughout his journey, Ishmael, though it may have been obscured and hidden away, remained a good person at heart.
In our culture today we are typically detached from real violence and as a result it is very glamorized, particularly among young people; however for children who are forced to fight in conflicts around the world war is a very real and nothing like the picture that our virtual realities depict. One boy, now a man, Ishmeal Beah recounts his experiences as a child soldier in Sierra Leon during the 1990's. Ishmeal's experiences, while not unique, are far from common; as a result he uses literary devices, such as personification and flashbacks, in order for a perceptive reader to gain a deeper understanding of Ishmeal's ordeals as a child soldier.
ReplyDeleteSoldiers, whether children or adults, need weapons; this idea is reinforced by the personification of the weapons the boys are issued. "This gun is your source of power in these times. It will protect you and provide you all you need" (Beah 124). The qualities of a protector and provider are typically reserved for some sort of father figure, however, the boys that have been recruited do not always have any type of paternal role model. As a result they become dependent on themselves, and their weapons give them the power to do this. Throughout the book it is often mentioned that the boys treat their weapons almost lovingly . It's as though their guns have become the only thing the care about now that their previous lives, their very identities, have been destroyed leaving them with only rapidly fading memories.
Memories are unveiled to the reader in the form of flashbacks, another important literary device in Ishmeal's account of his life. Theses flashbacks are often used in tandem with the events currently unfolding in the story in order to give the reader a deeper appreciation of what Ishmeal is feeling. "[T]hey looked like the rebels who played cards in the ruins of the village where I has lost my family" (122). Ishmeal is constantly remembering the wrongs that have been done to him and his loved ones when he is in combat against rebels. This clearly demonstrates that Ishmeal blames the rebels for all that has happened to him in an attempt to justify his actions. In previous, and later chapters, Ishmeal recalls better times in an effort to cling to the hope of a better tomorrow.
A hope for a brighter future; perhaps that is one of the reasons Ishmeal published his experiences. Few can fully understand, or sympathize with, the tribulations he faced; however the power and eloquence that this narrative is written in will move anyone that takes the time to read and understand it.
Ishmael Beah wrote a very descriptive book called “A Long Way Gone” to tell his experience as a child soldier in a Sierra Leonean war. Throughout this book, Ishmael used multiple literary devices. Two very prominent literary devices that Ishmael used were imagery and the use of metaphors.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 15, Ishmael uses metaphors quite often. An example of this is when Ishmael is describing how his childhood has passed so fast that he didn’t even notice. Ishmael adds that he feels as if his heart is frozen. (Beah 126). Ishmael has been engulfed entirely by the war that he didn’t even realize how fast his life was going by. This war between the rebels and the government army has changed Ishmael’s life in major ways. Ishmael explains how his life now revolves around this war. He says that the forests that he sleeps in are his home. Ishmael thinks of his squad as his family, and his gun as his protector. (Beah 126). Ishmael is making his war life into a new life comparable to his old life.
The second literary device that is found throughout the book is imagery. The words that Ishmael writes provide very vivid images. When Ishmael describes the scene after the rebel boys fight with the government army boys, he said there were ambulances with sirens that wailed into the still newborn light. (Beah 136). Mambu tells the boys about how he had taken one boy’s eye out and the boy had gone to punch Mambu, but without one eye, the boy couldn’t see Mambu to hit him. (Beah 136). The way that Ishmael explains things is so clear like he can remember every single event that occurred every day since his town was attacked by the rebels. Ishmael’s word choice makes it very easy to picture these events.
The metaphors and imagery that Ishmael uses are very important. The book wouldn’t have the same effect if Ishmael wasn’t as descriptive as he is.
The most simple fact of life is it will end, people know that one day our hearts will stop and we will never take another breath again, but people simply choose not to dwell on this fact and instead focus on living. Life for Ishmael during and as a part of the war means thinking of the end of it every day, knowing that he may not make it through the afternoon or wake up the next morning. He lives with the fact that each moment could be the last he has. This is a major theme in the book, and literary devices play a significant role in developing this in the book. Specifically, irony and personification play an important role in illuminating a major theme in the book, which is simply life and death.
ReplyDeleteDeath is a part of Ishmael's story from the very begining, from the moment he is first touched by war. For him death could be lurking behind every tree and behind any closed door. It is not just waiting for him, but anybody he is around also. This theme becomes especially important in chapter 10 of the book with everything that comes from the death of Saidu. From the first page the irony is clear, because Ishmael's thoughts are centered around death. He is reflecting on what Saidu said about slowing dying inside until there is nothing left alive (Beah 79). He isn't speaking of a physical death at all, but actually a emotionally death from what he has seen and experienced. Saidu's thoughts become an eerie prediction, when before long he is met with actual death. This is just one example of how irony is used to develop the theme of death in the story, through creating deeper meaning of situations and events. In the same chapter, ironic situations are used when the animals seem to know about the death of Saidu before it happens. "I had a feeling that something bad was going to happen. The dogs began to cray and ran from one end of the village to the other...Their crying pierced my heart. "Yes. They sound very human," I said" (84). The dogs are crying all night long as if they are humans grieving, and with in a matter of hours Ishmael and his friends are grieving and crying over the lose of Saidu.
Another important literary device is the use of personification in the chapters. This device is subtle and many seemingly simple objects or events in the story hold much more weight than one would originally think. The chapter brings the theme of death in subtle ways through symbolism. Nature and even weather are personified almost having thoughts or human like qualities."After Kanei stopped humming, the world became eerily silent. The breeze and the clouds had stopped moving, the trees were still, as if they all awaited something unimaginable" (81). The personification of trees could be used to show that how in some ways, Saidu's death was not all that sudden. Even the trees could sense that something was not right with the boy. The trees new that for him in some ways all that was left was for him to die physically. Another example is Ishmael's description of the sky at night. "Under these starts and sky I used to hear stories, but now it seemed as if it was the sky that was telling us a story as its stars feel, colliding with each other. The moon hid behind clouds to avoid seeing what was happening" (80). Ishmael does not control his fate each day he lives anymore. There has been a dramatic shift in how he sees life and more importantly how he sees death. These ties to the theme are explained subtly and effectively through personification.
The concept of death is very complex. Introducing this theme done smoothly in this book because of the use of personification and irony. They add to the depth and understanding of a very complex theme. These literary devices add the layers of meaning to the story, and how everything is explained.
Shelbi Hubbard
2B
As readers we enjoy many stories by many different authors. Some are most definitely better than others. But the question is: what make some stories so amazing while others are forgettable? The answer to this question is that authors who write immersive stories use literary devices often and well. In his book A long Way Gone Ishmael Beah uses many literary devices to enrich his memoirs.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 13 of A Long Way gone Beah uses the simile literary device to enhance his writing. One example is when Ishmael and his group have just killed some rebels and are moving to a different area. “The branches of the trees looked as if they were holding hands and bowing their heads in prayer” (Beah 118). In this quote the author uses a smile to compare the trees in the forest round him to people bowing their heads in prayer. Beah’s use of this simile helps us understand how he saw the world around him after the traumatic even that had just happened. The use of the simile also brings more detail and clarity to the thoughts and feelings of the author.
Another literary device used in chapter 13 is the process of amplification. An example of this is when Ishmael is witnessing the shooting and resulting death of some of his companions. “The sun showed flashes of the tips of guns and bullets traveling towards us. Bodies had begun to pile up on top each other near a short palm tree, where the fronds dripped blood” (Beah 118). The author could have written this sentence as: we were shot at by the rebels and there were many causalities. Instead of doing this Beah uses the process of amplification to add realism and emotion to the event. The sentence is much more impacting with the use of amplification, and it leaves a much clearer and gruesome image in the reader’s mind.
A final literary device used in chapter was the use of a hyperbole. An example of this is when Ishmael and his group are walking through the forest on their way to fight some rebels. “I have never been so afraid to go anywhere in my life as I was that day. Even the scuttle of a lizard frightened my entire being” (Beah 116). In this quote Beah uses the hyperbole to show just how scared he was that day. Notice he did not simply say that he was “afraid to walk in the forest”. Instead he says that he had never been so scared to go anywhere in his entire life, and uses the example of the lizard scaring him to explain his fear further. In this way Beah adds detail to his thoughts and makes it much more clear to the reader how extremely scared he was.
In conclusion we have learned that Ishmael Beah is a very good writer, and he uses many literary devices to embellish and enrich his writing. He has all the qualities of a good author and he knows how to create images that will stay in our mind. Imagine if everyone could learn how to use literary devices in their writing. I believe we should all learn from Ishmael’s writing practices to become better writers ourselves using the many literary devices that are available to us.
Quentin McTeer (1B) Chapter 16
ReplyDeletePart I
Adversity, suffering, and hardships, these are the expected consequences of any journey a hero must take to reach his goal. Along the way, he gains knowledge and skills that result in him becoming a better man, and ultimately, make his journey just that much easier, this is otherwise known as character development which is the most important attribute of any story. In the journey of Ishmael in the book entitled: A Long Way Gone, character development plays a key role throughout the entirety of the novel, but not in the way one would think, instead of character progression throughout the book, we see character digression. This digression plays a pivotal part in the telling of this story, not only in the description of Ishmael’s personality, thought process, and overall characterization, but in the building up of this digression until the climax of Ishmael’s character development in which the digression finally turns into progression which can be seen most relevantly through the literary terms of tone and bildungsroman.
Chapter sixteen is the greatest illustrator of all character development progressive and digressive of the story in its totality. By looking at a few different literary devices, one would come to the conclusion that not only is character development evident throughout a significant amount of the chapter, it is the sole reason that this portion of the story was written. The first literary device that surfaces upon simply reading the first two pages would be the tonal literary device, this literary device describes the attitude and perspective the author has adopted with regards to a specific character, in this case, himself, tone helps the audience ascertain the writer’s feelings towards a particular topic and this in turn influences the reader’s understanding of the story. To cite a near perfect example of the use of tone in this chapter “We would fight for hours in between meals, for no reason at all. During these fights, we destroyed most of the furniture and threw the mattresses out in the yard. We would stop to wipe the blood off our lips, arms, and legs only when the bell rang for mealtime” (Beah 139). Tone can be seen many times throughout this quote, what Beah is illustrating here, is the animal-like actions and attitudes that are taking place in this section, in which there is a complete lack of human characteristics in these people, this can be seen through the fact that all they do is fight, destroy, and when the meal bell rings, they feed, and return to their fighting. Another embracing factor of tonality included when Ishmael was discussing the effects of the withdrawals him and his companions were under going, their hands shook uncontrollably and Ishmael’s migraines had come back with a vengeance, Ishmael then discussed how everyone was busy going through their own withdrawal stages in different ways. Alhaji, for example, punched the cement pillar of one of the buildings until his knuckles bled and his bones began to show” (Beah 140). From this, one could take away that the author is trying to describe his perspective of the situation by showing the chaos and hysteria that is occurring within the minds of the boys while they suffer through their withdrawals, it is most likely an explanation for all of the fights and thoughtless actions taking place throughout the entirety of the chapter. This description of how the author felt the other child soldiers were acting allows the audience to then better understand the situation itself.
Quentin McTeer (1B) Chapter 16
ReplyDeletePart II
The second literary device used in this chapter is that of bildungsroman, which is the device that amplifies the mental, physical, social, emotional, moral, and often spiritual advancement of the central character, can be seen in a few different ways towards the end of chapter 16, all relating back to the key aspect that is the shift from digression to progression in relation to character development that occurs in this chapter. The turning point can be seen on page 146 when looking at the quote “We sat in the back and watched the houses and kiosks go by, a man standing in the aisle began to dance to the music, and then a few passengers, including Mambu and I, joined in. We laughed and clapped for the dancers” (Beah 148). This is a significant milestone in Ishmael’s journey because it is the bridge that takes him from his digression into his progression. As noted just a few short pages ago, Ishmael was fighting for the simple sake of it, no particular reason, he had become so primitive in action that one could not differentiate between him and an animal that feeds on command and roughhouses whenever it is not feeding. Now, with the effects of the war and withdrawal coming to a close, Ishmael is now able to enjoy the little things like any other normal teenage boy would enjoy, like dancing, laughing, and clapping to the beat of a song, as shown in the quote discussed above. This pivotal change from digression to progression leaves room for him to improve himself throughout the duration of the book, and ultimately become a better, stronger man, who will now share his story with the world.
Overall, the effect that character development has on Ishmael and the story itself is one that cannot be understated, along with the literary terms that determined exactly what impacts character development had on Ishmael’s journey. This is true because in chapter 16 alone, the digression that had been occurred throughout the entirety of the book had climaxed, resulting in Ishmael and his companions acting no more civilized then that of your common house pet, and finally the transition into the progression which is the defining moment that allows Ishmael to overcome the final traces of his adversity. Allowing him to move forward, to a better life, to a better world, one in which Ishmael will no longer be forced to live in fear every waking moment of his life. A life that he can make for himself, without the barrel of a gun determining every decision he has to make.
We in America live in a shielded world, you wouldn't turn on the news and hear about hundreds or even thousands of children being taken in the middle of the night and being forced to brutally murder their own parents, all the way in Sierra Leone. We have no idea what it is like be in a war at only 16, 15, 14 or even 13 years old, and to have to fight for your life every day and night. In the novel “A long Way Gone” Ishmael Beah tells his tragic story of hardships, valor, and above all, extraordinary amounts of perseverance. He uses a wide variety of literary devices to perfectly execute this heartfelt story. I think that creating mood and imagery are the biggest ones out of the wide variety of literary devices Ishmael used. In chapter nine the uses of imagery are being used to paint a vivid picture in your mind, like on (pg.58) he says “We followed him, quietly dragging our bodies over rotten leaves. Ishmael has great uses of imagery in chapter nine but he has an even better use in chapter six on (pg. 38) Ishmael says “the huge men pushed us to the ground in front of them and tied our feet with strong ropes. Then our hands were pulled behind our backs until our elbows touched, making our chests tight from the pressure. I was in tears from the pain. I tried to roll onto my back, but that made it worse.” This quote shows the literary device is being used to create imagery, by creating a vivid image in your mind of how the “the huge men” tied up Ishmael and his friends in an excruciating painful way, that without we wouldn’t really know the level of intensity to which they tied them up. Ishmael uses an excellent amount of mood in the novel to set a sort of emotional coma on the reader. In chapter nine on (pg. 66) Ishmael sets a mood of severe fear by stating “undress them, he commanded the men who had caught us. I was trembling with fear but unable to cry. Alhaji, who stammered with terror, tried to say something.” Without this use of mood that Ishmael has given, us as readers would not understand the extent of the boy’s feelings at that moment in the novel. By using these great imagery devices, Ishmael has created an amazing story of a little boy who lived in a little village of Mogbwemo, who was taken on an incredibly hard journey of painful (not only physical but mentally painful as well), and tragic experiences. To being a college graduate who lives in New York City and has an amazing book to not only tell his story of what happened but of every child who has experience such atrocities as he has.
ReplyDeleteMany people aren't aware of the severity of being a child soldier. We usually think “oh that doesn't happen here or anymore” well news flash it is still happening to this day everywhere around the world. A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah opens your eyes to the unexpected struggles of being a child soldier, hunger, and many other obstacles he faces along the way whether it is emotional or physical. This book has numerous literary devices but the ones that I can relate to would be foreshadowing and Imagery in the sense that it gives you a clear picture in your head . In Chapter 9 there is a form of foreshadowing that foresees the death of a young kid, the crow. The crow symbolizes bad luck and future death but Musa is the only one that thinks so. “ 'But it is not just a day, it is a strange one. I don't feel to good about it,” Musa said. “Maybe we shouldn't eat this bird” (Beah 81). Musa knew it was quite peculiar when the bird flew out of the sky, he tried to warn his fellow traveling companions that something was wrong. To Musa the Crow Is a symbol of bad luck, and he knows that's the last thing they need while they are running from death. If I were in their position (starving, thirsty, emotionally and physically exhausted) I would eat every piece of that bird there is no questions to be asked. I wouldn't think twice about bad luck. The state of mind that I would be in (if I were to put myself in their shoes) would be so confusing that the thought of it being a bad sign wouldn't come into mind. I would think of it as food, something I can feed my ongoing hunger with. Like Kanei said “well now, if the falling of this bird is a sign of a curse or bad luck, we are in both”(Beah 81). They have faced death numerous times they feel as if another time isn't going to make a difference, and if they do die from this it would be a lot better than the life they are living now.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading this book I realized that this book has a lot of personification. Personification refers to attaching human traits and characteristic(s) with an inanimate object. The night when the boys eat the bird, Ishmael states that there was a quick change from dark to light. He claimed that it was unusually dark, and there was not 1 star in the sky (Beah 81). I can easily imagine how dense the darkness is and how hard it must have been to see where they were headed. As you can see war and being a child soldier is very romanticized by resources such as video games, Tv shows, etc. Reading about first hand accounts with war will help you understand the dangers and the suffering they go through before, during, and especially after.
Sam Wasden 4B
ReplyDeleteNo one will ever truly understand what Beah has gone through. Nobody in America will even be able to truly imagine what it would be like to fight alongside the kid when he was told to shoot to kill. The experiences of this child will never be replicated. Even when we read this book we see the boy and we connect with him through whatever small similarities or understandings we can. But we will never fully understand because it’s never been like this for this country far away from these real world happenings.
In the autobiography ”a long way gone” Beah describes his experiences and feelings of his childhood back in Sierra Leone, fighting for his life. “I am pushing a rusty wheelbarrow in a town where the air smells of blood and burnt flesh” (Beah 18). We can’t put ourselves in Ishmael’s shoes, we can’t see what he saw, but Beah does a beautiful job of describing his settings and people throughout the book adding to our sense of sight. When people read words, it paints a picture in the mind, perhaps not always a visible picture, but you mind takes the ideas coming in and turns them into our main form of data collection. Sight. And the more Beah uses the Imagery, the more beautiful the picture.
Everybody has a definite way of speaking, just how a person’s thumbprint is unique to the entire rest of the world, and the crystal of a snowflake will never arrange itself the same way as any of its predecessors. Ishmael uses his own diction throughout the book, changing is with the difference of characters and even as he ages. But what is most important is the patterns he uses when narrating. “From where I lay, I saw the red bullets flying through the forest and into the night. I could hear my heart beat. And I had started breathing heavily, so I covered my nose to control it” (Beah 35). The abruptness of these sentences in this situation of life or death shows exactly how he was thinking when it happened.
So while none of us will ever know how he really felt, maybe he doesn't even know what he was always feeling. But it is more important that we can take his feelings and take something away, even if it’s not what he was trying to do, the literary ability makes for endless learning possibility.
Helena Martin
ReplyDeleteEnglish 1B
21 November 2013
Chapter 12 Literary Devices (Part 1)
Many people feel compelled to feel empathy for those who have lost their childhood in what they feel to be a premature time, but few have experienced the stress of losing their own childhood much too quickly, as Ishmael had. In chapter 12, the reader will find that Ishmael is just beginning to feel the actual stress of becoming an adult and carrying his own weight, along with those of his friends and comrades that he tries to fight for, in the beginning. In reflection to these days that he first became a child soldier for the Sierra Leonean Government Army, Ishmael uses various literary devices to portray what he now sees of his past. Ishmael uses devices such as foreshadowing, onomatopoeia, and revisiting his past to try to tell readers about the everlasting effect that this particular part of his life has on him to this day.
Ishmael often foreshadows events inside of A Long Way Gone and does not cease to, even in the first page of chapter 12. Ishmael essentially started the chain of foreshadowing when he introduced the soldier that brought him and his new friends into the government army base camp, telling them that they would get used to all of the bloodshed of the war, even though they were in the supposedly safe village of Yele (Beah, 100-101). When Ishmael brought this small detail in to the memoir, he most likely wanted the reader to assume that Ishmael had in fact not reached safety and that he would soon be headed straight for the front lines. Not only did he begin the chapter with such an impacting yet subtle detail, he continued to relay that he had begun his journey to the front lines and development of a military-oriented mind-set even before he reached the village and settled down for a while. If it was not apparent enough within the first two paragraphs of chapter 12, it should have been even more noticeable in the beginning of paragraph three when Ishmael writes: “In the beginning, it seemed we had finally found safety in Yele”(Beah, 101), meaning that his grace period of peace was to be over almost as soon as Ishmael had arrived in Yele. When the soldiers brought on an air of tenseness over the village a couple days later, Ishmael wrote of the sudden change of atmosphere, when all of the soldiers gathered and got ready for the oncoming war: the war whose Lieutenant’s name was Jabati, or at least to the people taking residence in Yele for the time being.
Helena Martin
ReplyDeleteEnglish 1B
21 November 2013
Chapter 12 Literary Devices (Part 2)
Lieutenant Jabati brought forth many qualities within Ishmael through out the later chapters of Ishamel’s memoirs, the first of which being a memory of reciting Shakespearean quotes to the adults of Ishmael’s home village when he was younger (Beah, 104-105). This memory was the beginning of a friendship between a lieutenant and a subordinate; with the fond memories that Lieutenant Jabati evoked from Ishmael, Ishmael felt closer and more accepted in the village, after being a bit more secluded than usual due to his frequent migraines and nightmares. This “friendship” would also show up in later chapters as a more controlling type of relationship as Ishmael would feel the need to impress Lieutenant Jabati and therefore changed his way of thinking to become more tactical to gain the favor of Lieutenant Jabati, although he was not the only one changing during their stay in Yele.
After their hard training to become soldiers for the government army, Ishmael describes the actions of his new colleagues as being changed almost completely. Those who used to smile during their peaceful times of sleep now mumbled onomatopoeia of weapons and repeating things that had been drilled in their heads during the long day of learning how to be a soldier for the first time (Beah, 112-113). This change in character was not only a sudden change in mind-set, but also the relaying detail that told the reader that Ishmael and his colleagues no longer had any childish spirit in them during the war. Ishmael went on after describing his tent-mates’ sleeping habits to his thoughts directly after the day was over and how he no longer lacked the fire that would burn his hatred for the rebels deeper into his psyche, robbing him of even more of his childhood.
As a reader of the book A Long Way Gone, there are many things that need to be recognized, not only the subtle implications of the events themselves, but also the literary devices that Ishmael craft-fully worked into his memoirs of being a child soldier in Sierra Leone.
Courtney Pierce
ReplyDeleteMrs. Corolewski
Honors English 10A 1B
22 November, 2013
Beah’s Journey
The trials brought by war in the recent days described in A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah can cause even the most blameless of men to turn astray. Among those men, Ishmael is unfortunately taken into accord. Due to the commonalities of war, Ishmael is unrightfully convinced that strength and comfort can be achieved through gruesome thoughts and actions.
During Ishmael’s struggle for comfort, he turns to very violent means. When he had first become a victim of war, harming another individual was out of the question. Now that he had disgustingly become acquainted with war, killing was a mode of comfort and guns were the provider (116). He at first handled the gun as if it was death itself (94). Now that war had come, he looked for massacre as comfort. No longer did family, friends, or laughter satisfy him. Instead, killing out of pure anger provided joy that couldn’t be achieved elsewhere. In a sense, Ishmael became so worried about where he was going that he was blinded by what he had to do to get there.
Along with comfort, strength was also a great aspect of survival that quickly became corrupted. What use to have been seen as strength (i.e. push-ups, not crying, etc.)had been replaced by how big of a gun one could carry. Strength was dependent on killing (117). By looking to death as a source of remission, Ishmael became brain washed. He often found that safety came out of a barrel of a gun and not the shelter of homes, huts, or even words. They quickly went from fighting for survival to killing for enjoyment. In a sense, they became hunter (117). Often, hunters don’t kill for a mode of survival. Instead, death is comparable to gaining meat, pelts, or even a title of leadership. What was once revenue for surviving quickly became an act of revenge, unjust joy, and an unruly game. Ishmael also found himself looking at the cruelty war had put into his life and taking if for a mode of attack. In reality, he was becoming just as ghastly as those who killed his family. The love and affection that had been distraught by the war was lacked in such a way that men found it by pulling a trigger. If it weren’t for the war, Ishmael would easily see that the strength and comfort received from taking the life of a man strongly diminishes when compared to the blessing of strength it takes to stand up against all and be comforted with his heart, not by his head.
Chandler Bengochea 2B
ReplyDeleteHave you ever wanted something so badly that it almost seemed as if what you desired was sitting right in front of you, taunting you with its very presence, and you felt as if you could do the impossible to obtain it? Of course, the object isn’t really taunting you, because it’s inanimate, but your overwhelming desire can make you feel that way. And however impossible the task is, it’s usually not, but it is certainly difficult. Ishmael has experienced this feeling, and uses the literary elements of personification and hyperbole to describe it.
After the attack on Kamator, and after he decides to abandon his hiding place in the swamp, Ishmael tries to find a place that has remained untouched by the war. During his journey, he finds that food is scarce, and that he must either gather his own food or starve. The abandoned towns and villages that he enters usually contain some food, such as cassava, but not much else. The only other source of food available to him in most of the places he visits is coconuts. Ishmael considers the task of climbing a coconut tree to be impossible, and he is so desperate for food, that he feels like the coconuts themselves are taunting him. He says that “…the coconuts hung sloppily from the trees, as if teasing me, daring me to pluck them” (47), and that he “…had tried (to climb the tree), but it was just impossible” (47). However, after hardly eating for five days, desperation finally gives him the boost he needs to climb up the tree. Ishmael uses personification to describe the coconuts because they are “teasing” him by being just out of reach. He uses a hyperbole to describe climbing up the tree as impossible because he had tried to do so before and failed each time. He proves his own exaggeration wrong by climbing up the tree and picking the coconuts. His so-called “impossible” task really wasn’t impossible after all. It simply took an extreme desire and need for him to get the coconuts, but he did it, proving to himself that he can survive.
Adrian Morales (part 1)
ReplyDelete4B
Manipulation is depicted as evil, the constant deterioration of an individual’s own consciousness, a manner of persuasion that’s subtle while simultaneously effective. Ways in which manipulation (of any sort) has manifested is what over the progress of time has been subject to change, and it is for this reason it is not a challenge to by minimum, mention four different forms its development (peer pressure, bribing, etc.). However, where difficulty does become a factor is when developing the realization that at some point or to some extent their mind was revoked the privilege to exclusively promote and advance their own specific ideas. Simplicity is not always a factor, especially when considering the effort that is required to raise awareness on a personal level that some aspects or beliefs that are presently held, prior to some event, were nonexistent (especially when concerning a specific individual). Precisely this is what Ishmael depicts as the culprit of the atrocities he either committed or witnessed, and in his book, which serves the purpose of accumulating in an orderly manner his memories; he demonstrates this with both irony and imagery.
Beah’s continuous misfortunes steadily progress, and with their progression so too follows their emotional weight on his mental state. This allowed him to become more susceptible to outside interference of any sort, as long as they provoked a feeling of acceptance or perhaps even relief (revenge). It is ironic that in the early chapters of Ismael’s autobiography, his concern is centered around the chaos the rebels has freed upon the country and the death that they seemed to leave as their trail, being ever so clear that the bodies and burnt villages that he came across would serve as a reminder of their cruelty, yet, a few chapter later he’s shown doing the same thing (murder) “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...” (Beah 148). With the quote above, it is acknowledged that his actions were not at all warranted; little peace was given to Ishmael with the death of rebel soldiers.
In Ishmael’s continued search for refuge, there are several instances where he interrupts the story in order to provide us with a flashback. The flashbacks are greatly varied throughout the story and although their significance may seem limited (if nonexistent), their value comes to be evident with the story’s advancements. Following Ishmaels induction to the army, he’s expected to abandon his belongings, which included his clothing as well as his cassettes. Upon doing this, his materials possession, all the things he had that linked him to his past and that permitted him to keep a constant reminder of all the good times were gone. Having nothing afterwards, he’s left with nothing but memories. These memories (perhaps in his own head are organized but) in the book are scattered throughout the story, and perhaps they may not seem purposeful at first but when investigated further, it’s not difficult to acknowledge that with these flashbacks he’s providing a connection to his past “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” (54). This is quote not from Ishmael, but from his father. Other than an a section to provide insight to the reader concerning the kind of person his father was, this particular part in the book does not serve a considerable purpose and rather was most likely included to demonstrate to the reader that Ishmael has a connection to the past (his father), but not because of cassette (or some other material possession), instead because of the memories that he keeps of him.
Adrian Morales (part 2)
ReplyDelete4B
Once a boy with his life engulfed by war, Ishmael has overcome instances of dire need; for a long time he persevered, although he had no motives to do so, his desire to live eventually gave fruit. Now, Ishmael’s a person who’s life been redefined with a new purpose and every day that goes by he lives it with said meaning. The past is brought back to him in the forms of flashbacks, he remembers the advice either his grandmother gave him or sometimes the advice that was given to him by his father, Beah also uses irony to prove that he has accepted that his actions and that he realizes that they weren’t justified. His book (which must have been very difficult to write – Ishmael has a lot of courage) adds a greater meaning to his acceptance of the past, it proves that he overcame his grief and with the use of multiple (a lot not described in this post) literary devices, not only does Ishmael demonstrate that he overcame his past but that also he’s capable of remembering it and sharing it with others.
Jack Stinger
ReplyDeleteWhether it be the mockingbird in the Hunger Games or Uncle Sam in America, symbols play a significant role in the clear portrayal of undefinable characteristics, abstract objects, common themes of society, and lives of individual people. Without symbols, life would be sharp; rigid with the strict confinements of extensive definitions. With symbols, the witness of the use of a symbol is tasked with the substantial responsibility of discovering the true and absolute meaning of this symbol. Allusions go hand in hand with symbols in such a way that the entire meaning of its existence is not always made immediately apparent to the reader. However, allusions are references to other literary works within a book. Such examples that demand the undivided focus of the reader can be found in the twelfth chapter of Ishmael Beah’s book, A Long Way Gone. By integrating the literary devices of symbolism and allusion into the telling of his childhood journey, Ishmael effectively illustrates the magnitude of the situation he is placed in as well as the mentality of him and his peers.
Allusions link main points between two literary works, although these points are not always obviously disclosed to the reader. When used by Ishmael to relate the mentality of him and his commanding officer to that of a speech in Julius Caesar, the connection between the two is the frightening classification of one’s self between the two polarities of cowardice and valiance. Ishmael finds the lieutenant reading a copy of Julius Caesar. When the lieutenant asks Ishmael if he knows about the book, Ishmael quotes, “Cowards die many times before their death…” (104). Both Ishmael and the lieutenant are put under the stress of war, and both fear the mental status of a coward. However, they both go about different ways to protect their sanity. The lieutenant reads books to learn of the great leadership of men who had lived long before his time. Ishmael often uses his memories of his childhood and his life before the war to keep his mind occupied on mentally uplifting thoughts, despite his current situation.
Symbols are often found rooted in the past of the objects they represent. Although many inferences are made in regards to Ishmael’s personality, mentality, and morality, the only symbol that directly represents the entirety of Ishmael’s life is his rap cassette tapes. When visiting Mattru Jong as a child in 1993, Ishmael acquires these tapes and takes them back to his house (6). These tapes end up playing a vital role in saving the lives of Ishmael and his companions by proving the innocence of the young boys fleeing from a pointless war. Then, as Ishmael joins the government partisans, he loses his cassette tapes in a fiery blaze (110). With the loss of the tapes, Ishmael loses everything that has driven him forward throughout his journey, including whatever remained of his childhood innocence. This inhibits Ishmael’s previous ability to displace himself in the past, in times where his biggest concern was simple compared to his current struggle for survival.
Symbols and allusions play an indispensible part in the telling of Ishmael’s ultimate transition from an innocent child to a mindless killing machine. Through the use of an allusion to Shakespeare’s drama, one can recognize Ishmael’s efforts to eliminate his mental cowardice. With the burning of Ishmael’s cassette tapes, it is made known that Ishmael has lost all that was worth his last bit of strength to cling onto. What Ishmael has lost is the hope of regaining a tiny fraction of his childhood.
There are times in every person’s life when the hand they’ve been dealt feels overwhelming. While some people sit idly by and accept defeat, others refuse to be beaten and learn from their experiences. In a way, this is what Ishmael Beah did with his book “A Long Way Gone”. As a child soldier he was put through many scarring ordeals, being forced do unimaginably horrible things. But instead of living a life dictated by fear, he came to terms with the fact that these things are in the past and chooses to share them with people in an effort to inform others of the gruesome events taking place in his home country. While telling his story, Ishmael uses literary devices such as symbolism to help the reader understand how certain things impacted him and flashbacks to help the reader better understand his life.
ReplyDeleteWhile Ishmael’s use of symbolism can be found in many cases throughout the book, one of the most prominent instances was in chapter 12. “‘You are afraid of looking a man in the eye and afraid of holding a gun. Your hands tremble as if the gun is pointed at your head’… ‘This gun’—he held the AK-47 high up—‘will soon belong to you, so you better learn not to be afraid of it’” (Beah 109). Though it may not be intentional, the gun symbolizes many different things. Ishmael’s fear of the gun is emotional. To him it represents the rebels responsible for the deaths of the people he loved. To a child his age, the appropriate reaction to something that caused the deaths of loved ones would be fear. Ishmael also flirted with death on many occasions due to this weapon, which is a good reason to fear something. As Ishmael grows more comfortable with the weapon, the meaning changes. Instead of it symbolizing the deaths loved ones and close encounters with death, it becomes a symbol of revenge and protection. He uses the weapon to avenge the deaths of his loved ones, though no amount of killing comforts him. The gun keeps him safe during skirmishes and he relies on it heavily. But when it is taken from him, he loses his sense of protection, feeling vulnerable, though all of this comes later in the book.
As with symbolism, Ishmael uses a surplus of flashbacks to help give the reader more insight into some of his experiences. By the time we reach chapter 12, Ishmael has lost his family and many friends. All that he’s left with are the memories of them. One of the flashbacks Ishmael shared that I believe really shows some of his key characteristics was when he talked about why he loved Shakespeare. “When I was seven, I used to go to the town square to recite monologues from the works of Shakespeare for the adults of my community…My father would cough loudly to alert the other adults to be silent so that I could start. He sat in the front, with his arms crossed and a big smile on his face that looked as if it would take years to fade away…I was always eager and excited to read for them, because it made me feel that I was really good at speaking the English language” (Beah 105). One thing that we can learn about Ishmael from this flashback is that he really enjoyed the approval of others and sought it out when he could, especially from his father. The way the passage is written makes it seem like Ishmael came to love Shakespeare simply because he knew it would make his father happy. And now, even though his father is gone, he can still conjure those happy memories of a time long gone. This is important because to this point in the book, these memories are what have been keeping Ishmael going.
We can all learn a lot from the memories of Ishmael Beah. But one of the most important things would be to always keep going. Even if you think that all is lost, there will always be something better waiting for you, even if it takes a while to reach it. If Ishmael had given up at any point during his journey, he wouldn’t have ended up where he is today. He was able to come from chaos and find happiness. And I believe that it’s possible for all of us too.
Kody Walker 4B
ReplyDeleteAll people respond to hardship differently, some may just let it consume them and control their lives, but it is those who are valiant and push through these hard ships that are truly great. In the book “A long way gone” by Ishmael Beah, he describes his life as a child soldier in the Sierra Leone civil war. He writes of his hard ships and struggles through the use of many different literary devices.
One example of the devices Ishmael uses is that of flash backs, and sudden memories consuming him. Ishmael uses the memories of the good days, to keep going and fighting through these trials he is facing, but not all of his memories are always for his benefit. Ishmael says that these memories cause him to be living partly in the past, as he describes the three emotional states he is living in, his life now, his dreams, and his painful memories of the past (Beah 20). Ishmael had been able to use his good memories to help him through the hard times, but by going through those he also ascertained less desirable recollections. Overall, this use of his memories in the book helps add to the overall mood of the reader, and adds more understanding into the emotional state of Ishmael.
Another example of a literary device used in this book is symbolism. There are many instances found in this piece of literature that are very strong symbols. The use of these symbols helps to add a deeper meaning, and understanding to Ishmaels writing. According to Ishmael, “Who I am now. I stayed awake all night, anxiously waiting for daylight, so that I could fully return to my new life, and rediscover the happiness I had known as a child” (Beah 19-20). Here Ishmael makes a claim that the night is his enemy, using it as a symbol of his old life. Night is very often associated with darkness, and here is no different. His days past were very dark, and like all people he rejoices with the rising sun, because it not only marks the morning, but for him the coming of his new life. The use of this symbol and other when not taken literally can help the readers to become very closely connected with Ishmael and his thoughts.
Hardship, trials, darkness, all things that would make most people weaker, instead became an anchor for Ishmael and others like him. His experiences marked a turn in his life that would define him as an individual forever. Through the use of the literary devices discussed, Ishmael shows that very well, and allows the readers to take a small glimpse into the stormy ocean that is his life. Like all storms though, they will pass and be left with the warm, golden sunlight, and sweet, still, silence.
After the war comes to Ishmael’s hometown, his world is upended. What was once wrong seems right, and what was right seems wrong. Ishmael and his friends try to run away from the war, but it comes to them, and they can not leave it behind. Ishmael soon joins the Sierra Leone army and becomes the very thing that he used to fear and despise the most. He becomes a ruthless, brainwashed soldier driven by the all-consuming desire for revenge. At times, he doesn’t even seem like he is really human anymore. As Ishmael Beah tells the world his story, he uses several different literary devices to help us better comprehend what happened to him, and to enhance his work of literature. Two of the most prominent and recurring types of literary devices in this book are flashbacks and metaphors.
ReplyDeleteSometimes Ishmael re-lives his memories through dreams, and other times something happening to him in the present triggers his memory. For a long time, he didn’t have any more recollections after he joined the army. For almost two years, he was kept on several different drugs, and as he said before the UNICEF men rescued him, ‘My squad was my family, my gun was my provider and protector, and my rule was to kill or be killed. The extent of my thoughts didn’t go much beyond that’(beah 126). After being rescued and taken off of the drugs, memories slowly began seeping back into the front of his brain, and when looking at a “sissy lieutenant”, Ishmael remembered his days as a junior lieutenant, leading small groups of boys into battle. Specifically, he remembers being given the nickname of “Green Snake” by the Lieutenant, because he could situate himself behind a tiny shrub in an advantageous position, and take out a whole village from that one spot. It is a strange thing, because it seems like Ishmael might have held a grudge against the Lieutenant for sending him away with the UNICEF men, but when Ishmael is thinking of this memory, it appears as though he remembers that moment with fondness. While reading this story of a child soldier, it is can be very easy for us to wonder how on earth Ishmael could be able to feel any form of attachment towards the Lieutenant who gave him drugs, brought him into war, and then betrayed him (from Ishmael’s point of view) to the UNICEF. However, we have to bear in mind that Ishmael had everything ripped away from him, his home, his life of normalcy, his friends, and most importantly, his family. When he joined the Sierra Leone Army, they became his new family, and he was very devoted to them. When you are a family, you are willing to look past each others flaws and faults and forgive them. Since, to him, the army was a family, that explains how he was able to miss the Lieutenant, and recall memories of him with affection, even after being sent away from the army.
With his memories coming back, Ishmael’s emotions begin to come back too, and he begins going through withdrawals from the absence all of the drugs that he was kept on. The other boys go through this too, and after nearly two years of being on a drug, you do not come off of it quickly. Sometimes Ishmael would still search the pockets of his army shorts, hoping that there would be a crumb of marijuana or cocaine left behind somewhere. The boys were so desperate for a drug that they would even hurt the staff members and steal painkillers from the hospital. Not only that, but Ishmaels migraines came back, and he compared them to feeling like a blacksmith was pounding away in his head, ‘I could hear and feel the hammering of metal in my head, and those unbearable sharp sounds made my veins and muscles sour’ (beah 140). Yet again in the book, Ishmael is referring to some part of his body feeling “sour”. In the past chapters, he has often used the term to refer to a feeling in his teeth when he was disgusted or sickened by something, and it really shows just how bad he was feeling if his very veins and muscles felt that way. Being off of the drugs, and able to remember everything also affects the young boys in other ways. They begin to hallucinate. Ishmael describes turning on the tap water and waiting for it to stop looking like blood before taking a shower or drinking it. Other times, there were occasions when some of the younger boys sat beside rocks, weeping, because they thought the rocks were their dead families. It seems like after all of the trauma that they have been through, their brains are trying to cope with the loss of drugs, and the knowledge of all that the boys have done to other people while they were a part of the army.
ReplyDeleteDespite, or perhaps because of, everything that has happened to him, Ishmael Beah has become a strong person who knows just how great life is, and wakes up every morning with a smile on his face. Though his world was upended at a young age, and his childhood was taken from him far too soon, Ishmael survived, and he did more than that. He persevered, and recovered from everything he went through. Instead of letting his experiences beat him down, he chose to use them to build himself up, and to write a book about his experiences that is changing the world.
Hannah Hessenthaler
ReplyDeleteMrs. Corolewski
English10 1A
21 November 2013
Two important literary devices used by Ishmael Beah in chapter ten of A Long Way Gone are symbolism and mood which help to create a connection and a sense of uncertainty with the reader.
The use of symbolism is very evident in chapter ten with Beah's description of the sun and the moon. Ishmael uses examples such as the "[b]ra Spider [who] starved for a week as he readied himself" (74) and "[t]he moon [which] hid behind the clouds to avoid seeing what was happening" (80). Examples such as these can be considered symbolism because they create a clear comparison between what is happening in real life and the events that take place in the book. A reader can clearly see the ideas that the author is trying to portray through his use of symbolism which create mentally visible images.
Beah's use of mood in the text creates a feeling of uncertainty and lost hope for his audience. He states that, "[o]ne of the most unsettling things about my journey, mentally, physically, and emotionally, was that I wasn't sure when or where it was going to end. I didn't know what I was going to do with my life. I felt that I was starting over and over again"(69). Uncertainty makes people in many situations feel like their hope is diminishing. Ishmael successfully conveys his emotions in the text through the use of diction. He uses these things successfully and creates a connection with a reader.
In conclusion, Ishmael decided to use these two specific literary devices to allowing us to understand his perspective of the events he was faced with.
Ishmael faced years of emotional and physical torture due to the war that changed him completely as a person. He’s faced indescribable moments during this time of his life and has decided to pull all those memories together to form his memoir A Long Way Gone. This memoir contains an abundance of literary devices to help describe Ishmael’s experience during the war. Some of the little aspects of his experience are hard to explain with just plain word, and so adding some of these literary devices have helped him describe aspects of his experience more accurately. In chapter ten of the memoir, two important literary devices I found were personification and connotation.
ReplyDeleteAfter months of not seeing his family, Ishmael is especially overwhelmed by the atmosphere of memories swelling in his mind, and he uses personification to embody those memories. In the chapter, Ishmael remembers happy episodes of his life with his family. His nostalgia grew so painful he sat at the bottom of a river in the hopes to relieve the pain. Though once he gets to the bottom, he discovers the thoughts trekking right behind him like a person (Beah 72). Wherever he goes, they will follow him. His memories are a constant reminder of what he no longer has, and they shadow him wherever he goes. It doesn't matter what situation he’s in; if he’s with a group of friends, has something to eat—there will be the sliver of darkness behind him reminding him of his family; the people who named, cared for, and grew up with him. He will never forget the impact they made in his life because they helped him become the person he is today. He used personification because he wanted to point out the fact that even though he was temporarily without his family, he would persevere and find them, despite how emotionally and physically hurt he was. All he had with him at that moment were nostalgic recollections of his life and family. Since they perished in the fire, the memories are all he has left of them. They (the thoughts) were and will always be a part of Ishmael, and that is why they ‘followed’ him; because they are embedded in him. This embodiment of his thoughts is just Ishmael himself. What he wanted to do in the water was clear the memories so he wouldn't be sad anymore, but he really only wanted the sadness gone, not his memories.
Throughout the book, the moon is seen as a recurring connotation brought up by Ishmael. Raised to praise the moon, Ishmael relates his journey in the war to the moon; despite the clouds blocking its radiance, the moon continues to shine (Beah 70). The clouds are the hardships Ishmael faced and the moon is him. I don’t think Ishmael necessarily thinks he’s the perfect human form of the moon, but since he’s always admired the moon, Ishmael’s either trying to be like the moon or already believes he is like it. In a previous chapter, an old man says “[w]e must strive to be like the moon” because the moon makes everyone happy. Villagers dance in the night while children have fun playing games (Beah 16). The meaning behind the quote is everyone should be on their best behavior to be likable like the moon. In his culture, the moon is praised and looked up upon, whereas in Western culture, the its often blamed for causing many accidents and mishaps, the complete opposite of this African perspective. The definition of their moon gives the memoir a special meaning because every time it’s used, it’s used in a positive context. Due to the different emotions evoked from hearing the word ‘moon’, this foreign connotation has an effect on us Westerners because our definition of the moon is so different from theirs. It teaches us diversity and cultural perspective. By understanding the importance of the moon through their eyes, we are able to understand the text and their traditions better.
Ishmael‘s stories contained incomprehensible episodes during this time of his life. His story without literary devices is dilapidated and cracked. The embellishments of personification and connotation has filled the cracks and completed his memoir.
Fox Verveckken
ReplyDeleteEnglish 10 Honors
Corelewski
November 21, 2013
Why does war and death have to be such a well-known thing? Seems to me that the world now is so used to war and death that we all seem to turn a blind eye to it. Why is it that when there is poverty and suffering that we always ignore it? But what if it was your child? Dying, in pain, doing drugs? Then what.
A Long Way Gone is a book that everyone should read. We all see war as a thing we dream of. Saving the day, stopping the bad guys, but reading this book changes you. I myself, being a huge fan of war video games, can never see it the same way. Ishmael in this book uses his amazing words, to bring up past moments he cherishes and despises, and personal symbols to truly convey even the deepest emotions into the readers mind.
The author uses symbolism to bring past emotions back to life. Creating a stir of emotions within the reader. In the darkest of times, the moon guides Ishmael and keeps him moving forward. “’We must strive to be like the moon.’ An old man in Kabati repeated to people who passed his house on their way to the river......These are some of the reasons we should want to be like the moon.” (pg. 16). Ishmael constantly refers to the moon within the book. When he doesn’t even know what to think or do he looks the moon, his family, to guide him on his journey. The happiness and sadness conflict on the topic, but at the same time, work perfectly to keep him and the reader moving forward. Making you as the reader, want him to continue on.
When you think back to a good or bad time, does it not bring back emotion? Ishmael made his symbolism and flashbacks work together perfectly. Not only did he have flashbacks physically written in the book, but also he gave the reader their own flashbacks of the story previously with his symbols, like the moon. As you read, you would notice the symbols that make you yourself look back and realize what they mean and the previous emotional scenes of the book. Within these flashbacks, Ishmael shows you how his mind is changed and molded by the war. His flashbacks during the first fifteen chapters were of his family and loved ones, but once he is in the army and on drugs all he can remember is death. "I thought about when Junior and I had visited Kabati and would take walks with our grandfather on paths around the coffee farms by the village. He would point out medical leaves and trees whose barks were important medicines. During each visit, Grandfather always gave us a special medicine that was supposed to enhance the brain's capacity to absorb and retain knowledge" (pg. 51). Although after UNICEF saves him, he has flashbacks to war memories, which seem to cause sharp pains in his head. “That night, I sat on the verandah listening to some of the boys discuss the volleyball game I had missed…..I couldn’t face the nightmares that I knew would come” (pg. 160)
Truly, Ishmael allows his readers to feel and understand his emotions to the fullest extent. This book shows you that nobody deserves to be ignored.
Ishmael Beah expresses in his writings A Long Way Gone the amount of physical and mental trauma that he had gone through having been able to kill so many people and ultimately turning into a monster; however write to show the error of his way and how much he has grown.
ReplyDeleteIshmael was raised in a hostile environment covered in bloodshed and pure uncertainty for one safety; however he hardly knew it. When writing his life’s story Ishmael paints a vivid picture that allows the reader to perceive threw his eyes. He sets the mood of the entire story by description of the settings he encounters and the way the actions of him and his comrade’s takes place. During the scene when Ishmael finishes the battle against the rebels and he is retreating, the description of the forest is a good example of the way Ishmael sets the mood and tone. “We took the ammunition off the bodies of my friends and left them there in the forest, which had taken on a life of its own, as if it had trapped the souls that had departed from the dead. The branches of the trees looked as if they were holding hands and bowing their heads in prayer.” (Beah 119) He’s giving the trees a sense of humanity by having them show sympathy and grief for the fallen boys. This part especially stuck out in the chapter because of how the surroundings are an image of grief and deep heartfelt sorrow, meanwhile Ishmeal is taking the ammo of his close friends and acquaintances whose bodies litter the forest floor. It shows the amount of change he has gone through from being a young boy to being an adult in present day; him being able to see the tragedies in his actions and still showing his condolences as an adult through the atmospheres but maintain the true state of his former self.
Mood wasn’t always just set in the area around them but threw his Voice in the way he defines engagements to cater to his revisit memories. “It hadn’t crossed their minds that a change of environment wouldn’t immediately make us normal boys; we were dangerous, and brainwashed to kill. They had just started this process of rehabilitation, so this was one of the first lessons they had to learn. “(Beah 135). This is the few statements before he leads into the outbreak among the boys; it leads into the fighting by giving the reader a much clearer understanding of a well thought out reflection as a man mixed in with his thoughts during the moment as a boy. “We were dangerous, and brainwashed to kill” (Beah 135) is an afterthought of him as an adult presenting the idea of his consideration years after with the understand-meant that the boy that he was only wanted bloodshed of the rebels. “So this was one of the first lessons they had to learn.”(Beah 135) tells this scene from more of the boy in fights side; it shows what was going through his head when his hand left the cold shell of that triggered grenade. When he was that age he just wanted to see the rebels fall no matter what the MP’s did; being an adult he sees the error in his way and accepting of his previous condition. Him having his voice project through his writing made a major difference in the way one perceived his story.
Morgan Plaisted
ReplyDeleteCorolewski
Honors English 1B
24 November 2013
The literary devices that Ishmael uses in Chapter 10 of ‘A Long Way Gone’ are extremely useful as they allow the readers to understand his perspective of the war occurring in Sierra Leone and his role as a child soldier. Two examples of the literary devices he used in Chapter 10 are the building of emotion and personification.
Emotion is definitely a large part throughout the whole story, though in Chapter 10, many emotions are displayed. The main emotion, in my opinion, was uncertainty. The chapter begins with Ishmael saying, “One of the unsettling things about my journey, mentally, physically, and emotionally, was that I wasn’t sure when or where it was going to end. I didn’t know what I was going to do with my life. I felt that I was starting over and over again.” (Page 69). The fact that Ishmael didn’t know anything about how his future would turn out and how his journey through the African wilderness as a child soldier would end was very uncomforting to him. He had already witnessed so many horrific deaths, and the fact that he didn’t know whether or not he would die was an intimidating thought for him. This mood especially intensified after the death of Saidu, and none of the boys knew if they would take the same unfortunate path as him. “When we started to walk away, we all began to sob. The cockcrows faded, only to make us aware of our silence, the silence that asked, Who will be next to leave us? The question was in our eyes when we looked at each other. We walked fast as if trying to stay in the daytime, afraid that nightfall would turn over the uncertain pages of our lives.” (Page 88). The exhibition of the emotion of uncertainty really helps readers understand Ishmael’s mood throughout that time period.
The way Ishmael describes some of the non-human aspects of the story make them sound very human, which is why I chose personification as the second literary device that is used in Chapter 10. One of the things he personifies is the sky and its contents, such as the moon and stars. “Some nights the sky wept stars that quickly floated and disappeared into the darkness before our wishes could meet them. Under these stars and sky I used to hear stories, but now it seemed as if it was the sky that was telling us a story as its stars fell, violently colliding with each other. The moon hid behind clouds to avoid seeing what was happening. During the day the sun refused to rise gradually, as it had before.” (Page 80). Ishmael says that the moon was hiding, as if purposely, which gives it human traits because the moon can’t actually hide on purpose. It also perhaps suggests that the war occurring around him is so horrifying that even the moon needs to hide from it.
The literary devices are a great tool in Chapter 10, as well as the entire story. They help readers understand the horror of the war and help us understand Ishmael’s perspective, as if we are walking in his shoes.
Grant Moxley 4B
ReplyDeleteAll people have needs that must be met, the first being physical necessities such as food, water and shelter. Once these have been obtained, a person will focus on fulfilling emotional needs. Humans are mammals, which commonly travel in packs, herds, or families. This is necessary for protection, and people need socialization in order to thrive (with the occasional exception). Within his autobiography, A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah expresses how he felt during many situations and conditions. To do this, Beah uses literary devices including metaphors and personification. Without these devices, the story would certainly not be too dry, but including the additional pictures gives the reader more vivid details, as well as creating a specific mood, relatable to the given situation. Within the book, Beah is constantly making comparisons, in the form of metaphors, in order to offer opportunities for the reader to relate to events. A specific example includes the beginning of chapter 15, where Ishmael makes the comparison between his family and home of the past, and his new family life. “The villages that we captured and turned into our bases as we went along and the forests that we slept in became my home. My squad was my family… “(Beah 126). His family and his home have been removed from his life, so Ishmael created substitutes with what was available. Each reader has some form of family and home, so Beah makes his situation relatable. The mood of a mock family setting is presented. Without devices such as personification, A Long Way Gone would have been very factual, and might have been as distant as a reading from an encyclopedia. The gruesome and sorrowful situations in the book would have not been enough to keep it afloat as a good read. Ishmael brings human quality to many things in the book, such as calling his gun a personal provider and protector (Beah 126). A gun is not able to be a provider and protector, as it is merely a tool, or object meant to complete a purpose. Ishmael had to either kill or be killed, so his gun became a large part of his life. In fact, it was a lifeline to staying alive. This is relevant for completing a picture aimed at giving the reader an understanding of the situation Ishmael was placed in.
The experiences Ishmael had shaped and defined his life forever. It is amazing that he was able to transform into a completely different person, and then come back. So really, he didn’t change into a different person, but he changed as a person. This remarkable book is an astounding window into another life.
Austin, this is good, but I believe you can be more in-depth with your analysis.
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