The first theme is lost of innocence. Ismael was a young
boy that was introduced to war at the of twelve. He had seen the gruesome results from the rebels attacks and experience the lost of
friends. In the book it is stated that he joined the Sierra Leone military at
the age of 13, which he proclaimed was the end of his childhood. At first the
Rebels traumatized
Ismael by what they do. It was not until Ismael
was set to go invade a rebel camp that he had lost his innocence and became a
killer. A tent-mate of his was killed, which gave him the strength to kill a man. After
that fueled by anger and blood
lust, he killed everyone he saw at sight. Not only had he become a
killer he had also become addicted to drugs like marijuana. Ismael also claimed
that he can not remember anything good about his child hood afterwards. Other
than not remembering his good childhood, he also has flash backs of violent
memories.
The second theme is hope. A theme that isn't very big, but significant to the story. Hope represents Ismael's ability to go forward. He was told by his father that when he was little that if he stayed alive there is hope for a better day and something good will happen. "If there is nothing left in the destiny of a person, he or she will die. "(pg. 54) . He was able to hold onto his fathers words, and pull through with all the horrible things put upon him. He know that life will end when he runs out of good luck, so he is not afraid to move on.
The last theme is fear. Which is one of the big themes in the book. Any child that had grown up in Ismael conditions should be afraid. He lost his family and lived in very dangerous circumstances, where he could have possibly ended up dead. Whenever Ismael went to a new village with his group, residents would accuse them of being rebels. Which may have caused harm to the boys. Where Ismael is there is no place to call home, no one to go back to if he is afraid. He is also afraid that there will be no place called home that he can go to in his future. Like every other rebel refugee there is no escape from the past. They say its easier to remember fearful/bad moments than happy ones.
These themes are not the only themes that can be found in the book, there are many more as well. Ismael's lost of innocence, hope, and fear, were what made this book. With out these themes there would no experience, story, anything!
The last theme is fear. Which is one of the big themes in the book. Any child that had grown up in Ismael conditions should be afraid. He lost his family and lived in very dangerous circumstances, where he could have possibly ended up dead. Whenever Ismael went to a new village with his group, residents would accuse them of being rebels. Which may have caused harm to the boys. Where Ismael is there is no place to call home, no one to go back to if he is afraid. He is also afraid that there will be no place called home that he can go to in his future. Like every other rebel refugee there is no escape from the past. They say its easier to remember fearful/bad moments than happy ones.
These themes are not the only themes that can be found in the book, there are many more as well. Ismael's lost of innocence, hope, and fear, were what made this book. With out these themes there would no experience, story, anything!
Questions:
2. Can you make any connections with A long way gone to other books that have similar themes? (If you can't think of any think of books we read in class and relate to those!)
3. What would you be afraid of the most if you were in Ismael's situation?
4. Which theme can you relate to? (If not is there anyone close to you who you can relate themes with)
5. What theme do you think was most obvious to find in the story?
6. Has there been a time that you lost hope? (If its personal please don't answer)
[fixed some typo's]