Monday, November 30, 2015

Chris kilcourse blog #2


A Long Way Gone

Author: Ishmael Beah

            Ishmael continues to travel around from village to village just trying to survive another day as he goes around with a group of kids. In some villages he even gets antagonized by other soldiers of the head of the village. None the less, he is still alive and traveling around still.

            This book includes several different themes, but one that really stands out to me as the reader would have to be separation. Ishmael gets separated from his village when he was only twelve years old. Not only was he separated from his village, but from his family too. Could you imagine being separated from your home and your family at such a young age? On the bright side, Ishmael was not alone on his journey for safety, not that it makes the situation any better, but definitely a little bit easier. “It was much easier to be sad than to go back and forth between emotions, and this gave me the determination I needed to keep moving” (Beah 69). Ishmael was finally starting to accept his situation and instead of trying to fight the sadness; he began to accept it which in return made it easier for him to move forward.

            The idea of separation could be interpreted in different ways, but the way I think of it is to be away from something that you are used to. For example, when you first go away to college, you are away from home. You’re separated from a bunch of things like your home, your friends, and your family. To get over this, it’s all about adapting to your new surroundings just like Ishmael if finally starting to understand.
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2 comments:

  1. UnknownNovember 30, 2015 at 8:23 PM

    I like how you mentioned how there are multiple meanings to what separation could be. I ended up doing something similar for my blog as well. I also like how to annotated from the book and considered what Ishmael was thinking at the time.

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  2. Alexa CogbillNovember 30, 2015 at 8:45 PM

    I really like your comparison of what Ismael goes through to college. I completely agree with this because as you said Ismael is not alone which makes it easier for him to get through the separation. When people go off to college making friends always makes their experience a lot easier because it reminds them that they are not completely alone. In both these cases people get thrown into situations that they don't necessarily feel prepared for. That was a very good connection.

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