A+Long+Way+Gone

**//A Long Way Gone//** Facilitator: JOHN PORTER Room Assignment: Student Enrollment:

__Themes from the Reading :__

This is a difficult book to read. I suppose this is so because it is such a sad book. A beautiful life altered by evil and destroyed - or almost so. The destruction of the life of Ishmael Beah unfortunately demanded untold suffering for others. Yet in the end his life is a victory for Ishmael Beah. His life is now used for good. The suffering he caused and left behind in the crippled and maimed lives of his victims is another story. It might be well to look up some background on the civil war in Sierre Leone that began in March of 1991. The civil war was gruesome and lasted 11 years. Over 50,000 innocent people were murdered. In this story, there are villains enough to fill a stadium. Perhaps the worst of them all was Foday Sankoh, the commander of the Revolutionary United Front, who gave the order to stop the brutality of his RUF only when he was awarded the Vice Presidency and given control of the diamond mines. A very good film to view is __Blood Diamond__ starring Leonardo DiCaprio. It tells the harsh story of the brutality and the cause of all this sorrow - diamonds. The use of children in the war is especially reprehensible and our book tells that clearly. By the way, there are two sides to this sorrow. During one of the RUF attacks, Mariatu Kamara had her hands chopped off. She narrates her story of recovery in her autobiography __The Bite of the Mango.__ Ishmael Beah has written the foreword to her book.

__Possible Discussion Questions__ Did you find the book as difficult to read as I did? Do you have sympathy for Ishmael Beah? Or are you angry with him?

The author confronts us with this statement: "The only wars I knew about were those I read about in books or seen in movies such as //Rambo: First Blood."// What do you think of such films that glorify war and its violence? Are they realistic? Why do you watch them, if you do?

The reviewer from The Washington Post comments: " Everyone in the world should read this book...we should read it to learn about the world and what it means to be human"? What do you think we all can learn about the world of Ishmael Beah? What can his story teach us about being human?

How can we ever explain what happened to him? How do we explain such cruelty of one human being to another?

In what way were the villagers such enemies that they had to be terrorized or murdered? What had they done?

Can you think for a moment and imagine the fear with which they lived their lives every day? One day the Sierra Leone Army ( SLA ) comes through the village and tortures them? The next day the RUF comes through and does the same thing again. Can you imagine what it must be like to raise children in that circumstance? Can you imagine what you would feel like if that was your bad fortune?

Ishmael and his friends formed a rap group which gave them great joy and hope. One of their favorite lyrics was "I Need Love" from L.L Cool J.: " when I am alone in this room, I sometimes stare at the wall and in the back of my mind I hear my conscience call?" Ishmael sang the song when his life was in the hands of the threatening village chief. As you think of Beah's life, do you find it interesting that when his life was in the balance, those were the words that he thought to chose?

In the chaos created by the war, "people were terrified by boys our age." Why?

"People stopped trusting each other and every stranger became an enemy. Young boys were being forced to kill their families and burn their houses...these children roamed the roads killing and maiming civilians." Are there any circumstances you can ever imagine where you might be able to do that?

Saidu died. "Every time people come at us with the intention of killing us, I close my eyes and wait for death. Even though I am still alive, I accept death and a part of me dies.Pretty soon I will completely die and my body will be empty walking around with you." Beah then said: " I tried to believe that I too was not dying." How do you think any kid could call on inner strength to live and survive in such a circumstance? Did Saidu give up? Could you kill another if it meant that you could live?

From what did Saidu die?

Ishmael Beah became a ruthless killer. How do you explain his compulsion to violence when as a child he was such a lovely boy? Does his life really prove that any of us can become a killer? " I was not certain which of the captives had shot me in the foot but any captive would do. They were all lined up, six of them, with their hands tied. I shot them in the feet and watched them suffer for an entire day before I shot then in the head to make them stop crying. I looked at each one just to see their eyes give up hope. Then I pulled the trigger." At heart, Ishmael was a gentle boy who discovered that he was capable of truly horrific acts? How do you explain that?

Certainly fear motivated Ishmael Beah to do the things that he did. He wantonly murdered and maimed and assaulted innocent human persons. He walked for miles hiding from the RUF and those who destroyed his village. He hid. He lived in the forests. When captured, he began to succumb to the evil world view of his oppressors. Do you think a person is either evil or a person is good by nature and birth? Or do circumstances really dictate whether or not a person does good or evil?

In the book __Sophie's Choice__ by William Styron, his heroine Sophie Kawistowski, a survivor of Auschwitz death camp, is faced with a choice between two unbearable options. She must choose between her two children, which one will live and which one will die. She is faced with a choice less choice. Do you think Ishmael Beah was faced with a choice less choice? What were his choices? Do you think that we do evil when we really have no other choice?

How can a good God allow this to happen?

"Smoking marijuana and sniffing //brown brown// cocaine mixed with gun powder and the white capsules to which I was addicted gave me a lot of energy. We watched war moves like //Rambo// and we all wanted to be like Rambo. We could not wait! Killing had become as easy as drinking water." Do you think Ishmael Beah could have killed another human being unless he was strung out?

The key to the recovery of Ishmael Beah from a life of violence to a life of peace was the constant urging of Esther: " none of this is your fault." But as helpful as that advice might have been for Beah, is that really true?

How important is family? How important is your family for your moral goodness and your happiness?

" We can be rehabilitated. I would point to myself as an example. I would always tell people that I believe children have the resilience to out live their sufferings, if given a chance." Do you agree? Are the children innocent?

Foday Sankoh, Sam Koroma, Charles Taylor, and President Kabbah are all charged with war crimes. What should be the punishment for those who were responsible for the tragic abuse of these children and the terrible suffering inflicted on the innocent?

Did you like the book?

__Guided Reading Questions / Questions for Understanding__