“But on the first day of school in Freetown, all the students sat apart from us, as if Mohamed and I were going to snap any minute and kill someone. Somehow they had learned that we had been child soldiers. We had not only lost our childhood in the war but our lives had been tainted by the same experiences that still caused us great pain and sadness.” (pg. 202) -Ishmael Beah
…………The quote that I chose for my last response log of the memoir A Long Way Gone implies, “But on the first day of school in Freetown, all the students sat apart from us, as if Mohamed and I were going to snap any minute and kill someone. Somehow they had learned that we had been child soldiers. We had not only lost our childhood in the war but our lives had been tainted by the same experiences that still caused us great pain and sadness.” This phrase was chosen from the specific part of the book when Ishmael was finally trying to reintegrate as a normal child in the society but wasn’t successful at it. This is because when he went to school, his peers were afraid of him due to his violent and painful past. This shows how the main character couldn’t stop getting hurt even when he was trying to start a new life; he couldn’t move on.
…………This excerpt made me wonder how Ishmael didn’t fall into depression because he went through a lot of rough patches during his life that can’t be undone or forgotten. I always ask myself, after reading this chapter, how can the character be so strong to continue on? Obviously, with some difficulties, Ishmael tried to start a new life where he enters society as a completely new person with different ideologies and purposes to be alive, however, this didn’t work for him once again because all of his classmates were scared of him. Consequently, this made me learn how, even though he went through the war and now was being excluded by his classmates during school, he still continued fighting until he obtained the normal life he wanted, even if it seemed impossible just like surviving the war. This means that this novel showed me the importance of being a persistent and determined person like Ishmael because those are the only ones that win what they want due to working hard for it and never losing hope of having a set goal or purpose to continue living or working towards that aim.
…………Personally, I was surprised when I read this quote because I would have never imagined the rumor of “who is a child soldier” get to the school and even affect the social life of those people, which in this case are Ishmael and Mohamed; however, I do get why his colleagues didn’t want to be near them. For this reason, I believe it is always important to understand both sides of the story and analyze completely the event before acting out because it might hurt others a lot. In this case, being isolated from new people made Ishmael feel the same pain he felt during the war where he wasn’t able to be normal and have friends, family, a proper education, etc; nevertheless, I also understand the viewpoints of the others because they really don’t know who these two new people are. In addition, the others were taught that Ishmael and Mohamed were violent and rebel kids that killed other living organisms. Moreover, this quote disturbed me, thanks to the fact that Ishmael isn’t able to rest or feel “safe” in a place where he knows he isn’t going to be judged or felt pity for. I think that that is why he is most trying to look for “a normal life”. Notwithstanding, he just continues to be in situations that make him feel both physical and mental pain that can soon be deadly, as they were for others who gave up.
…………I began to think, every time I read this phrase, of all the bullying movies that exist. This is because the memoir and the films share similar themes regarding school problems that portray children being left alone and excluded. This situation often happens in all the schools were someone is different from the group and weird because they break the social rules. Due to not being similar or having certain things in common with the others, he/she is viewed as odd or peculiar, leading others to treat them as trash or nonexistent human beings. That is why, it bothers me to know that after the war, immediately, Ishmael continued suffering because all his classmates thought he was evil thanks to the past he couldn’t change or control. The feeling of others’ fear made his social life be non-existent with the people from his school and community, making no change in his sadness that hurts him constantly during his primary and middle years. Overall, I feel that Ishmael is someone that used his persistence to overcome all the struggles he faced during his tough life, obtaining a bright future full of amazing opportunities at the end.
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