A Long Way Gone - LC#6

Ethan Chan

Blog Post #6 – A Long Way Gone

Quote #1

“I didn't think much about the interview except that I still wondered why the man who had interviewed me smiled. I meant what I said and it was not a funny matter.”

-Ishmael, Page 187

I think this quote relates to how the Americans treat Ishmael and the other children. The Americans don't know the half of what happened back in the Sierra Leone. I think that this quote shows how ignorant we can be, as well as how different the environment is from the Sierra Leone to America.

I can connect to this quote when I have a one-of-a-kind experience, as well as when I do something that others haven't. Sometimes I may feel that these experiences are very important or terrifying, but all the others don't think it's a big deal. Even I have been like this, and this means you can't talk about what you haven't done accurately.

Would you get mad if you were in Ishmael's position, having faced a man who smiled about your bloody past life?

Quote #2

“I've come to learn that if I am going to take revenge, in that process I will kill another person whose family will want revenge; then revenge and revenge and revenge will never come to an end.”

-Ishmael, Page 199

I think this quote explains what he had learned from his experience in the Sierra Leone. He had learned that revenge will start a chain reaction, and it won't end beneficially. I think that this is the main moral of the story, and that Ishmael had experienced a lot throughout the book.

I can connect to this because sometimes I want revenge, but I get in trouble if I do it. I think that this holds true for everything, that revenge will only make things worse.

Have you ever had experiences where you used revenge, but got in trouble?