Commenting On a Memoir

“A Long Way Gone”, written by Ishmael Beah

1. The title of the memoir and the author’s name.
2. A one paragraph summary of the chapter or memoir you have read.
3. What the memoir reveals about the person who wrote the memoir.
4. Why you feel this event/memory is significant to the author.

1) I read the memoir “A Long Way Gone”, written by Ishmael Beah.

2) This memoir is the recollection of being torn away from his family and becoming a child soldier in the
1990’s civil war in Sierra Leone. I began reading at chapter five, where Ishmael reflected on wandering
through a crime filled country torn from his family. “We were so hungry that it hurt to drink water and we
felt cramps in our guts, our joints began to weaken and ache”, the group of six boys desperately
attacked a 5 year old boy for his corn. Ishmael soon after was overcome with shame for his actions.
Ishmael makes the decision with his friends to return back to Mattru Jong. Upon arrival they're jumped
by an armed rebel who is pointing his gun at them and forces them to go to a group of people. Ishmael
hopelessly watches as the rebels torment an old helpless man by shooting close to his head for fun.
The rebels take Junior, Ishmael's brother as a new recruit, and leave Ishmael alongside the other
people. The rebels tell the new recruits that they will slaughter the leftover people to toughen up the
recruits. Luckily gunshots arose from another area, that distracted the rebels enough for the people
to make a run for their lives. Ishmael gets away and finds his friends and brother. At the end of this
chapter the boys come to agreement that they need to get out of crime filled lands and back to safety.

3) This memoir reveals that the author went through traumatic and sickening events that no one should
ever endure. Endure so much darkness and to still come out in the end, shows pure strength of
character. I think this chapter from the memoir was mainly focused on showing the types of challenges
that the author had to overcome; fear, loneliness, sadness, starvation, and knowing that any second
he could be killed, but still in the end he got through it all and lives to see a brighter day.

4) I feel this memory is very significant to the author because it was filled with moments that aren't easy
to shake off, and stay with a person forever. This was the first time that Ishmael actually stole
from someone, let alone a five year old helpless boy. The feeling of guilt that overcame him will stay
with him forever and serve as a memory of some of the things he had to do to survive. This chapter
also included a moment where Ishmael was tormented by the rebels just before finding out they were
going to slaughter him among others, but luckily he got away. These moments are significant to him
because they highlight his memory of this time in his life.