A Long Way Gone

[Karina]

How can you relate to Ishmael? How is he like any other teenager? What are some experiences that force him to grow up? How would you handle those situations? Be sure to look into the historical context of his story.

[Olivia]

I can relate to Ishmael because I want to hold on to the memories and innocence of my childhood. After experiencing and hearing about everything going on in our current society, I can see where Ishmael is coming from when he tries to cover the thought of tragedies with joyful memories. Just before the rebels broke out, Ishmael was a regular teenager that enjoyed dancing and listening to music. However, during his transition from a child to a young adult, he is forced to grow up because of horrifying events in his community. He could never return back home, and never knew where he’d end up as he fled with his brother. He was always surrounded by death and “could no longer tell the difference between dreams and reality.” In my opinion, I would feel very overwhelmed if I was put in his situation. Ishmael was just a regular kid going to school, when suddenly his whole life changed. It’s disturbing to hear about someone else having their whole life ripped apart, and I wouldn’t be able to understand that I could be real if it was happening to me.

[Weronika]

Ishmael lives in a small village in Sierra Leone. Thus, his childhood experiences are, at least superficially, pretty different from mine. However, even though we both grew up in different environments, those experiences are similar in other ways. For example, Ishmael likes music, hangs around with his friends, and dances for fun. Those activities are pretty common for teenagers in America, and I am no exception. I, too, like music and spending time with friends.

Unlike me, however, Ishmael was forced to grow up very quickly. At the age of twelve, Ismael was forced to deal with the civil war in Sierra Leone. He was separated from his family, lived in a forest by himself for a month, watched people die gruesomely, and eventually joined the Sierra Leonian army. There, Ishmael learned to hate and kill anybody that his commanding officers told him to.
Even though Ishmael is eventually rescued and rehabilitated, his experiences left lifelong mental scars.

If I were in Ishmael's position, I do not think I would have performed as well as he would. I would probably do something stupid and get killed in the first few chapters of the book. If for some reason I did survive long enough to join the Army, like Ishmael, I do not know if I would be mentally tough enough to bear it.