Memoir Analysis: A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah by Asad Khan

Literary Elements/Techniques:

khanas4 — 2024-10-18 01:17:12 UTC

Tone/Attitude and Foreshadowing
Tone is used in a very nonchalant way that may go unnoticed. A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah talks about the horrors of war and the consequences of fighting. In this particular page, it talks about how the narrator is affected by his first encounter of war. "I became afraid, since I could no longer tell the difference between dreams and reality"(Beah 15). This is said very discretely and makes you think about what you would do in this position. Foreshadowing can also be seen here because of the way Ishmael explains his thoughts at the moment and how we as readers can see that things will start taking turns from now on.

Hooks

khanas4 — 2024-10-18 01:23:29 UTC

Anecdotal Hooks: Sharing a personal idea or thought in the beginning to remind the reader of what will come. How the story will necessarily progress and reveal itself.
Literary Techniques: The first few words are capitalized to put emphasis on the story and to give the reader an idea of what might happen in the book.

Literary Techniques

khanas4 — 2024-10-18 17:47:31 UTC

"A lot of happy things happen when the moon shines. These are some of the reasons why we should want to be like the moon"(Beah 17). When the moon comes out, people become happy by its light and reflection. It gives people a sense of warmth even in the dark. People often go through things and might not be happy in life but will still be there for others when they need it. Shining in the darkness necessarily. Figurative language can be seen here as we are not perfect or will not always want to shine in the darkness. But it is necessary in order for us to make positive connections in people's lives. In this case, Ishmael is remembering what his grandmother told him when he was younger before the war had started. He goes back to this moment and interprets it in a different way rather than the first time he heard it.

Figurative Language

khanas4 — 2024-10-22 17:25:24 UTC

"Each gunshot seemed to cling to the beat of my heart"(Beah 23). This is a simple sentence that plays its part in exaggerating and giving a real feeling to the sentence. Hyperbole can be seen being used here by the author very well. As Ishmael and his friends were running away from gunshots, the trauma kept building and building and all they could do was run. When your life is on the line, all you can do is run and escape. It's as if the sentence is living because you can feel the emotion and intensity within the sentence. Everything builds up until that sentence.

Sentence Structure

khanas4 — 2024-10-24 17:34:41 UTC

"I knew we were walking, but I couldn't feel my feet touching the ground"(Beah 36). The tone that is used in this sentence emphasizes what Ishmael is going through at the moment. He ran away from rebels that were trying to recruit him and his friends to join and fight for them. THey managed to escape as they got distracted with gunshots. Ishmael saw an elderly man being toyed with and abused by the rebels and felt horrible inside. On the walk back to the village, everything felt surreal to Ishmael because of the things he had just seen. He knew that they were walking but he couldn't feel his feet. After all the trauma he'd been through he felt as if his feet went numb. Not a word was said when they arrived as they were in total disbelief and shock. I think this was important in the story because it was kind of an intro for what's about to happen and how how bad things are going to get.

Literary Elements

khanas4 — 2024-10-28 17:25:15 UTC

"I felt as if I was always waiting for death to come to me, so I decided to go somewhere where at least there was some peace"(Beah). The mood and the atmosphere of this part of the memoir is very vital in explaining how the situation is getting worse for Ishmael and his friends. His friends scurried away and were nowhere to be seen after encountering rebels who attacked the village they had been staying at. This broke his only other friend's spirit and he felt more afraid than ever. This is why he decided to stay in the swamp and play it safe rather than finding the people he cared for and missed. Ishmael on the other hand still had hope and decided to not give up. This reminded me of how there is always light at the end of the tunnel no matter how long the tunnel is. Ishmael is willing to take the risk for that light at the end of the tunnel.

Literary Techniques

khanas4 — 2024-10-30 17:27:15 UTC

"I thought about these words during my journey, and they kept me moving even when I didn't know where I was going. Those words became the vehicle that drove my spirit forward and made it stay alive"(Beah 54). Ishmael has a lot of thoughts running through his head when he doesn't want to. He tries his best to distract himself from what's killing him inside. All the trauma that he has been through and what he has seen during this war has played a massive role in Ishmael's mental and physical health. After losing his family and friends during this horrid war, he has nowhere to go. All his thoughts are bundled up deep inside and has no one to talk to. This is also where he has to be the most strongest and resilient.