The book "A Long Way Gone" is about a boy named Ishmael Beah who lives in Sierra Leone. Ishmael Beah was born in 1980 and lived in a village with his mother, father and two little brothers. In 1991, civil war broke out in Sierra Leone. Rebels overran Beah's hometown of Mogbwemo, located in the southern province of Sierra Leone, and he was forced to flee. Separated from his family, he spent months wandering south with a group of other boys. At the age of 14 he was forced to become a child soldier. By Beah's account, he fought for nearly three years before being rescued by UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund). The main message that the author tries to convey to the audience is that war and manipulation can turn innocence into evil. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayWhen Ishmael was a young boy he lived in a village with his family. At ten his brother Junior taught him hip-hop and they later started a dance group with his friends, Talloi and Khalilou. She spent her days going to school, performing in talent shows with her dance group, and listening to her tape player. When refugees began to arrive at Ishmael's village, he became confused about the stories happening to the people. He thought their stories were exaggerated and that the only wars he knew about were from books and films like Rambo: First Blood. “My ten-year-old imagination didn't have the capacity to grasp what had taken away the refugees' happiness.” When Ishmael was first touched by war he was 12 years old. He left the house with Junior and friends, Talloi and Khalilou. They were walking to a village to perform in a talent show when their house was attacked by rebels. The group of boys had no home and no one to turn to, so they had no choice but to keep moving and get as far away from the rebels as possible. Over the next two years Ishmael fled from village to village trying to survive. He split from Junior after an assault, just weeks after leaving home for the talent show. Over the years he has suffered many attacks and near-death experiences. Corpses littered every village and street the rebels and government passed through. Innocent people were killed needlessly before his eyes countless times. He became numb to every experience and had nightmares. He was constantly scared and tired. He was eventually recruited by the government to become a soldier. All the boys in the army were about thirteen years old, but some were as young as seven. The lieutenant and their superiors told the boys that the rebels had to be killed because they were the ones who killed the boys' friends and family. The boys were praised after each murder they committed and where they were given drugs to deal with their anxiety. Ishmael's first battle took place when he was no longer an innocent, scared boy and became angry and vengeful. “I have never been so afraid to go anywhere in my life as I was that day…I lay there with the gun pointed in front of me, unable to shoot.” Ishmael saw all the death around him and thought of his friends and family. He got so angry that he started shooting. “Every time I stopped to change magazines and saw my two lifeless friends, I angrily pointed my gun into the swamp and killed more people.” For the next three years he fought for the government. Killing became a daily occurrence, and Ishmael was proud of all the rebels he killed. He was eventually rescued by UNICEF and found out what it was likemanipulated into becoming a soldier. He had migraines and bad nightmares because of all the horrors he had witnessed. In this safe haven, he was rehabilitated and reunited with his uncle whom he had never met. Ishmael's uncles and cousins ​​help him overcome the trauma. Yet he was still broken. He later became a child activist, speaking at the United Nations. At 18 Ishmael fled Sierra Leone after Kabala (a town in Sierra Leone) was attacked by rebels. He feared becoming a soldier again and made the decision to leave his family in search of refuge. Ishmael used many rhetorical strategies to convey his message. One rhetorical strategy he used was to write his book about his personal experience. Instead of writing a book with facts and statistics about child soldiers, the reader listens to their story. In this way the reader can understand what Ishmael felt and thought in this environment. The reader can understand how terrible and sick this topic is from the details provided by Ishmael. Another rhetorical strategy used by Ishmael were two themes, War and Manipulation. Ishmaels was manipulated by commanding officers into killing to avenge his family. He was later praised for his efforts with drugs and films. Soon, Ishmael becomes a killing machine. He became such a good soldier that he was recruited as a junior lieutenant and led his own attacks. He had no remorse for anyone and only wanted revenge on the rebels for the pain they had caused him. The other theme is war, this theme explains how communities disintegrate as people struggle to survive and protect their families. Ordinary men and women must learn to kill. When Ishmael finally escapes the conflict, it is clear that nothing has been accomplished. Neither side "won". And countless lives, including that of our author, were destroyed in the process. Last but not least, another rhetorical strategy used is tone. The entire book has a very dignified and serious tone. Every single village that gets sacked and every person that dies gets the honest description it deserves. The book also gives us glimpses of many terrifying moments. The scary part is that they are mixed with normal everyday things. The terrors of war become another part of everyday life. The book's strengths are Ishmael's details about what it was like to live in a war zone and the way his book is told from a child's point of view. Ishmael describes life in a war zone by communicating all the violence he experienced. For example: “My face, my hands, my shirt and my gun were covered in blood. I raised the gun, pulled the trigger and killed a man." This allows the reader to understand what he was going through and put himself in his shoes. People in many countries do not know what it means to live in this environment. The reader is shown how cruel people can be to each other. Another strength of the book is the way it is told from a child's point of view, unlike many books where the protagonist is an adult. For example: "That night, as I sat on the porch listening to some kids discuss the volleyball game I missed, I tried to think about my childhood days, but it was impossible, as I started having flashbacks to the first time I cut a man's throat." This is a great example of how Ishmael's normal childhood experiences collide with the violence and trauma of his life. That's an interesting thing about the book because people want to know what a child's war experience would be like. There were also some weaknesses in the book. Ishmael did not explain what happened to him.