Final Chapter 21

First of all I am going to state my opinions about the final chapter, 21 and then my opinion of the whole book. I believe chapter 21 is a joyful, and exciting, it helps us understand his thoughts of what his new life is like also all of the differences and new technologies that had come into his life. My over all opinion of this book is amazing. This book truly brings out every emotion and paints a mental picture within every page read in the book. Ishmaels book has strongly changed my life in many ways. It’s made me think of how far a person can go, how we can all change, what we can lose, how we make our choices, and how we shouldn’t take things for granted. Chapter 21 starts off at the New York City Airport. There is only a few descriptions which Ishmael has ever heard about NYC is on his rap cassettes, and is anxious to see if it’s as dangerous as they say. Ishmael gets out to the street and is practically fearless, to Ishmael the dangerous streets are comparable to a preschool playground considering what he has seen or experienced. Ishmael loves the city life; all of the buildings and lights fascinate him. It’s foreign to him and he still does not understand most things that we are used to. Such as all of our technology, most of this is confusing for Ishmael. One other thing that Ishmael is new to is the extremely low temperatures and snow. He has never seen snow and he’s never been in this cold of weather either. Everything must be different for him, it’s most likely nothing like he expected or at least what I think he would expect. This was a big and positive change for Ishmael, because now he is in civilization and there is no way he is going back to the terrible conditions he suffered when he lived in Africa. I’m glad that Ishmael has ended up in a safe environment that he can handle with ease. This book was and still is amazing; it’s definitely a book I’d highly recommend to any type of reader. Since the book is over and done with, I’ll look forward to seeing Ishmael Beah speak live in person.

Chapters 19 through 20

After reading chapters 19 through 20 my mind and emotions are filled with more hope, although hope I feel hope I also feel that its depressing because he is still reflecting on his past and its still so sad to picture what he went through and what he is feeling now. In my opinion Ishmael is a true soldier, not a violent soldier but more of a personal warrior. He’s a soldier because he is fighting emotional and physical pain also preventing future conflict. Ishmael has to face the fact that he’s alone and has no family, he tells Esther this. Esther comforts Ishmael and tells him that he can think of her as his own sister. The fact that she offered made Ishmael realize he is loved, people do care about him. Although he likes that she told him that, Ishmael remembers and old friend that resembles Esther. He says they are very similar in many ways. The childhood friend Ishmael remembers would laugh with him whenever they would be around each other. Her name is Abigail; she was one of Ishmaels best friends back then. It’s sad that Ishmael lost her and will not see her again but I’m glad that he has someone to relate to her great qualities. Later on Ishmael is offered to perform at a talent show for representatives, agents and other visitors. He decides to read a few passages from Shakespeare, and a rap performance. Ishmael ends up finding a family to live with. It’s his loving and caring Uncle. His uncle accepts him into his family with no hesitation, he feeds Ishmael and gives him support and shelter. Ishmael is happy to have an Uncle and many cousins. I’m happy that Ishmael has family left that cares for him, and I also think that its good for himself to stay there so he can start to mold into a better person and finally get all of the war out of him.

Chapters 17 through 18

Chapters 17 through 18 seem to be more relieving and happy. Ishmael’s personality starts to change from bad to good. In chapter 17 Ishmael starts to spill about his emotions, past experiences and what he feels now. Its sad reflecting what Ishmael has suffered and been through. Beah has been through more than post people will ever experience. A nurse Esther got a hold of Beah and she tells him to visit the hospital for a checkup whenever he feels like. Esther seems very nice and kind, especially to Ishmael. Esther buys him rap cassettes and Ishmael feels more comfortable and the music brings back good memories of his best friends and brother. She also listens to every thing Ishmael has to say, she helps him and is his friend. Before the Esther and Ishmael became friends, Ishmael took her offer into consideration and decided to go to the hospital. Ishmael going to the hospital truly sparked their friendship and relationship. Ishmael tells Esther all about the war and the previous life he lived before becoming a soldier. These chapters are rough to read because Ishmael also has flashbacks and dreams. He has memories of friends and family, it’s so heartbreaking to know that they are gone. Ishmael keeps strong but emotionally he must be torn completely apart. From his previous experiences it will take time for Ishmael to repair mentally and physically. It’s so sad because he is around my age and I imagined myself going through what he has, and I honestly can’t imagine surviving emotionally. I don’t think I’d be physically hurt because physical pain can be repaired and it wont last forever, unlike emotional memories and pain because you can always recall them, and rarely ever repair one hundred percent from emotional pain

Chapters 15 through 16

Chapters 15 through 16 are full of happiness and how the boys end up being reluctant. The chapters start to get better when UNICEF comes and helps the young soldiers escape fighting the war. To the young soldiers including Ishmael this wasn’t a pleasant thought of being taken out. Its sad to see that the boys are so brainwashed and sucked into this war that they believe its what they want to do all of their lives and feel its almost as if it were there family. It seems as if Ishmael had forgotten about his old lifestyle and memories of the past. Its like he didn’t even have a family of friends or a normal boys average life, it’s as if he had been born into it and he wasn’t going to leave it. This was all from the brain washing after years of his war life-style; it was the drugs, blood, and hate which overtime transformed Ishmael into this monster. I am extremely happy that UNICEF stepped in to help rescue the boys. This gave me hope for the future of Ishmael’s life and he could finally start to become the boy he once was. UNICEF kept the boys in a camp, and gave them food and necessary supplies. It starts to get graphic once a conflict between the boy’s outbreaks into a fight, some boys have weapons and it’s obvious the boys still have the war attitude and personality present in their selves. After the fight UNICEF puts the boys into separate areas in facilities to keep fights and other conflict from starting. I am glad that the boys are in different facilities and soon there could be positive change among them and they could start to be the people they were before.

Choice Reading

I believe choice books are ideally wonderful. They help bring different choices and thoughts to different minds. It’s a great opertunity for all of our peers to bring different choices of books and spread our horizons. Reading different pieces of literature could help students that don’t usually read that specific kind of book, see what its about and truly not judge a book by its cover. Although it may or may not be an enjoyable book to the students who read it, it can help give us ideas of others styles and favorites of reading.

Chapters 13-14

Chapters thirteen through fourteen are showing the strongest change in Ishmael Beah, because Ishmael is fighting in an army, killing innocent people and going against what he believed and seems to be leaving everything in his past. The fact that this happened and is still happening to children in Africa is sickening. To see how much an innocent little boy has changed due to severe depression, loss of hope, drugs, and brainwashing. It's extremely disturbing that Ishmael is doing all of this because you wouldn’t expect him to join an army, unless if he was forced to. He also wouldn't ever want to be like the people who have killed his friends and family. All the soldiers tell Ishmael is to get revenge on others, take your anger out on them, and also men telling him that he will get used to it and it will start to become a custom of his everyday life. It's hard to believe that Ishmael had subsided to this and also very heart breaking. Although Ishmael is making all of these bad decisions, I can't say it's all him and it's his fault. He's still a boy, he is more vulnerable to peer pressure, he's running on no sleep, also drugs take a large role in it. With all of these mental and physical conflicts, Ishmael is not making the choices he normally would in the right state of mind. This is very sad because it’s showing how much evil exists in this world today.

Chapter 11-12

I felt that chapter eleven and twelve were less vivid compared to past chapters. These two chapters were more depressing. The beginning starts some what neutral and depressing because the death of Saidu. They still continue to move along. The boys have high hopes of re-uniting with their families. A familiar man at a banana farm recognizes the boys and asks if they could volunteer to help carry banana's back to the village. On their way to the village they all hear gun shots and quickly hide. This is sad because if the boys assumed the gun shots were from the rebels, they would know there is no hope of surviving families. This passage put me at the edge of my seat, all I could do is foreshadow and predict what is going to happen next. In my suspense as I read on, the emotional atmosphere when the boys get to the village is overly upseting. The emotions of any reader were most likely up and down roller coaster ride. The boys notice that the rebels are attacking the village and when it's all over is the most depressing part. When they arrive to the village there is no survivers, not one. The rebels killed every last one. It's sad when the boys start looking for survivers and all they see is dead bodies and body parts all over the place. That passage was easily the most vivid of these chapters.

Chapter 10

Chapter ten so far has been one of the chapters with not as much massacre but sad and depressing death, also fun and laughter. To myself this chapter is very emotional in many ways, not so much with fear and terror, although with depression and hope. It’s extremely upsetting when I read that Saidu dies. It’s so sad because he didn’t die from war, or any kind of physical injury. He died unexpectedly and there were no explanations for the boys to believe why, or what killed him. His death was expected in a supernatural way that Saidu said he would. This passage was extremely sad but also very bizarre. The boys all are strong and they stay together and help each other out. In the beginning of the chapter the boys are traveling in the dark and its very unusual for no stars or moon to be wide, and present in the atmosphere. They end up hunting with near by villagers and get invited to a large village get together. While there Ishmael recalls the past and thinks of when him and his brother would argue and just be brothers. This is sad because I think if I were in the same situation and I lost my brother that’s the only thing I could think of. I know there would be no way for myself not to show my feelings and emotions if I were to be in his place. The boys are starting to wonder if there is going to be hope, but Ishmael knows there is and he is going to pursue any way he can to get through this and survive. I still am very interested in the book and will look forward to reading the rest of the chapters.

Chapters 8-9

After reading chapters eight through nine I realize that Ishmael is starting to become stronger, but still stays emotional. Ishmael is extremely lonely he has no friends traveling with him, only memories of what he used to have and cherish. Ishmael only sees blood, and bodies of the dead lay on the ground with brutal beatings and massacring. Ishmael deals with the living nightmares almost everyday and has strong memories of the good times and bad times which he battles to stay out of his mind to keep him from collapsing into and emotional mess. Ishmael walks day and night through the forest and tries to procede with his life and trying to find safety. Ishmael ends up finding six boys to travel with. Suprisingly Ishmael happens to know three out of the six boys; Kanei, Alhaji, and Musa. The other three boys names are Saidu, Jumah, Moriba. The boys end up traveling for quite a while. They find an old man who can hardly walk or stand. He tells them that one of the villages has been invaded. The boys also end up finding a man, who is a fisher. The man welcomes them but doesn’t give his name for they’re and his own safety. This chapter was less graphic but I still have the motivation to keep reading till the last page. The boys never talk about the past or what could be coming in the future because it is already uncomfortable enough knowing that Junior has been abducted and many others also family members being killed. I thought this chapter was very moving, especially as an individual, and friends. What they can do for you and what you can do for them is always the best even in the worst times like this. Even though this chapter was not a thought of the mind and jotted down on a piece of paper, it was an experienced event of terror. These chapters truly filled me with fear and also taught me so lessons.

Chapters 6-8

Chapters six through eight; were more upsetting and absolutely terrifying. Before I write some more I’d like to explain how I felt about the passages. The pages were difficult to read because it’s hard not to put your self in his place and imagine what if it happened to you, what happened to Ishmaels brother, what if that happened to my brother. My mind has been bouncing around with thoughts like this and its absolutely horrific thinking about it, I can’t imagine being in his place. Thinking of this happening to me, my friends, or family is already making myself feel almost empty inside, and my heart full of indescribable emotions, emotions I’ve never felt before in my life. The reason my emotions come out in full effect is because this actually happened, so it’s hard to believe he went through it. I can’t even picture the way he probably felt when this was all happening! Now back to the summary, Ishmael describes what he is going through so vividly its’ outrageous. Since the first chapter this book has been extremely truthful and tells this poor mans stories and past experiences of literally hell on earth. Ishmael lost his brother, and Ishmael seams lost him-self since then. The boys aren’t trusted any more by friends, family and many strangers. They are interrogated and seem suspicious to everyone that sees them. In reality the boys are running from the rebels, starving and in need for help. The boys are emotionally hurt more than anything and that is easily there main source of pain. The boys were captured by patrolling villagers and almost killed until a hip hop/rap cassette falls out of Ishmaels pocket and a young boy recognizes the boys from many talent shows. This was truly a lucky moment and help from god. Every one can feel what Ishmael and others are going through, and it helps describe what he has been feeling and definitely how he still feels. These feelings and emotions are Permanente and can never leave your mind or heart.

Chapters 3-5

Chapters 3 through 5 were terrifying to the kids in the book, and even to me. The thought of running away from rebel army soldiers, who are trying to kill or abduct, any one they can find. The boys running away in terror was very sad and adrenaline filled, because you didn’t know what could happen next, whether it was them getting caught, killed, or getting safety I was on the edge of my seat in terror with mixed emotions. The way Ishmael describes his passages, thoughts, passed experiences, and emotions, I almost felt like is in his place or at least there watching it happen. After reading what the boys are going through, I had to take a break and think of what is happening and just think of what they are experiencing. It’s absolutely horrible what is happening, reading the chapters fills me with anger and depression because it makes me mad knowing this happened and is still happening. Sometimes I can’t believe this even happened and how this man is not completely dead inside, if I were in his place I would feel worthless for what I have lost but thankful for my survival. Every chapter I read in this book is heartbreaking and depressing everything he describes happened and it hurts knowing it actually did. The book is still changing my life page by page, and chapter by chapter.

First Thoughts...

The chapters 1-2 in a long way gone, Memoirs of A Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah were extremely depressing and heart breaking to know the truth of the cruel world and what has been happening. The truth of the story is harsh and seems almost as the worst nightmare possible. The passages that I have read are full of disturbing imagery. Horrific pictures are painted in my mind as I read through the pages and it hurts to know what Ishmael has gone through and how it’s affected his past, present and future. As I read the chapters I feel terrible and I realize how lucky I am for everything I have and where I live, because I don’t have to live with the fear of this ever happening. These have been the most life changing first two chapters I’ve ever read in any book.