The characters for me in A Long Way Gone apart from Esther,
Uncle Tommy, Laura Simms is Ishmael’s grandparents- grandmother and grandfather. The
reason for this is Ishmael in almost every chapter mentions about them or writes
a story that they told him, or the things that he has learned from them. He remembers his
grandfather when he is stuck in the middle of a forest for one month about the
poisonous plants and medicinal plants that he taught Ishmael (33). The story that Ishmael's grandmother told about the sky,"That there are answers and explanations in the sky: pain, joy or suffering." (166).
If Esther had not been there by Ishmael’s side he would have never recovered and ended up again as a rebel in Freetown. His dedication towards being normal and curiosity of exploring Freetown and the generosity and kindness shown by Esther towards not only Ishmael but also other kids helped them rehabilitate completely. Surely, I would love him to move into my neighborhood. There will be a lot of things to learn from him. I would love to him some extra details that’s not there in the book. It would be great prospect to learn about his culture and his tribe- Mende, about West Africa. It will be a pleasure to have spokesperson to UNICEF children affected by war staying with us.
The biggest lesson I learnt from this book is “Hope”. I remember a dialogue from a movie that I can relate to this context “There can be no true despair without hope”. Never let yourself down, learn to fight and rise. The second lesson that I learned is there is always good people in this world, no matter how you are, no matter where you are from religion, caste or culture they will always help you out. The influence of Esther, Uncle Tommy, Laura Simms and other people on Ishmael made him possible to rise up to this day with such beautiful piece of Literature. As Ishmael says in the starting," I had stayed awake all night anxiously waiting for daylight, so that I could fully return to my new life, to rediscover the happiness that I had known as a child, the joy that has stayed alive inside me even through times when being alive itself became a burden" (20).
As Ishmael reached the Sierra Leone consulate in Conakry he abruptly ended the book, He didn’t mention about how he returned back to America and his stay with Laura Simms , Also I learned more about Ishmael Beah he is a UNICEF spokesperson to children affected by war and has visited Sierra Leone. He has also united with Mohammed. He is the author of two brilliant books, A Long Way Gone and Radiance of tomorrow. Ishmael Beah is fighting for the children of Sierra Leone to promote education in countries. He has a website called www.beahfound.org for donations towards children of Africa.
If Esther had not been there by Ishmael’s side he would have never recovered and ended up again as a rebel in Freetown. His dedication towards being normal and curiosity of exploring Freetown and the generosity and kindness shown by Esther towards not only Ishmael but also other kids helped them rehabilitate completely. Surely, I would love him to move into my neighborhood. There will be a lot of things to learn from him. I would love to him some extra details that’s not there in the book. It would be great prospect to learn about his culture and his tribe- Mende, about West Africa. It will be a pleasure to have spokesperson to UNICEF children affected by war staying with us.
The biggest lesson I learnt from this book is “Hope”. I remember a dialogue from a movie that I can relate to this context “There can be no true despair without hope”. Never let yourself down, learn to fight and rise. The second lesson that I learned is there is always good people in this world, no matter how you are, no matter where you are from religion, caste or culture they will always help you out. The influence of Esther, Uncle Tommy, Laura Simms and other people on Ishmael made him possible to rise up to this day with such beautiful piece of Literature. As Ishmael says in the starting," I had stayed awake all night anxiously waiting for daylight, so that I could fully return to my new life, to rediscover the happiness that I had known as a child, the joy that has stayed alive inside me even through times when being alive itself became a burden" (20).
As Ishmael reached the Sierra Leone consulate in Conakry he abruptly ended the book, He didn’t mention about how he returned back to America and his stay with Laura Simms , Also I learned more about Ishmael Beah he is a UNICEF spokesperson to children affected by war and has visited Sierra Leone. He has also united with Mohammed. He is the author of two brilliant books, A Long Way Gone and Radiance of tomorrow. Ishmael Beah is fighting for the children of Sierra Leone to promote education in countries. He has a website called www.beahfound.org for donations towards children of Africa.
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| Ishmael Beah in Central Africa surrounded by a group of children. |
Thanks for looking up more facts about Ishmael Beah. I think a lot of people in this class including myself are interested in learning more about him outside of A Long Way Gone. I never knew he wrote another book thats very interesting.
ReplyDeleteI researched more about the book, its about two longtime friends who return to their hometown, Imperi, after the civil war. It looks interesting .
DeleteHope is a very good thing to remember about this book. I liked the quote you chose because it shows how hopeful Beah remained through the whole thing.
ReplyDelete