Compare And Contrast A Long Way Gone And The Bite Of The Mango

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The lives of many were altered or ended during the most horrific period of their lives. The Civil War of Sierra Leone was devastating and affected many citizens in various ways. Many lost their lives to the brutal violence while some were mentally traumatized from what they saw and what they did. A Long Way Gone and The Bite of the Mango are two accounts of children who had lived during this time period; they express the hardships and physical trials people endured in Sierra Leone. The characters may have both been victims of the war, but both found different ways to survive. In the first place, the two main characters, Mariatu and Ishmael, saw the people they love get murdered and the town they grew up in get destroyed. Innocent people were shot, burned alive, and decapitated while Mariatu and Ishmael were forced to watch. Similarly, the mentality of these two children was tainted by images they experienced. Ishmael expresses how the war affected his mental state when he says, “I was afraid to fall asleep, but staying awake also brought back painful memories. Memories I sometimes wish I could …show more content…

With the lack of food the two characters had to find a new tactic to not starve to death. Ishmael learned that if he became a soldier, even though it was completely dangerous and savage, he would be able to receive food and never have the need to run again. It was the only option for him to be able to survive this grueling war. He was able to eat well and get other necessities. Evidently, as a soldier, UNICEF began to recruit young soldiers to a rehabilitation center where they could learn to become sane and rehabilitate their bodies to health. This may have saved his life even further as the war came to a close and gave him the opportunity to leave the country and find a new life somewhere

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