A Long Way Gone discussion

" Ishmael Beah's life story has many different positive effects on our lives after reading his book"A Long Way Gone," it may help us arrive at an understanding of this situation. Beah's self-written life story is almost (like nothing else in the world), as far as I can decide/figure out -- maybe the first time that a child soldier has been able to give book-related/writing-related voice to one of the most upsetting (important events or patterns of things) of the late 20th century: the rise of a killer.

Beah was 12 years old when the (war between groups that all live in one country) in Sierra Leone entered his life, in 1993. Sierra Leone, a former British (group of people or other living things) in West Africa, sandwiched between Guinea and Liberia, suffered the usual after-independence ceremonies of passage of (dishonest actions that ruin your trust), unrest, military secret and successful plans and (divided an area into weirdly-shaped voting districts that unfairly help someone get elected) elections. In the '90s, civil battle(s)/tension in Liberia caused/brought about/reminded the rise of the R.U.F. (the (related to fighting authority or causing huge, important changes) United Front), a rough freeing/freedom army headed by a former corporal, Foday Sankoh, who took over the diamond mines in eastern Sierra Leone and whose violent/difficult group of armed citizens. They were very upsetting to many and their decisions in which they acted towards other is un-human. They had a desire for cutting off human body parts like arms and legs. I looked up and found out that there is a historical history in the book, but you will learn information of the internal political struggle from Beah's point of view.

In a function, however, this is beside the point. A 12-year-old is conscious only of immediate facts or conditions (that surround someone), and in Beah's case, the (the act of reaching a destination) of the fighters in his small town meant sudden separation from his parents and months of unknown flight from danger with a handful of other boys. These very scared children wandered without purpose along jungle tracks, starving and (without hope/very upset), (teased and threatened over and over again in a mean way) and suspected as they scrounged for food and tried to make sense of what was going on. Finally, they reached the Atlantic Ocean, but, once again, afraid/scary villagers sent them packing, and they were eventually recruited into the Sierra Leone Army as boy soldiers.

Given basic and simple training, an AK-47 and as many drugs as he could consume (chemicals (that give energy), marijuana and a poisonous mix of cocaine and gunpowder called "brown brown"), Beah seems then to have gone on a two-year mind-bending killing spree, until he was rescued by some Unicef (work done by traveling to a place to watch, listen, learn, etc.)ers and sent to a healing/repairing center in Freetown. There, with counseling, care and attention, and the mental helping actions of a kind/nicely nurse named Esther, Beah's slow return to (usual/ commonly and regular/ healthy)ity began, further increased/improved when he was sent to the United Nations with the job of explaining a lot of the child soldier to a confused and concerned international community. He came to live in the United States, graduating from high school and Oberlin College. "A Long Way Gone" is his first, amazing and interesting book.