A Long Way Gone

A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah was definitely an eye opener. At the very beginning of the book it talks about how people assume war is too far away to be realistic. People make it seem like it is happening in a different land; even I find myself doing the same thing. What shocked me the most when reading this book was reminding myself that this isn’t even that long ago, it was happening when I was alive. Children walked 16 miles to save money; this is crazy to me. It makes me realize how lucky I am and how easy I have it in life. I complain about walking a couple miles let alone 16. A part in the book that I did research on beforehand was the rebels and their attack in the mining areas. Reading Ishmael Beah’s interpretation of this made it seem that much more real. Schools were closed and people ran around frantically trying to find their loved ones while rebels fired shots in the air and eventually at the people. I wonder why Ishmael and his older brother had such a distant relationship with their dad and why their step mothers always ended up ruining their relationships whenever they tried to get close. I cannot imagine being twelve years old and seeing the things that Ishmael saw, even at any age. He encountered people’s brains on the floor, limbs torn off, bodies in different areas from where they should be, and more. He was so brave throughout everything and I think this is the reason he survived. The hardest thing I had to read was when a woman was carrying her baby on her back, running for their lives when she got shot in the back and it killed the baby and when she stopped to grab the baby, it was dead with its eyes open. I don’t think I would be able to deal with that if I was that mother, I would feel so terrible. Nobody should have to see that or go through that. I felt so heartbroken for Ishmael when all he could think about was if he would ever see his parents again or his baby brother. My parents are my best friends and I don’t know what I would do if I was faced to deal with what he had to go through. This was so hard for me to relate to because I have never had to go through anything remotely close to what Ishmael had to go through. I loved how after everything, the boys were able to still crack jokes and have a sense of humor when their feet were all torn apart. This is what helped them stay sane; at least they had each other at this point. Thank goodness for good people like the man who helped them by catering for them and bringing them food when they were starving and couldn’t walk. I want to make a point to do nice things for people more often like this man did. You never know who it could impact.