Ethan Chan
Blog Post #1 – A Long Way Gone
Quote #1
“But what kind of liberation movement shoots innocent civilians, children, and that little girl?”
-Ishmael, page 14
This quote struck me because at first, I had thought the rebels were the good side of the war. It turns out that the rebels were actually evil, because in their quest for liberation, they had destroyed what they were fighting for. This made life for the narrator very tough in his home country because everywhere he stepped, he would be in constant danger. I can only imagine how difficult life would be if every second there was a possibility of death.
I think that this quote connects to the things I do in life, only not as drastic. Sometimes when I try to accomplish something, it has to be perfect because if I make one mistake, the whole thing basically dies. Like a game of minesweeper, caution is first priority.
Why do you think the rebels kill the innocent?
Quote #2
“A shudder racked my body, and I tried to think about my new life in New York City, where I had been for over a month. But my mind wandered across the Atlantic Ocean back to Sierra Leone.”
-Ishmael, page 19
In Ishmael's new life in America, he has trouble forgetting his bloodstained past. One of the many hardships one faces when immigrating is when the past comes rushing back. Even though Ishmael has a new life in New York, his mind is still in the Sierra Leone, where it was eat or be eaten. It becomes hard to forget your past if it is important.
This quote connects to me because there have been bad things that have happened in my life, and I sometimes don't want to remember them. However, no matter how hard I try, these events still come back to memory. I think that these events have been a big enough part of my life to never go away.
In relation to other events in the narrator's life, how important do you think the war is to him?
1 comments:
Ethan,
Quote 1:
I could not agree more with your analysis of this quote. It seemed to me too that the rebels would be fighting for the good of the people, but instead, forget their cause and turn into an unstoppable destructive force. The rebels have achieved the goals of the people they are fighting to eradicate, they have stricken fear into the hearts' of the people of Sierra Leone. Also, it seemed to me like Ishmael wanted to kill the rebels, so maybe he is fighting for the government?
Question 1:
I think that there could be several reasons that the rebels kill the innocent. First, They may have just lost their purpose, and think they are helping their situation when they really aren't. Second, it could be that they are trying to make others fear them so they look more powerful.
Quote 2:
I also seem to remember reading somewhere (Was it the back of the book? Or in the story?) that events that happened in Ishmael's life in New York triggered his memories of his past. I think that Ishmael's experience in Sierra Leone has scarred him forever, and will probably never forget how he felt during that war.
Question 2:
I think the war is everything Ishmael's life because that was all he ever knew as a boy. It would scar a witness for life, and they would probably never be able to fully forgive and forget what happened.
-Wade
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