Being young is just difficult - Essay Example

Formal paper assignment: A Long Way Gone, Memoirs of a boy soldier by Ishmael Beah Being young is just difficult Literary works, such as books, serve various purposes in life. For instance, certain books are used for entertainment, as well as educational purposes. After reading a particular text, it can be noted that different lessons can be learnt, hence, it would be prudent to recommend other people to read the same book. Against this background, I find the book by Ishmael Beah entitled A Long Way Gone, Memoirs of a boy soldier captivating, hence, I can recommend any person to read this particular text. By virtue of reading this book, a lot of concepts and ideas about how difficult it is to be young while living under tough conditions are explicitly discussed given that the writer of this book was born and lived in such a situation. He actually experienced war as a boy soldier before being rehabilitated. This book details the experience of a young soldier who suffered from two things namely: being away from home during his early childhood and being obligated to act like a monster. The plot of the story compels us to read this book given that a lot of real life lessons can be drawn from various themes found in it. Therefore, I would recommend everyone to read this book by Ishmael Beah mainly for three reasons which include the following: firstly, it can be noted that people are driven by self motivation and hope in the way they act or behave. Secondly, the reading teaches us that children around the world should get real care because they are considered as the future leaders and the last but very important reason is that having a strong faith can make everything possible. These points are discussed in detail in the main body of the paper. Since its publication in 2007, Beah’s book has gained significant popularity given that there are a lot of meanings as well as lessons that can be drawn from it. It is not just a story about childhood of a young man who lived in a certain place and certain situation; it is an example of a real story where children are seen to be converted to act like killing machines where the orders to kill people are driven by the owners of these machines and drugs are used as the catalyst to fuel the situation. This particular kind of situation happened to many children in Sierra Leone and the author of this book, Ishmael Beah, personally experienced it. This can happen anywhere else other than Sierra Leone in as far as humanity is absent. This book describes the difficulties faced by young people who are forced to be part of the fight against tyranny by those in authority. This is despite the fact that they are still young and still need to be carefully looked after by their parents. As a young soldier involved in a terrible civil war, a lot of things can happen. For instance, carrying guns, shooting and more seriously, killing other people are some of the worst things experienced by young people since they have long lasting traumatic effects upon them. These acts are performed in response to the commander’s orders which may not be easy to resist. However, despite such acts during the war, it can be noted that there are various factors that changed him. It can be noted that Beah has been exposed to harsh conditions in life since he was raised in a war situation where there was no family to care for him. This severely impacted on his life but it can be seen that through concerted efforts, his life has positively changed. It can be noted that even though the UN and another organization tried to rehabilitate him, there was no significant change. For instance, there were some guys who did not response to the treatment in the rehab center and they went back to the war. What made him stay and continue fighting against the war, drugs, even himself is that little hope he was carrying inside his heart which gave him the essential principles towards change. The change that he was looking for was to be a better person who was able to overcome all the obstacles that could be met in life. However, this was not easy given that he went through a lot of struggles before achieving that particular state. From the book, it can be seen that Beah was very emotional as a result of the situation which he experienced during the war. For instance, he states that, “Whenever I looked at rebels during raids, I got angrier, because they looked like the rebels who played cards in the ruins of the village where I had lost my family. So when the lieutenant gave orders, I shot as many as I could, but I didnt feel any better” (122). In other words, it can be seen that during the civil war after he lost his family, he became emotionally stressed such that he thought killing more people would relieve his pain but this was of no great help in as much as aspects such as relieving pain and soothing his soul were concerned. However, it can be observed that hope and self motivation has positively changed him during the current period since he is now living a normal life though he often remembers this horrific situation. As such, this is one of the reasons why I would advise others to read this book since it is inspirational. Around the world, there are a lot of young people experiencing harsh life like Ishmael Beah who need our care and kindness. Apparently, young people deserve our care because they are the pillars of the society in the future. They need to be given a chance to live a normal life since they are going to be leaders of the society tomorrow. However, if they treated badly such as being exposed to violence, they will not produce a good generation after them which can permanently destroy the whole community. In the case of Ishmael, it can be seen that he has lived in different types of societies as he mentions in the book. “These days I live in three worlds: my dreams and the experiences of my new life, which trigger memories from the past” (20). He is basically saying that although he has a new life in New York, he is still haunted by the past memories of terror experienced during the period of civil war in Sierra Leone. As a result, the fear from the past still lives inside him and this might influence his lifestyle if not controlled. However, Ishmael was lucky that he passed the rehabilitation program and became a good guy who can give and share with his society. Therefore, I think it is important for other people to read this book as they will discover the importance of caring for the young generation which is comprised of future leaders. People need some faith in order to live a good life, not just a normal life but also a remarkable life where they are honored and remembered for their commitment towards achieving something good for the benefit of the majority of people in their respective societies. Lessons about faith are a lot in this book. For instance, Ishmael is just presenting his action towards success by putting a lot of faith into it. “When I was a child, my grandmother told me that the sky speaks to those who look and listen to it. She said, "In the sky there are always answers and explanations for everything: every pain, every suffering, joy, and confusion." That night I wanted the sky to talk to me.”(166). In other words, he was inspired by these words from his grandmother since he was inducted into the army and he kept that faith inside his heart. This faith motivated himself as a young boy who was supposed to care of himself and seek the life he desired. In conclusion, the book called A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah describes the difficulties that the author went though starting from his early childhood with his family and then when he joined the army to become a monster. However, through faith and perseverance, he finally reached his destination when he discovered his real life. From this unusual experience by a young boy, there is a lot to learn from it. It is important to be self motivated as well as to have hope and faith in order to accomplish certain tasks which are difficult in life. Furthermore, it is also important to protect young people against violence since this can traumatize them and this can impact on their ability to be effective leaders in the future. Read More