Ethan Chan
Blog Post #4 – A Long Way Gone
Quote #1
““The rebels are responsible for everything that has happened to you.” I imagined capturing several rebels at once, locking them inside a house, sprinkling gasoline on it, and tossing a match. We watch it burn and I laugh.”
-Ishmael, Page 113
This quote shows how much Ishmael has changed since the start of the book. It's hard to imagine that Ishmael was once a peaceful boy who wanted to escape war. It now seems he became what he hated; he was sort of a rebel, because he killed others for enjoyment. I feel that laughing while killing someone is something only a psycho would do, and perhaps it's what Ishmael has become.
I think that Ishmael has become a completely different person since the start of the book. He used to be a hater of war, and now he doesn't care who dies. Even when some of his friends died, he just didn't care.
If you had become this insane and changed back, what would you think of yourself?
Quote #2
“Whenever I turned on the tap water, all I could see was blood gushing out.”
-Ishmael, Page 145
This quote shows how brainwashed Ishmael, as well as all the other child soldiers, had become. It's hard to believe that to Ishmael, all liquids remind him of blood. He has spent so much time on the battlefield, the only thing he's seen in months is blood. It just shows how hard it is to adjust to the new life in the city, when he's spent such a long time in the army.
I think I could slightly connect to this quote, but not very much. Whenever I do something for a long time, it becomes hard to get out of it. Even though it's the same concept, it's not even on the same scale as Ishmael's hardships.
If you were forced to kill people for many months without end, how would you feel after you stopped?
2 comments:
Ethan,
Quote 1:
I think that the reason that Ishmael has become so agressive and psychotic may have something to do with his increase in age, and definetly the fact that he is hopped up on drugs. Due to mostly the factor of drugs, Ishmael has become a shadow of his former self and has forgotten everything except for cocaine and blood. After such a long time, Ishmael has become desensitized to death and violence, and killing has just become an everyday task for him.
Question 1:
It would haunt me forever, images of blood, bullets and fire, the things that Ishmael sees. I probably would get sick all the time from thinking about it. I would want to learn to forgive myself, but it would would never forget what happened.
Quote 2:
That was a very powerful quote and a good choice for a response. I think that again, Ishmael has become so used to death, it is not a big deal. Also, earlier on in the book, it said that Ishmael never had time to think about anything. The adult soldiers always had them polishing thier guns, or watching war movies. Now that Ishmael has had some time to think about his actions, and memories have start to come back, look at the emotional dameage Ishmael has endured.
Question 2:
If I saw as much death as Ishmael did, I would probably see blood in the sink too. If I started to recall memories of blood and death, I would probably go crazy, Like some of the other boys Ishmael was staying with did.
- Wade
Quote1: This quote really scares me. I feel that this is a great example of how much being in a war can change you. I also think that this quote shows what war and revenge can be like. It shows how much seeing death and feeling revenge can change you. I agree with Ethan. Ishmael used to be such a sweet innocent boy but now because of the war he has changed and will never be able to go back.
Question 1: I don't think I could be able to deal with my self if I had killed other humans. I still cant understand how Ishmael does.
Quote 2: This quote reminds me of nightmares because I don't think that this could happen in real life. So that means that this happened in a nightmare that Ismael had.I think that it is scary that he is starting to have dreams of blood. It always seems that blood scares Ismael the most. He is always making comments about it in the book.
Question 2:
I don't think I could kill for months on end. If I had to do that I think I would commit suicide by taking down as many bad guys as I could.
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