Life is made up of decisions and choices. Every single day, people make numerous decisions, some big and some small. Many choices can impact your entire life while others, like what you eat for breakfast, aren’t as important. However, all of your choices build the track for your life and make you who you are. The choices you make can be greatly impacted by your surroundings and environment. They are also made based on your values and beliefs. In the memoir A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, Ishmael is a young fourteen year old boy thrown in the middle of Sierra Leone's civil war. During the war, Ishmael is given a series of obstacles where he is required to make important life choices that would impact his life greatly. At one part of Ishmael's …show more content…
At the rehabilitation center, Ishmael hears that an uncle he never knew about has offered Ishmael a home with him in Freetown. There is Ishmael is welcomed by his uncle, his aunt and all of his cousins and then begins to adapt to finally having a family he cares about and being far away from the war. When living with his uncle, Ishmael makes another acquaintance, Laura Simms, when he goes to New York to speak about the problems child soldiers face. Shortly after returning to Sierra Leone, the civil war reaches Freetown. The entire town is in chaos and no one dares to venture out of their homes for fear the rebels or the military could kill them. It is at this time when Ishmael suffers another loss; the death of his uncle. After his uncle dies, Ishmael decides to escape Sierra Leone, in order to evade the military. If I was in this situation, I feel that I probably would have not left Sierra Leone as quickly as Ishmael did. Ishmael made an impulsive decision that I wouldn’t have made because I am not able to make choices quickly. Furthermore, in his situation, I feel that the thought of fleeing Sierra Leone would have been on my mind but I wouldn’t have had enough courage to go through with the plan. As a sixteen year old boy, I would have been to scared to try to escape the country illegally because of the repercussions I might face if I was caught. Even if I did leave the country, I wouldn’t have left my grieving aunt and cousins by themselves, right after they just lost one person. Ishmael made the choice to escape the country because he was too afraid that he was going to be found by someone who knew him when he was in the military. That would have been a big concern for me too, but I would also feel that I wouldn’t have the strength to leave the family that I had just recently gained. For me, family is
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.
My prediction of Ishmael walking often is proven correct on page 8 paragraph 2 which states, “At Kabati, we ate, rested a bit, and started the last six miles.” Another part of chapter one that proves my prediction is correct is on page 7 paragraph 4. This page states “To save money, we decided to walk the sixteen miles.” These statements from the book prove that my prediction of Ishmael walking often correct. My other prediction of the setting taking place in Sierra Leone, Africa correct. This was shown on the page titled “New York City, 1998” The conversation shows people asking Ishmael “Why did you leave Sierra Leone?” This proves that the story takes place in Sierra
At the beginning of the book, Ishmael (the protagonist) comes straight out saying that he is a loser who lives in LoserVille. Ishmael clearly is very down on himself and the school bully, Barry Bagsley does not help the case. Barry Bagsley is always on Ishmael’s tail and is starting to really annoy Ishmael. Ishmael finds some strength inside him when thinking about Barry away from school but whenever he comes close to Barry he can’t manage to fight. Bauer spends the entirety of the first chapter explaining how much of a loser Ishmael is and does not provide much more information than how Ishmael ends up with ‘Ishmael Leseur Disease’. At the conclusion of the book, the reader may not even recognise Ishmael because he has been influenced so much by his friends and people he has met along the way. The school bully (Barry Bagsley) influenced Ishmael possibly the most and showed Ishmael exactly what not to do if you want lots of friends and Ishmael eventually finds out that no-one should be able to insult you without y...
...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 Beah’s first transition on his approach to family began with a strong sense of hope. Consequently, after the separation of his mother, father, and older brother his life completely changed. When he began to take his journey Beah hoped to find his family and survive the war together. In his memoir, Beah demonstrated the idea of hope when he came across a childhood memory that impacted his life. As he walked alone in the forest Beah remembered his father’s significant words of advice that motivated him to find hope and purpose. With this idea in mind, his father once said, “If you are alive, there is hope for a better day and something good to happen” (2007, P. 54). For Ishmael, his father, mother, and
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 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...
There are many unpredictable and ungovernable accidents, coincidences, and chances that drive the universe and can ultimately affect the events of a person’s life. One of the main concepts surrounding David Guterson’s novel, Snow Falling on Cedars, is the power of free will vs. fate. The last sentence of the novel: “accident ruled every corner of the universe except the chambers of the human heart” explains the lack of control that humans have on the forces surrounding them compared to the control they have over their actions or decisions and the impact that it has. Snow Falling on Cedars looks closely at the effect free will and fate has through the murder trial that occurs post World War II in the story where a Japanese American, Kabuo Miyamoto, is charged with the murder of an American, Carl Heine. As the trial takes place, the story interconnects the characters one of who is Ishmael Chambers, a journalist who may be Kabuo’s only hope but struggles with the decision to do what’s right as he was left burned by Kabuo’s wife and his childhood love, Hatsue. The notion of chance and free will can be seen especially in the character of Ishmael who struggles against the effects of the war and Hatsue leaving him. And as a Japanese American during the war, Hatsue herself displays the power of free will in her self-acceptance and in creating a balance in her life. Apart from the portrayal of free will vs. chance in the development of the characters, certain events in the novel such as the case of Carl Heine’s death and the war itself exhibits similar themes. However, unlike Carl’s death, the war shows that there are instances where circumstance may be the result of human actions. In David Guterson’s Snow Falling on Cedars, the events tha...
The transition of Ishmael Baeh, from innocent child to a soldier with the blood of his countrymen on his hands, is chronicled in his memoir through the usage of flashbacks that explain his memories. In the beginning of the memo...
Being no ordinary Gorilla, Ishmael recognises the failings of humankind in relation to their moral responsibilities. He ultimately directs use towards a solution to the problems we have created for the planet. Ishmael is trying to convey that man is living in such a way that we can not last. Our vast numbers alone hinder our survival. Moral responsibility is a clear theme in this text.
...oss Laura Simms, a narrator and his forthcoming foster mom, and understands the significance of sharing his practice with the world in expectations of avoiding such terrors from happening to other youngsters and to other parts of the world. (chapter 20).Afterwards Ishmael revenues to Freetown, Sierra Leon, a rebellion by the RUF and the Soldierly outs the non-combatant government, and the warfare Ishmael has been escaping from catches up with him. After his uncle’s passing, Ishmael escapes Sierra Leon for nearby Guinea and finally makes his tactic to his different lifetime in the United States (chapter 21).
Throughout the hundreds of years, individuals have pondered the impact of heavenly or insidious force, environment, hereditary qualities, even excitement, as deciding how free any individual is in settling on good decisions. Fate, a result of the past, is often described as the advancement of occasions out of man 's control, dictated by an extraordinary force. In any case that someone may utilize their freewill can reflect upon their outcomes, decided upon a supreme force, whether they are positive or negative. In the novels “A Lesson Before Dying,” Ernest Gaines and “The Grapes of Wrath,” John Steinbeck, the authors explore the trials and tribulations of self influenced fate controlled by an higher force.
It has been five months for him at the rehab center, Benin Home. In song lyrics he wrote that Esther reads, he says that he feels like he has nothing left to be alive for, because he has no family. He is told that visitors were coming, such as UNICEF, the UN, the European Commission, and NGOs. Ishmael participates in the talent show they hold for the visitors, and he performs a Julius Caesar monologue and a short hip hop play about the redemption fo a boy soldier. He is recognized by the director, Mr. Kamara. He’s asked to be a spokesperson for boy soldiers. He spoke at several gatherings in free town about the wrongs of child soldiering and how it needs to stop. Mohamed, his childhood friend, gets to the rehab center months after Ishmael. He was in Mogwembo when the rebels attacked the village, but Ishmael hadn’t heard from him since. When Leslie says they cannot find any of his immediate family, Ishmael asks her to find his Uncle Tommy, his father’s brother. Ishmael didn’t expect much anyways, so he was pleasantly surprised when his Uncle was found. He sees his uncle, and his uncle begins crying. Leslie told him about everything Ishmael has been through, and uncle Tommy calls Ishmael his son. Uncle Tommy visits Ishmael at the center every week, and converse. His uncle tells him that his cousins do not know about his horrible experiences in the war. Ishmael meets his uncle’s family, and he was treated like a son by his uncle and aunt, and like a brother by his cousin, Allie.
Moby Dick, by Herman Melville was published in 1851; the novel is about the narrator, Ishmael and his experience on the whaling ship named The Pequod. Ishmael 's development as a hero can be aligned with Joseph Campbell 's Hero 's Journey. There are twelve stages, each will be discussed in terms of how it relates to Ishmael in the American novel Moby Dick. The twelve stages are as follows: ordinary World, call to adventure, refusal of the call, meeting the mentor, crossing the threshold, tests, allies and enemies, approach to the inmost cave, ordeal, reward, the road back, resurrection, and return with the elixir.
“Teacher seeks pupil. Must have an earnest desire to save the world. Apply in person.” (Quinn, 4). Both Ishmael and My Ishmael, two books written by Daniel Quinn, start the same way: an advertisement in a newspaper. This seemingly simple advertisement leads two curious people to Ishmael’s door seeking the answers to questions that they believe this teacher could have. These questions, however, vary quite a lot between the two characters because Daniel Quinn’s books concentrate on self-enlightenment, and the characters’ perspectives of the world are very different.