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.