Long Way Gone

The book Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah is about how his life changed because of the civil war in Sierra Lone. The civil war was between the rebels and the army who were fighting for control of the government. In the book, the main character, Ishmael, life is turned upside down. He was split up from his family, saw long time friends get killed and had to join the army to survive. The lesson about life that Ishmael Beah is trying to teach through his story is war can change someone of even the friendliest person. A boy could be fun, loving and friendly before a war, but come out the war a changed man.

One way Ishmael is shown as fun, loving and friendly before the war is how all he wanted to do was spend time with friends, have friendly competitions and go to school. For example, in the text it says “After I returned from school with my friends I went to Khalilou’s house to wash my crapes (pants) and count for Junior and Talloi, who were having a push-up competition. When I finished I sat and listened to Rapper’s Delight by Sugarhill Gang on my cassette tape.”(9) This example explains how Ishmael was a regular boy who liked to hang out with friends, go to school, and listen to music. This paragraph shows that Ishmael had a normal life before the war.

One example of how the war changed Ishmael is how killing other people didn’t affect him. Ishmael now kills people without remorse. For example, in the text it says, “We walked for long hours and stopped only to eat sardines and corned beef with gari, sniff cocaine, brown brown (a type of drug) and take some white capsules. These combinations of drugs gave us a lot of energy and made us fierce. The idea a killing didn’t cross my mind at all….. I had no problem killing rebels.”(122) This quote explains that Ishmael has changed very much. He changed from a fun outgoing boy who loved to listening to music to killings rebels without remorse.  This paragraph shows the lesson that war can really change someone.

 The last reason how the war has changed Ishmael is because he not only kills without remorse but also his way of thinking has changed. For example, in the text it says “My army squad was my family, my gun was my provider and my protector, and my rule was to kill or be killed….. We had been fighting for over two years and killing had become my daily activity. I felt no pity for anyone. My childhood gone without my knowing, and seemed as if my heart had frozen.”(129) That quote explains that Ishmael’s way of thinking has changed. It went from thinking about school and friends, to worrying and thinking about having to kill to stay alive. This paragraph shows how the war has changed the way Ishmael thinks.

In conclusion, war can really change someone as evidence has shown in the book Long Way Gone. The main character, Ishmael, has gone from a fun, outgoing boy who loves to listen to music and hang out with friends, to a boy who kills without remorse and whose rule is to kill or be killed. War can drastically alter one’s life as shown in the book Long Way Gone.