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Short term and long term effects of child soldiers
Short term and long term effects of child soldiers
Short term and long term effects of child soldiers
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It is said that the most delicate, crucial time in one’s life is their childhood. In a span of four years, a child is taught to walk, talk and interact with one another. Around this time, they also begin to learn a sense of right and wrong. A child who is raised in a nurturing environment knows to be kind and caring towards others, whereas a child that is brought up in violent and demoralizing conditions displays more hostility towards others. The protagonists in Loung Ung’s First They Killed My Father and Ishmael Beah’s A Long Way Gone are prime examples of children who commit demoralizing acts as a result of their violent surroundings. Therefore, as child soldiers, both Ishmael and Loung are corrupted by their experiences, however Loung is more severely impacted by the atrocities of war.
Primarily, the tragedies of war transform Ishmael and Loung into selfish people; however, if they are to be compared, Loung displays stronger acts of self-indulgence. The negativity surrounding Loung causes her to be more concerned about her needs than the needs of her family. An example of this trait is when she reflects back on her actions thinking, “I knew exactly what I was doing when I stole the handful of rice from my family. My hunger was so strong that I did not think of the consequences of my actions” (Ung 89). Evidently, Loung is aware that taking the rice is wrong because her hunger does not supersede the hunger of her family. Nevertheless, she goes through with this wrongful deed because the food deprivation due to the war is causing her to think only of herself. Family is important to Loung; they are her only support system through the war. However, the brutal conditions Loung is in because of the war, influence her so greatly th...
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...verpower him and blind him from the truth. In conclusion, it is clear, that as a result of the inhumane violence surrounding both Loung and Ishmael, they start off wanting revenge however, Loung’s desire for vengeance proves to be much stronger than Ishmael’s.
Although, war influences both protagonists from First they killed my father and A Long Way Gone, Loung is more greatly affected by the horrors of war. Her selfishness and need for vengeance, which is caused by the brutalities of war, both drastically surpass Ishmael’s. Conclusively, it is evident that a child who is brought up in violence and bloodshed will be more unfriendly and inhospitable than a child who is raised in loving and peaceful conditions. Children are greatly impacted by their surroundings therefore; to raise a kind and caring child one must raise the child in a kind and caring environment.
Throughout the book the audience has seen Ishmael go through adventure and sorrow. In the novel Ishmael is forced to go to war at age thirteen, but what keeps him going were his grandmother's wise words. His grandmother was the one who told him powerful lessons that he could use in real life. These lesson that Ishmael is keeping him grounded is not only from his grandmother but also from his friends. Lessons that were seen by the readers are “wild pigs”, “Bra Spider”, and the story about the moon.
The setting of the novel, the killing fields of Cambodia, thoroughly exhibits the protagonist’s awareness to suffering. Exposed to sorrow at the tender age of 11, Arn Chorn Pond is highly cognisant of his surroundings. When remembering his displaced family, Arn often repeats an analogy
...g that throughout the book, Ishmael is in constant need of a friend to help him in situations like the main plot I mentioned earlier. He is very lucky and makes many of those friends he needs by the end of the book.
...ircumstances as he did, believe that revenge is not good and it keeps on going if no one stops the process. Overall, Ishmael eventually learned that revenge does not solve anything and seeking revenge just results in a longer war sustained by the counterproductive concept of vengeance. Additionally, Ishmael learned that by constantly thinking about his culpability, he was just bringing more harm to himself and in the process was unable to create any progress in his own life. Ishmael eventually realized that merely reflecting on his actions did not do anything and to fix and prevent the problems he faced, he would have to take initiative to reach out to the people who could help. By utilizing the idea of forgiveness, Ishmael learned that he could let go of the huge mountain of stress that was bringing him down and prevented him from overcoming the effects of the war.
Ishmael was taken from the wild and held captive in a zoo, a circus, and a gazebo. During his time in various types of captivity, Ishmael was able to develop a sense of self and a better understanding of the world around him. Ishmael states that the narrator and those who share the same culture are “captives of a civilizational system that more or less compels you to go on destroying the world in order live” (Quinn, 15). He goes to explain that releasing humanity from captivity is crucial for survival, but humans are unable to see the bars of the cage. Using the cage as a metaphor, Quinn is referring to human culture and how they do not see the harm it’s causing. As the novel progresses, it elaborates on how culture came about and why certain people inherit certain cultures. Ishmael refers to a story as the explanation of the relationship between humans, the world and the gods. He defines to enact is to live as if the story is a reality. Ishmael suggest that humans are captives of story, comparing them to the people of Nazi Germany who were held captive by Hitler’s
Ishmael kills people without it being a big problem or deal. He was forced and threatened. If not then he would be killed. First, he was terrified to see people being killed. In the book, Ishmael quotes “My hand began trembling uncontrollably…” This shows that Ishmael is being aware of his surroundings and of himself. This is important because it shows how Ishmael feels before he and his
Ishmael starts his journey with a will to escape and survive the civil war of Sierra Leone in order to reunite with his mom, dad, and younger siblings, who fled their home when his village was attacked by rebels. Having only his older brother, who he escaped with, and a few friends by his side Ishmael is scared, but hopeful. When the brothers are captured by rebels, Ishmael’s belief in survival is small, as indicated by his fallible survival tactics when he “could hear the gunshots coming closer…[and] began to crawl farther into the bushes” (Beah 35). Ishmael wants to survive, but has little faith that he can. He is attempting to survive by hiding wherever he can- even where the rebels can easily find him. After escaping, Ishmael runs into a villager from his home tells him news on the whereabouts of his family. His optimism is high when the villager, Gasemu, tells Ishmael, “Your parents and brothers wil...
In his memoir, A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah deals with his loss of innocence as he is forced to join the children army of Sierra Leone in the country's civil war after being conscripted to the army that once destroyed his town in order for Ishmael to survive. His memoir acts as a voice to show the many difficulties that the members of Sierra Leone's child army had to suffer through and their day to day struggle to survive in the worst of conditions. In order to escape the perils and trials of war, Ishmael loses his innocence as he transitions from a child who liked to rap with his friends to a cold blooded solider in the army during the civil war in Sierra Leone. Through his transition, Ishmael is forced to resort to the addiction of drugs such as cocaine, marijuana, and “brown-brown” just so that he, along with the other members of the child army can have the courage to be able to kill their fellow countrymen and slaughter entire towns who stand in their paths. In order to portray his struggles in the army, Ishmael uses the dramatic elements of memories explained using flashback, dialogue, and first-person narration in order to establish the theme of the memoir being how war causes for a child to lose its innocence. The transition shown in the memoir illustrates how the title of the novel, A Long Way Gone, was chosen because it demonstrates how he is a long way gone psychologically, emotionally, and physically, from the child that he was when the memoir begins to the soldier that he is forced to become.
Ishmael’s search for revenge ended when he was taken out of the front lines of the war by
This is at core a pitiful story which encompasses of ruthlessness and miseries endured by Ishmael Beah. All the trials in this story are chronologically prescribed and heart sobbing, in which a person who reads can in time weep while interpreting.
After war Daru had requested to be transferred to a small town, where the silence of the town echoes in the schoolhouse; and it was hard on him. Now that he has company the same silence still muter the house. He thought about war and how he fought next to other men, whom he got to know and to love. The presence of the Arab imposes on Daru a feeling of brotherhood that he knew very well, and that he didn’t want to share. Men that fought together, or share rooms, or were prisoners or soldiers grow a peculiar alliance. However, Daru tries not to think about it, such feelings aren’t good for him. Daru wishes the Arab runs away because he feels as much of a prisoner as the
During the War, after Ishmael's return, and throughout the trial of Kabuo, Hatsue's husband, Ishmael struggles with his feelings, hi...
So the harsh discipline and the threat of death continue to underscore the training programs of almost all child soldier groups. Works Cited Singer, P. W. Peter Warren: Children at war. New York : Pantheon Books, c2005. Eichstaedt, Peter H., 1947- First kill your family. Chicago, Ill. :
Miller, Sarah Rose. “Child Soldiers.” Humanist 1 July 2002: 1-4. eLibrary. Web. 14 Feb. 2011.
War is defined as armed conflict between different nations or groups of people. In the novel The Lord of the Flies, the characters face a war of their own. The novel takes place on an island in which a group of British schoolboys are stranded after being the only survivors of a plane crash. The boys have to work together in order to survive and be rescued from the island. However, they are eventually divided because of contrasting opinions and begin fighting amongst each other, which causes them to feel the repercussions of their actions. Lives being lost, nature being destroyed, as well as civilization falling, and people losing their innocence and descending into savagery are some of the consequences of war that the boys felt firsthand while on the island.